Kazi Toure (Burning Books Lecture Series)

Here's our second lecture we're excited to share in the Burning Books Lecture Series. We're slowly continuing to release audios recorded at Burning Books in Buffalo, NY, to share inspiring ideas and experiences this bookstore has hosted over the last 7 or so years. This pandemic period should be one where we take account of the situation we find ourselves, hone our skills, learn from our elders and consider how to engage as the disease ravages our communities and the forces of capital and repression make their moves.

Kazi Toure spoke on March 25, 2015 on his political development, activity, engagement as a Marxist guerrilla in the USA, his time as a political prisoner, his ideas and organizing. From his bio:

Former political prisoner and United Freedom Front member Kazi Toure was imprisoned for his role in twenty bombings combating Apartheid in South Africa & US Imperialism in Central America.

The United Freedom Front has been considered "undoubtedly the most successful of the leftist [guerrilla groups] of the 1970s & 80s," & struck powerful blows to South African Airways, Mobile, IBM, Union Carbide, & various courthouses & US military targets.

If you enjoyed this lecture, keep an ear out for more. And check out our first release of this series, Dr Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz speaking on "An Indigenous Peoples History Of The United States". And remember, community spaces are so important, places we can engage new ideas, speakers with this wisdom, future and current comrades and co-conspirators. One way to do this, if you have the dough, is to buy books from spaces like Burning Books or Firestorm Books Coop. If you are looking to read statements by Kazi and his comrades, Leslie from Burning Books suggests checking out Hauling Up The Morning: Writings and Art by Political Prisoners of War in the U.S. which you can find at burningbooks.com . Another title mentioned, available via Burning Books or Firestorm at firestorm.coop is Let Freedom Ring: A Collection of Documents from the Movements to Free U.S. Political Prisoners.

A couple of notes about some of the prisoners and projects that Kazi mentions in this 2015 presentation.

• Oscar López Rivera was googlereleased in 2017 by Obama.
• The surviving members of the MOVE 9 were released in the last 2 years. On A Move!
• Herman Bell was released in 2018 and lives in New York state.
• 4StruggleMag is no longer producing print editions. The latest post on it's site announces the death from incarceration of Tom Manning, one of Kazi's comrades from the UFF. Posted messages come from the Certain Days Collective, political prisoners Kojo Bomani Sababu, Bill Dunne, Oso Blanco, incarcerated comrade from the UFF Jaan Laaman and former political prisoner from the UFF Ray Luc Levasseur.
• Jaan Laaman continues to be incarcerated as does BLA prisoner Jalil Muntaqim.

More info on these political prisoners at The National Jericho Movement and NYCABC's websites.

Stay healthy, y'all!

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Featured track on this is Kimochi by Fred Houn and the Afro-Asian Music Ensemble