H. Rap Brown
Encyclopedia
Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin also known as H. Rap Brown, was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
in the 1960s, and during a short lived (six months) alliance between SNCC (Then known as the Student National Coordinating Committee), later the Justice Minister of the Black Panther Party
. He is perhaps most famous for his proclamation during that period that "violence is as American as cherry pie
", as well as once stating that "If America don't come around, we're gonna burn it down". He is also known for his autobiography Die Nigger Die!
. He is currently serving a life sentence for the 2000 shooting of two Fulton County Sheriff's deputies, one of whom died.
, Louisiana
. He became known as H. Rap Brown during the early 1960s. His activism in the civil rights movement
included involvement with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC), of which he was named chairman in 1967. That same year, he was arrested in Cambridge, Maryland
, and charged with inciting to riot as a result of a speech he gave there.
He appeared on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List
after avoiding trial on charges of inciting riot and of carrying a gun across state lines. His attorneys in the gun violation case were civil rights advocate Murphy Bell of Baton Rouge, and the self described "radical lawyer" William Kunstler
. Brown was scheduled to be tried in Cambridge, but the trial was moved to Bel Air, Maryland on a change of Venue.
On March 9, 1970 two black radicals, Ralph Featherstone and William ("Che") Payne died on U.S. Route 1 south of Bel Air, Maryland when a bomb being carried between Payne's legs on the front floorboard of their car exploded, completely destroying the car and dismembering both occupants. Allegedly the bomb was intended to be used at the courthouse where Brown was to be tried. The next night the Cambridge, Maryland courthouse was bombed.
Brown disappeared for 18 months, and then he was arrested after a reported shootout with officers. The shootout occurred after what was said to be an attempted robbery of a bar in 1971 in New York
.
He spent five years (1971–1976) in Attica Prison
after a robbery conviction. While in prison, Brown converted to Islam
and changed his name to Jamil Abdullah al-Amin. After his release, he opened a grocery store in Atlanta
, Georgia
and became a Muslim spiritual leader and community activist preaching against drugs and gambling in Atlanta's West End
neighborhood.
It has since been alleged Brown’s life changed again when he allegedly became both affiliated with The 'Dar ul-Islam Movement'
and the leader of Ummah
, which seeks to work to propagate Islam in the USA.
, Sheriff's deputies Ricky Kinchen and Aldranon English went to al-Amin's home to execute an arrest warrant
for his failing to appear in court after a citation for speeding, as well as for impersonating a police officer (al-Amin showed the officer his honorary badge from Whitehall AL). After stopping in front of al-Amin's home and determining that nobody was there, they drove away and were passed by a black Mercedes that was heading towards the home. Kinchen (the more senior deputy) watched the suspect vehicle, and turned the car around and drove up to it, stopping nose to nose. English approached the Mercedes and told the occupant to show his hands. The occupant opened fire with a .223 rifle. English ran between the two cars while returning fire from his handgun, but was hit four times. Kinchen was shot with the rifle and a 9 mm handgun. The following day, Kinchen died of his wounds at Grady Memorial Hospital
. English survived his wounds, and identified al-Amin as the shooter from six photos he was shown while recovering in the hospital. Both of the police officers whom Brown was convicted of shooting were African American
.
Shortly after the shootout, al-Amin fled to White Hall, Alabama
, where he was tracked down by U.S. marshals and arrested by law enforcement officers after a four-day manhunt. Al-Amin was wearing body armor at the time of his arrest, and near his arrest location, officers located a 9mm handgun and .223 rifle. Ballistics
testing showed that both weapons were the same guns used to shoot Kinchen and English. Later, his black Mercedes, riddled with bullet holes, was located.
On March 9, 2002, nearly two years after the shooting took place, al-Amin was convicted of 13 criminal charges, including the murder of deputy Kinchen. Four days later, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was sent to Georgia State Prison
, the state's maximum security facility near Reidsville, Georgia
.
At his trial, prosecutors pointed out al-Amin never provided any alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the shootout, nor any explanation as to why he fled the state afterwards. He also did not explain the bullet holes in his car, nor how the weapons used in the shootout were located near him during his arrest. In May 2004, the Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously ruled to uphold al-Amin's conviction.
In August 2007, he was transferred from state custody to Federal custody, as Georgia officials decided that al-Amin is too high-profile an inmate for the Georgia prison system to handle. He was moved to a Federal transfer facility in Oklahoma pending assignment to a Federal penitentiary. On October 21, 2007, al-Amin was transferred to the ADX Florence
supermax
prison in Florence, Colorado
.
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
in the 1960s, and during a short lived (six months) alliance between SNCC (Then known as the Student National Coordinating Committee), later the Justice Minister of the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
. He is perhaps most famous for his proclamation during that period that "violence is as American as cherry pie
Cherry pie
Cherry pie is a pie baked with a cherry filling. Traditionally, cherry pie is made with tart rather than sweet cherries as it is easier to control how sweet the pie eventually becomes and also eventually translates to a sharper taste...
", as well as once stating that "If America don't come around, we're gonna burn it down". He is also known for his autobiography Die Nigger Die!
Die Nigger Die!
Die Nigger Die! is a 1969 political autobiography by the American political activist Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin . The book was first released in the United States in 1969 and then in the United Kingdom in 1970. Brown describes his experiences as a young black civil rights activist and how they shaped...
. He is currently serving a life sentence for the 2000 shooting of two Fulton County Sheriff's deputies, one of whom died.
Activism
Brown was born in Baton RougeBaton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
. He became known as H. Rap Brown during the early 1960s. His activism in the civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
included involvement with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
(SNCC), of which he was named chairman in 1967. That same year, he was arrested in Cambridge, Maryland
Cambridge, Maryland
Cambridge is a city in Dorchester County, Maryland, United States. The population was 12,326 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Dorchester County and the county's largest municipality...
, and charged with inciting to riot as a result of a speech he gave there.
He appeared on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
after avoiding trial on charges of inciting riot and of carrying a gun across state lines. His attorneys in the gun violation case were civil rights advocate Murphy Bell of Baton Rouge, and the self described "radical lawyer" William Kunstler
William Kunstler
William Moses Kunstler was an American self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his controversial clients...
. Brown was scheduled to be tried in Cambridge, but the trial was moved to Bel Air, Maryland on a change of Venue.
On March 9, 1970 two black radicals, Ralph Featherstone and William ("Che") Payne died on U.S. Route 1 south of Bel Air, Maryland when a bomb being carried between Payne's legs on the front floorboard of their car exploded, completely destroying the car and dismembering both occupants. Allegedly the bomb was intended to be used at the courthouse where Brown was to be tried. The next night the Cambridge, Maryland courthouse was bombed.
Brown disappeared for 18 months, and then he was arrested after a reported shootout with officers. The shootout occurred after what was said to be an attempted robbery of a bar in 1971 in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
He spent five years (1971–1976) in Attica Prison
Attica Correctional Facility
The Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum penitentiary in the town of Attica, New York, operated by the New York State Department of Correctional Services. After it was constructed in the 1930s, it held many of the most dangerous criminals of the time. A tear gas system is installed in the mess...
after a robbery conviction. While in prison, Brown converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and changed his name to Jamil Abdullah al-Amin. After his release, he opened a grocery store in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
and became a Muslim spiritual leader and community activist preaching against drugs and gambling in Atlanta's West End
West End (Atlanta)
The West End neighborhood of Atlanta is on the National Register of Historic Places and can be found southwest of Castleberry Hill, east of Westview, west of Adair Park Historic District, and just north of Oakland City...
neighborhood.
It has since been alleged Brown’s life changed again when he allegedly became both affiliated with The 'Dar ul-Islam Movement'
and the leader of Ummah
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
, which seeks to work to propagate Islam in the USA.
2000 arrest and conviction
On March 16, 2000, in Fulton County, GeorgiaFulton County, Georgia
Fulton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. Its county seat is Atlanta, the state capital since 1868 and the principal county of the Atlanta metropolitan area...
, Sheriff's deputies Ricky Kinchen and Aldranon English went to al-Amin's home to execute an arrest warrant
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
for his failing to appear in court after a citation for speeding, as well as for impersonating a police officer (al-Amin showed the officer his honorary badge from Whitehall AL). After stopping in front of al-Amin's home and determining that nobody was there, they drove away and were passed by a black Mercedes that was heading towards the home. Kinchen (the more senior deputy) watched the suspect vehicle, and turned the car around and drove up to it, stopping nose to nose. English approached the Mercedes and told the occupant to show his hands. The occupant opened fire with a .223 rifle. English ran between the two cars while returning fire from his handgun, but was hit four times. Kinchen was shot with the rifle and a 9 mm handgun. The following day, Kinchen died of his wounds at Grady Memorial Hospital
Grady Memorial Hospital
Grady Memorial Hospital, frequently referred to as Grady Hospital or simply Grady, is the largest hospital in the state of Georgia and the public hospital for the city of Atlanta. It is the 5th largest public hospital in the United States, as well as one the busiest Level I trauma centers in the...
. English survived his wounds, and identified al-Amin as the shooter from six photos he was shown while recovering in the hospital. Both of the police officers whom Brown was convicted of shooting were African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
.
Shortly after the shootout, al-Amin fled to White Hall, Alabama
White Hall, Alabama
White Hall is a town in Lowndes County, Alabama, United States. The community was named for a plantation which was destroyed in a 1882 tornado. At the 2000 census the population was 1,014. It is part of the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:...
, where he was tracked down by U.S. marshals and arrested by law enforcement officers after a four-day manhunt. Al-Amin was wearing body armor at the time of his arrest, and near his arrest location, officers located a 9mm handgun and .223 rifle. Ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
testing showed that both weapons were the same guns used to shoot Kinchen and English. Later, his black Mercedes, riddled with bullet holes, was located.
On March 9, 2002, nearly two years after the shooting took place, al-Amin was convicted of 13 criminal charges, including the murder of deputy Kinchen. Four days later, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He was sent to Georgia State Prison
Georgia State Prison
Georgia State Prison is the main maximum security facility in the state of Georgia. Located on Georgia Highway 147 in unincorporated Tattnall County, outside of Reidsville, "GSP" houses approximately 1550 inmates...
, the state's maximum security facility near Reidsville, Georgia
Reidsville, Georgia
Reidsville is a city in Tattnall County, Georgia, United States. The population was 2,235 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Tattnall County...
.
At his trial, prosecutors pointed out al-Amin never provided any alibi for his whereabouts at the time of the shootout, nor any explanation as to why he fled the state afterwards. He also did not explain the bullet holes in his car, nor how the weapons used in the shootout were located near him during his arrest. In May 2004, the Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously ruled to uphold al-Amin's conviction.
In August 2007, he was transferred from state custody to Federal custody, as Georgia officials decided that al-Amin is too high-profile an inmate for the Georgia prison system to handle. He was moved to a Federal transfer facility in Oklahoma pending assignment to a Federal penitentiary. On October 21, 2007, al-Amin was transferred to the ADX Florence
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary Administrative Maximum Facility is a supermax prison for men that is located in unincorporated Fremont County, Colorado, United States, south of Florence. It is unofficially known as ADX Florence, Florence ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies...
supermax
Supermax
Supermax is the name used to describe "control-unit" prisons, or units within prisons, which represent the most secure levels of custody in the prison systems of certain countries...
prison in Florence, Colorado
Florence, Colorado
The City of Florence is a Statutory City located in Fremont County, Colorado, United States. The population was 3,653 at the 2000 census.ADX Florence, the only federal Supermax prison in the United States, is located south of Florence in an unincorporated area in Fremont County...
.
See also
- American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)American Civil Rights Movement (1896-1954)The Civil Rights Movement in the United States was a long, primarily nonviolent struggle to bring full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans...
- American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)
- Timeline of the American Civil Rights MovementTimeline of the American Civil Rights MovementThis is a timeline of African-American Civil Rights Movement.-Pre-17th century:1565*unknown – The colony of St...
External links
- Video with Stokely Carmichael, Oakland 1968
- Online audiorecordings and video of H. Rap Brown via UC Berkeley Black Panther site
- Bio and Sound Clip, History Channel
- Video and Audio of Imam Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown)
- http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?pid=946Southern Poverty Law CenterSouthern Poverty Law CenterThe Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
report on the murder of Ricky Leon Kenchin] - Die Nigger Die: A Political Autobiography by H. Rap Brown
- http://www.jamilalamin.com,jamilalamin.org.