Hello. This is Donald C-Note Hooker, foundational Black American, prison artist and advocate for justice. Today, I want to speak about Leonard Peltier, a man who like me, will face a parole board in 2026. By that time, I will have spent 29 years in prison, and Leonard will have been incarcerated for over 50 years. This isn’t about asking for mercy. It’s about following the law.
Leonard was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, not life without parole, and certainly not the death penalty. Keeping him in prison at 80 years old when he poses no threat to anyone, is illegal. The law doesn’t allow the government to slow walk a man to death through repeated parole denials. Leonard’s continued imprisonment is not about justice, it’s about revenge, and that has no place in our legal system.
COINTELPRO the FBI’s illegal program designed to dismantle civil rights movements, played a major role in Leonard’s conviction. The same program targeted leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., men whom the government labeled as threats, but who history now celebrates. Leonard, too was wrongfully targeted. Programs like COINTELPRO violated our First Amendment rights, and those consequences must be considered.
Even today, peaceful groups like Code Pink, an anti-war organization made up of grandmothers, has been spied on by the government simply for exercising their constitutional right to protest. When peaceful dissent is treated as a threat, we must recognize the government’s overreach. Leonard Peltier, like so many others, were the victim of that overreach.
Leonard is now an elderly man. I spent decades in prison, and I’ve seen firsthand how elderly inmates who are too frail to harm anyone are still held behind bars. This is nothing short of state-sponsored elderly abuse. The parole board has a legal obligation to release Leonard. This is not about mercy. It’s about following the law.
Black and Native Americans share a history of systematic oppression. Neither of us share the same immigration origin narrative as other Americans. Native Americans were here long before European settlers and Black Americans were brought here in chains. Leonard’s imprisonment is another chapter in that long history of injustice, and it’s time for the government to right this wrong.
Leonard Peltier was promised the possibility of parole, and now the government must honor that. This is not a plea for forgiveness, it’s a demand for legality. It’s time for the U.S. Parole Commission and the Department of Justice to parole Leonard Peltier and end this injustice. Thank you.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.