By Bro. Khalfani Malik Khaldun
Indiana’s Voice of the Voiceless
August 1, 2023
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moment of comfort and convenience… but where he stands during times of chaos and great strife.”
—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thirty-five years after being incarcerated, I have lost much of my immediate family, which now includes my son King Dion, my pride and joy. Forced to live in a cold world, raised by a mother who loved him, she did for with him what I could not, since I become a ward of the Department of Corrections at age 17. My son and I never got to spend one day together in the free world. He was born on May 19, 1987 while I was in a Lake County Court House preparing to come to prison. It was a special day—the day Malcolm X Malik El-Shabazz was born.
I have by the loving Grace of Allah endured many loses in my family tree. I have overcome many setbacks and fought through roadblocks that were intentionally placed before me to stop or interfere with building my campaign for freedom. Some 15 years ago, while housed at Pendleton Correctional Facility, a group of officers located a website in which young activists from the Black Student Union at several local college campuses were calling for people to support the freedom of Bro. Khalfani Malik Khaldun. They began to receive emails from these officers threatening to call their colleges and universities if they didn’t stop supporting “a murderous thug.” We copied the emails and started sending them to the commissioner’s office and the office of the Governor of Indiana. Many of these officers were terminated. They felt since I was convicted in the 1994 murder of Officer Phillip Curry—a crime I continue to openly state I did not commit—they didn’t want me being supported; they wanted me put to death by electrocution or lethal injection. That incident occurred on Dec. 13, 1994.
Still to this day there are officers and staff persons employed in the Indiana Department of Corrections who resent the fact that people are promoting for me to finally be freed from these modern-day slave plantations. Recently, staff at my current facility found out that my struggle is being displayed all over the internet through a host of political statements in the form of essays, press releases, poetry, and podcast interviews trying to tell my story. By speaking truth to power, the reality of my universal struggle can be heard directly from me. Officers at the Westville Control Unit often speak of these outlets. I release my words to the world knowing I have been building a team now for over 25 long years. We have a movement now.
Some members of my team from time to time may get hate mail from the peanut gallery, namely from officers trying to discourage them from loving and supporting someone who they have embraced for years as part of their extended family. This only convinces us to mobilize and build a tighter and more effective team. If these people continue to try to defame me or disrupt our efforts to free a devoted and dedicated 53-years old man who has been put aay since he was 17 years old, the team will be pursuing a request under the Freedom of Information Act to expose the unprofessional actions of a select few. The findings will be turned over to the Commissioner’s Office and the Office of the Governor of Indiana, seeking the full termination of all individuals involved, I seek no vengeance against those who on your own accord have sought to defame my name or cast doubt in the minds and hearts of those who stand beside me. They know that I love and respect my supporters for their years of ensuring that I have everything I need until the gates of freedom are opened to me. The support has been a blessing.
My current primary objective is now to recover my health and be immediately released from WCU-Disciplinary Segregation when my time is up in 6 to 8 months and return to general prison population. This way I can get my available time cut, with the sincere hope of transitioning to a lower level of incarceration and prepare myself for a long-awaited release from prison. I haven’t been able to enjoy a contact visit since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc upon us. So, once I’m back in population I will be trying to have one with my female companion and our beloved grandchildren. I have 6 granddaughters and one grandson who are my son’s children, all of whom live in Minnesota. They were all born since I was sent to prison, I am dying to mee them all. They are my reason for living.
I’m asking all prison officials to keep it professional. You can feel and think what you want, but when you start crossing the line of policy, procedure, and violate state and federal laws, you have invaded my space. When you contact my family, friends, or supporters with malicious intent, you place your job in jeopardy and has your employer, the IDOC, be seen in a negative light. I can state in an affirmative voice that I have not done any of you wrong. All I am guilty of at the moment is wanting to be free.
I thank every one of my supporters, friends, and extended family for never giving up on me. My struggle and fight is real. All of you have gotten me through what was meant to be hell on earth.
If you want to hear my political interviews, go to infoprisonradio.org. If you want to read up on my struggle for freedom and my observations on political and theoretical issues, go to IDOCWatch.org/blog-1. I cofounded this group with a comrade we recently lost. If you are interested in a documentary I was in on MSNBC, “Extended Stay—Wabash Valley Correctional Facility,” go to https://archive.org/details/msnbc_20120107_050000_msbc_documentary/start/3540/end/3600.
All Power to the People! When We Fight we Win! Together We Are Strong—Divided We Are Not!
A Luta Continua! Vita Wa Watu—Free All Political Prisoners! Free the Pendleton Two!
Bro. Khalfani Malik Khaldun
(Leonard McQuay) # 874304
A4-207
5501 South 1100 West
Westville, IN 46391
