Sundiata Acoli, born in 1939, is a New Afrikan political prisoner of war, mathematician, and computer analyst. Sundiata has been incarcerated since 1973, when he and two comrades, Zayd and Assata Shakur, were ambushed at the New Jersey Turnpike, a site notorious for incidents of police violence.
After the turnpike, Sundiata was sentenced to life plus 30. He’s been incarcerated now for nearly 48 years. And despite being a so-called model prisoner, he’s been denied parole five times. The Parole Board’s stated reason for the 20-year hit was Sundiata’s membership in the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army prior to his arrest, the receipt of hundreds of “Free Sundiata” form letters that characterized him as a New Afrikan Prisoner of War, and the feeling that the punitive aspects of his sentence had not been satisfied and that rehabilitation was not sufficiently achieved. The real reason for the 20-year hit is to attempt to force Sundiata to renounce his political beliefs and to proclaim to the world that he was wrong to struggle for the liberation of his people.
Now, at the age of 83, he’s only getting older and more physically vulnerable.
Tomorrow there will be a virtual conversation to inform folks about Sundiata’s incarceration and how we can help. Click here for more information on the event.
Sign this petition to NJ Governor to bring Sundiata home.
You can write to Sundiata here:
Sundiata Acoli #39794-066 (Squire)
FCI Cumberland
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. BOX 1000
Cumberland, MD 21501
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