COMMITTEE TO FREE CHIP FITZGERALD
July 21, 2008Dear Supporters of Chip Fitzgerald,
On July 2, 2008, Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald was denied parole by the California Board of Parole Hearings, to wait one more year for a new hearing. Serving a life sentence from 1969 convictions for murder and assault on police when he was a member of the Black Panther Party in Los Angeles, Chip was first eligible for parole in 1976. Since then, he has not been charged with any prison violations sufficient to justify this denial. Chip remains the longest held Black Panther Party political prisoner in the United States.
The spirit of all of us, the People, is greater than the authority of the Board! Our June 28, 2008, tribute to Chip in Los Angeles demonstrated our unity and strength and the power of our commitment to free Chip. Our seven-hour event was one of the most significant gatherings of community leaders Los Angeles has seen in a long time. Hosted by KJLH radio host Dominique DiPrima and our event coordinator Sikander Iqbal, the tribute lasted many hours longer than expected because everyone sensed the historic importance of our intergenerational, multi-ethnic assemblage, to resurrect the spirit of the Panther embodied in Chip and launch a new movement for progressive change in this country.
The Committee thanks Ben Caldwell of Kaos Network for providing his beautiful space in Leimert Park; and Paul Hiles of Chef Marilyn’s for his donation of a wonderful meal for the hundreds who attended the tribute; and Gregory Everett for showing his documentary, 41st & Central; and filmmaker Fatima Washington for filming the entire event. We especially thank hard-working volunteers Eric Lambkins, Stephanie Roberts, Ashley Level, Sade Elhawary, Tiana Braner, Kristoffer Ealy, Nafassi Ferrell, Esme Taylor; committed supporters Matt Hart of the LA-ABCF, LA Brown Berets, A.O.A, Building Communities and Families, UCLA African Men’s Collective; and the artists who performed at the event, particularly the great poet Ojenke, and Sadiki Bakari.
Let us not be discouraged by the Board’s decision. Let’s remain vigilant! Keep getting signatures for the online petition advocating for Chip’s release. Help the Committee raise money for legal counsel for Chip’s appeal of the Board’s decision in a court of law. Let’s free Chip Fitzgerald! Please send Chip a letter of support:
RomaineFitzgerald,CentinelaStatePrison,B-27527,FC-2-110,POBox921,Imperial, California 92251-0731
With gratitude and love for the People.
PAROLE DENIED TO CHIP!
On July 2, 2008, Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald was denied parole by the California Board of Parole Hearings for one more year. That is, he will not be eligible for another hearing until July 2009. The Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner conducting the hearing for the entire Board said Chip had to do more "programming," such as participating in group discussions and counseling—all of which "rehabilitative" work and more Chip has performed and completed over these 38 years.
The Deputy Commissioner, Lee Cox, a former prison guard who became a lieutenant, stated that the nearly-3,000 signatures on Chip's Petition and the numerous support letters, offering Chip a UCLA education, housing, employment and publication of a book about his life meant nothing to her, that "the people who sign them [petitions] and write letters really don't know what goes on with these inmates." It is significant that it was Lt. Cox who seemed to influence the ultimate decision, bolstered by her charge that Chip had some rules violations in 2005. considering that even Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been critical of the extraordinary power wielded by California prison guards and their union, the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, in its management of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and influence over the parole process.
Chip was in good spirits at the end of the hearing and did not seem surprised by the outcome.
Write to Chip! Join the Committee to Free Chip Fitzgerald and keep fighting for his freedom! We have legal appeals and more strategies to employ, including new legal representation, and we will execute our commitment to FREE CHIP!
We thank all of you who support Chip. We urge you to keep spreading the word, sign and get others to sign the Petition, and stay tuned for updates.
BRING OUR BROTHER HOME!
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
Chip
Fitzgerald's first recorded interview.
This is Chip
Fitzgerald's
first recorded interview in his 38 years of incarceration, made in
connection with the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Black
Panther Party and the National Day of Protest against Police Brutality.
He talks about his early days on the streets of Los Angeles and how he
came to join the Black Panther Party, and he provides words of
enlightenment and encouragement for a new generation engaged in the
ongoing struggle for the freedom and liberation of all people.
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE! THE PEOPLE ARE THE POWER!
On behalf of the 170,000 imprisoned Sisters, Brothers and
Comrades in California for whom I do not speak but with whom
I
speak, we embrace you in the spirit of love and solidarity!
In
the current atmosphere where people are afraid to be labeled
unpatriotic... or terrorist for their progressive and radical beliefs
and political dissent- to paraphrase my comrade Fred Hampton of the
Black Panther Party, who was assassinated nearly 40 years ago... I
REMAIN A REVOLUTIONARY!
The prison system has mutated into a
complex, dysfunctional resource-wasting parasite of social control,
political repression and revenge! Human beings are warehoused in these
concrete and steel bunkers that destroy human sensibilities and the
human spirit. Then, following years of continuous antagonism and
frustration at the hands of sadistic prison guards, tortured souls are
released…. These human warehouses destroy human beings, like the Iraq
war is mutilating young Americans. Prisoners are being de-sensitized...
and they are frustrated, angry and bitter and unprepared to become
productive members of society. These tortured souls, who are our
families and loved ones, are paroled with little hope…. This is why
California's recidivism rate is above 75%. The system is now designed
to perpetuate itself.
We are again confronted with a parole
setting body of individuals known as commissioners, who are racist and
revenge-oriented and who operate as if they are exempt from the rule of
law, as the CCPOA (Prison Guards Union) and crime victims, all driving
the policy of the California Department of Corrections. The intent is
to keep these prisons filled to capacity!
From a practical
perspective of economic dollars and cents, there is no return on the
dollars invested in the Prison Industrial Complex. It's an enormous
drain on the state budget, denying social services to the people,
health care insurance and funding for education and social programs for
our youth and young adults to prevent them from joining gangs and
engaging in criminal activity.
The enormity of the problem may
seem overwhelming... and we as individuals, by comparison, may seem
insignificant and powerless. But appearances can be very
deceptive. In the words of Public Enemy, "Don't Believe the Hype."
What
is to be done to solve the problem? Let us follow the example of the
anti-war movement. Let the politically conscious people of Cali, the
progressive and revolutionary people, rise up and seize the day!
Organize to halt the perversion of justice and squandering of valuable
resources by the Prison Guards Union (CCPOA) and the Prison Industrial
Complex. Demand to be active participants in the sentencing/ prison
reform process. Demand public transparency as guaranteed by the law.
Register and vote out the legislators who have rewarded the campaign
contributions of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association
with carte blanche to do as they please in the California Department of
Corrections—which has resulted in corruption, criminal mismanagement,
thievery, brutality and even death!
Romaine
"Chip" Fitzgerald
Lancaster
State Prison,
California
March
2007
