[Ppnews] Who is Delbert Orr Africa?

[Political Prisoner News]

Who is Delbert Orr Africa (in a snapshot)

by Yvonne Orr on Friday, May 13, 2011 at 1:07pm

Delbert Orr Africa is a political prisoner who 
has been wrongfully incarcerated for over 30 
years. Delbert Orr was born June 21, 1951 (this 
is the media published date, NOT the real one 
which will remain undisclosed...for the record, 
my dad is actually 65...do the math =).  As a 
young man he joined the Chicago Chapter of the 
Black Panther Party, where he met my mom. A 
loving relationship ensued with her being a 
feisty officer of the BPP and him being a nubuck 
in the game of stand-up-for-yourself 
revolution.  In 1969 the FBI put forth false 
warrants on the Chicago BPP leadership, including 
my parents.  They and others then fled to Canada 
and birthed One Phoenix Rising...they originally 
named me Malaika.  They struggled to get any 
financial support while in exile and started 
carrying out bank expropriations to sustain 
themselves. I was born in a shack, by the water 
with no medical personnel
just a young woman (who 
had finished high school at 16, college at 19 and 
been declared a Mensa member) dead set on ensuring that I would have a life.

  In October of 1969 Delbert had been back in 
Chicago.  As he was driving back to Canada he 
crashed and ended up in the hospital. Later, my 
mom got word that he was the sole survivor of the 
accident and unable to walk. She spoke of 
bringing me back to Chicago, but he warned of 
raids being enacted against the BPP in Chicago. 
In December 1969, Fred Hampton, Sr. was murdered 
and they knew we had to head elsewhere.

In March of 1970 Delbert and three other friends 
decided to head down to Philadelphia because one 
of them was originally from there.  It was there 
in Philadelphia that he met members of the MOVE 
organization.  He was inspired by their uplifting 
approach to revolution and stayed on with them. 
My mom stayed in Philly for a few years and 
brought me back to Chicago in 1973. Meanwhile, 
Delbert ended up becoming Minister of 
Confrontation and Security for the MOVE Organization.


MOVE vs. The police

After countless false charges, ongoing harassment 
and many altercations, police finally decided 
that it was time for MOVE to be vanquished. When 
the police raided the MOVE house in August 1978, 
Delbert was the one videotaped being beaten 
brutally by police.  He suffered a broken jaw and 
fractured eye socket from the attack.


Life in Prison

Delbert started his prison sentence out in the 
“hole” for 6 years in a Dallas prison for 
refusing to break his religious beliefs and cut 
his hair. I was not allowed to visit with him 
during this time. In fact, on one occasion my 
Granny-- who didnt' drive-- enlisted her 
girlfriend to drive us from Texas to Philly after 
getting word that we could see him. Some 20 odd 
hours later, we were denied because my birth 
certificate "didn't look right". We traveled back 
with me in tears. I did get to see him a year 1/2 
later, though, making the same trek as 
before.   In December 1989 he was transferred out 
of Dallas, they had riots at Camp Hill prison, 
which though he wasn’t even a part of, the state 
prison used as an excuse to send him to the 
Federal system. We didn't get word of his 
transfer for 11 months! In federal prison he was 
under 23 hour lock up, 24 hours lock up on 
weekends where they wouldn’t even let him out for 
yard. He stayed in long-term solitary confinement 
until May of that year. Then they transferred him 
to another prison (again without informing his family).

At the new prison he was offered a job in the 
printing shop. They were mystified when he turned 
them down because pay was good for prison work- 
$86 a month. Delbert explained the situation,

“I said, ‘Naw, I don’t want that.’ They said, 
‘Wait a minute. This is just starting off, you 
can move right on up.’ I said, ‘Look, I’ve been 
in the hole for 6 years. I want some air! I don’t 
want no career in the prison.’ So they assigned 
me to the yard detail. And that was it, I loved 
that. I stayed in there a year and they shipped 
me back to state. When I got back they put me in 
the hole for about 3 weeks, then I got out, they put me in population.

That "population" consists of repeat rapists, 
serial killers, true murderers and gang thugs. 
What I have learned through my father/daughter 
relationship is that I am loved (despite the 
distance & circumstances) by two parents. I've 
never heard anything remotely cult-ish come out 
of my father's mouth. He's never "strongly 
encouraged" me to join MOVE. He's been an 
educator, mentor, protector and father as best as 
he could given his situation. I love him, have no 
shame to claim him and will forever be bound by our blood.

  The May 13, 1985 bombing of the MOVE house 
wasn't justice! The bombing resulted in 11 
deaths, including 5 children and the group's 
leader John Africa. Only 2 occupants survived, 
Ramona, an adult and Birdy, a child. In addition, 
60 homes were destroyed in the resulting fires. 
There does come a time when HUMANITY should take 
precedence over political agendas.

  Shame on us all for allowing many others beyond 
the MOVE 9 to be wrongfully incarcerated as well.


See 
<http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92093604.html>http://www.philly.com/philly/news/92093604.html 
for more.



Freedom Archives
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San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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