The Black Panther Party for Self Defense founded in Oakland, CA by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton came on the scene in the 60's like a whirlwind with the seeds of change that bucked the power structure of America with a nonconformist Black Nationalist ideology inspired by Malcolm X, at its core. An ideology, which shook the very fabric of American life, which caused her to examine herself like never before! Many young Blacks, particularly college students were the one's took to this progressive movement because it represented how they felt during an era where challenging the American power structure was not the norm in the mainstream.
The attraction to the Panther Party was much more powerful than being able to brandish firearms but more so about taking responsibility for one's community and doing for self. The Free Breakfast Program for Children was a great example of this philosophy.
My mother would always tell me she had a cousin who was heavily involved with the Panthers back in the day and that he got locked up because of his affiliation with the organization. Having been a student of Black history as a teen, I was always fascinated with the Panthers, which caused me to study the organization more in depth as I entered my first year of college.
Ma Dukes would always say “Cuzin' Chipper was a Panther,” and she would say it gleaming with pride because she was very fond of him; also perhaps she saw him in me because in my youth, I was a forward and progressive thinker like Cuzin' Chipper. At the time, little did I know of the intricate history of my cousin Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald, and his journey with the Black Panther Party that led to his now going on 41 years of incarceration in the California Correctional System. A story all to familiar was the Panthers and other progressive organizations of the 60's were concerned because of the vicious tactics implemented by the COINTELPRO program. From 2Pacs' mom Afeni Shakur to former Panther Geronimo "Ji-Jaga" Pratt to Native American activist Leonard Peltier, and to Chicago's very own Mark Clark and Fred Hampton all were victims of J. Edgar Hoover's diabolical hell-bent plan to destroy anyone who challenged the oppressive American socio-political power structure of that era.
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| Cuzin' Chipper early 90's |
Fast forward to 2004, my mom’s put Cuzin' Chipper on my radar screen again. She would always mention from time to time how she wished she could get in touch with him, and how she would always think about him over the years. I promised her that I would track him, and our West Coast family down especially since I was travelling back and forth to LA on business quite often during that time. But of course life got in the way, and my focus was not there.
Ma Dukes passed in April of 2008 so I took it upon myself to do my due diligence to track Cuzin' Chipper down; low and behold I found a wealth of history regarding his story and I was like wow, Ma Dukes was right! Since April of 2010 the two year anniversary of my mom’s passing, I am proud to say I am in touch with her Cuzin' Chipper! Of course, I wish she could be in on our conversations but I guess in a very spiritual kind of way she is. And, I can now see why she had a special fondness for him!
Currently, we are prayerful and eagerly awaiting for him to be free and be with his loving family. He is blessed to have his mom who is in her mid 90's still here with us and I hope he'll get out soon so he can spend time with her. He and I have older sisters with the same name--my mom’s got my sister's name from his older sister's name. At age 61, and after serving over 40 years, he is still down for the liberation of all poor and oppressed people especially Black people. One cannot knock his stance at all because that means he's a man, a brother, and solider of conviction.
*In December of 2012, We lost Cuzin' Auntie Marie at 94 years young, Cuzin' Chipper's dream was to see her before she passed but God knows best. It will not be long before he is released as the CDCR has to release 30,000 inmates at the order of the Supreme Court. We pray justice will prevail and Cuzin' Chipper will be released in due time!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/supreme-court-decision-or_n_866308.html
Peace & Blessings, Bro. Cuzin' Chipper, Thank you for standing up!!!
Family Love, Your Lil’ Big Cuz Dubie
*Updated March 2012
*For more info about Chip visit
http://freechip.org &
http://www.abcf.net/abc/pdfs/chip.pdf
Drop him a line of encouragement & solidarity...
Please sign the petition
gopetition.com/petitions/free
Write Chip at
Romaine Fitzgerald B-27527
Kern Valley State Prison
P.O. Box 5101 A-5-110
Delano, California 93216
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| Cuzin' Chipper at 18yrs of age |
For many the death of the notorious villian Osama Bin Laden brought on a sense of closure and payback for many, for one of the worst tragedies to occur on American soil. And for some, it brought on a sense of contempt, not from an un-patriotic point of view but from a critical examination point of view. Justifiable so, many would say "why ask questions, this is the man who killed Americans, let's just be glad he's dead!" And then there are those who'd say "why not ask questions, there's always more than meets the eye." In the week that has passed since learning of the death of Ben Laden many accounts and re-accounts of how the man's demise came about have been thrown in the air. Which has caused much confusion and speculation. The public will never know the true account by which he was captured and brought to death. Which is why we as Americans and people of the World community must continue to engage in this type of critical public discourse. Furthermore, the critical discourse is needed because over time we tend to sweep the conversations and things we're not so proud of under the rug. Also, because we tend let our tragedies dictate our response and create a furious fervor without questioning the context.
