Freedom Song

Building an Icon Out of Kuwasi Balagoon

by Jessica Loughery

On Dec. 13, 1986, Kuwasi Balagoon died in prison of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, an AIDS-related illness. He was a bisexual man and a part of the queer liberation movement. A Black Panther who was a defendant in the Panther 21 case. A member of the Black Liberation Army. A New Afrikan Anarchist.

And yet his name is nowhere to be found in our history books.

"We had been reading some of [Balagoon's] writings as a point of discussion, and we came to realize he wasn't getting enough recognition," says John Prisk, volunteer organizer with the Philadelphia chapter of the Anarchist Black Cross (ABC). Since this month marks the 20th anniversary of Balagoon's death, Prisk and his colleagues conceptualized an event to raise public awareness of Balagoon's life. A Dec. 16 memorial dinner will feature readings of his essays and poetry, along with a talk by writer Kazembe Balagun, who is currently struggling to piece together a Balagoon biography from what little we know about him.

A short tour with the U.S. Army launched a 17-year-old Balagoon into radical politics. Severe racism on an American base in Germany inspired him to help start a collective called De Legislators, which actively resisted mistreatment.

Back in the States, Balagoon joined the Black Panther Party, and in 1971, he was one of 21 people charged with conspiring to blow up New York's Botanical Gardens. (The defendants were acquitted after just 45 minutes of deliberation.)

In and out of prison for much of the 1970s, Balagoon was tried with comrades David Gilbert and Judy Clark in 1981 for his part in the expropriation of an armored truck, which resulted in the deaths of guard Peter Paige and police officers Waverly Brown and Edward O'Grady. He died in the middle of his 75-year sentence.

During his final years in lockdown, Balagoon wrote the inspiring anarchist works groups like the ABC are trying to spread. Since his personal philosophies often clashed with the defined positions of the groups he associated with, Balagoon's desire for unbridled freedom from a compulsory government—neither protecting nor representing those it controlled—speaks to many anarchists today.

Musician and artist Not4Prophet will read Balagoon's poetry at the memorial dinner. "The idea is [reaching] people with a message of anti-authority," he says.

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Balagoon had no regard for consequences. "Never compromising is the thread that runs through everything he did," says poet and activist Walidah Imarisha, who will also read at the dinner. "He never compromised who he was, who he loved or how he lived."

While the Black Panthers left no room for anything other than strictly defined masculinity, Balagoon openly loved both men and women. "He knew that fighting for freedom meant irrevocably being yourself," adds Imarisha.

He also knew that a fight for absolute freedom would be long, and that he would not taste victory in his lifetime. "The most important aspect of [Balagoon's] life I wish to highlight is his concept of choice," Balagun writes of the speech he'll deliver. "He focuses on the notion that it is better to go to jail ... than to accept injustice."

At Balagoon's final trial, he delivered his own closing statement. "I will tell you now and forever that New Afrikan people have a right to self-determination, and that that is more important than the lives of Paige, Brown and O'Grady or Balagoon, Gilbert and Clark," he said. "And it's gonna cost more lives and be worth every life it costs—because the destiny of over 30 million people and the coming generation's rights to land and independence is priceless."

Kuwasi Balagoon Memorial Dinner

Sat., Dec. 16, 5-8 p.m., free, LAVA, 4134 Lancaster Ave., 215-387-6155