This interview between Ali and “You’re Not Normal Zine” (Which was re-published published in 2001, in a small book called “THE DEFIANT – Prisoners in the Global Resistance” Edited by anarchist prisoner Rob los Ricos (Robert Thaxton) and the Anarchist Prisoners’ Legal Aid Network. Printed in Portland, Oregon in 2001 by Blackberry Press. We did some background research on a dodgy looking ancestry website and it looks like Ali was born on August 14th, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan and he died in August 7th, 2014 in New Jersey, USA.
Can you give our readers some basic background info on yourself?
Well let’s see … I am a New Afrikan Anarchist. I am 47 years young, college educated with a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Science. I have a paralegal certificate in Criminal and Civil law. I have no children. I’m a professional “jazz” musician but I play all sorts of music. Jazz just happens to be my forte.
I’ve been in prison now for about or a little over a decade for “Assault with intent to rob while armed.” The case involves me and three other comrades who were out to stop a particular drug dealer (very prominent) from continuing his activities. I don’t won’t go into a lot of details here but I will say that we went after one of his “front” businesses and ended up having to abort the situation because the parties at the business didn’t know what was going on. So my comrades and I left without taking anything or harming anyone. In fact, I even apologized, but it’s a long and drawn out issue and I don’t want to go too far into it here.
You also do the awesome zine In The Trenches. Tell us about that. Yes, my zine In The Trenches is something that I had thought of and my good friend and comrade Anthony Rayson helped me put it into being. Anthony is a very good guy. A fighter, a real tiger. He is someone that not only, says something but backs it up with action. Anyway, In the Trenches is a compilation of material from prisoners all over the country and world. It is not about no one else’s shit but prisoners and what they are going through, what they have to say and what is happening in terms of the law and prisons. In the Trenches is a voice for the voiceless. A vehicle which I would encourage all prisoners to become a part of. That is what In the Trenches is all about. I am just pleased that there are people like you that like the ‘zine and I hope to keep it coming out.
You are the founder of the PPWC, can you tell us about that?
PPWC stands for “Political Prisoners of War Coalition.” It is an organization I created from thought while sitting in a cell at the Egeler Correctional Facility in Jackson, Michigan. I came up with this thought because as I read and looked around I noticed that a lot of prisoners who were politically active, or who’ve become politicized since their incarceration weren’t being represented … didn’t have a voice or any outside help because some of these so called revolutionary groups weren’t paying any attention to them. Some of these so-called revolutionary groups only want to profile those that were in prison with highly publicized cases and what not. So I thought it would be a good idea to develop an organization that was all-inclusive for the real revolutionary, whether they came in prison with a sensationalized case or not. Or for those who’ve become politicized since their incarceration like comrade George Jackson or brotha Malcolm X, and are fighting and because of their fight are being abused, misused, subjected to all manner of inhumanity and injustice because of their politics.
“Some … so-called revolutionary groups only want to profile those that were in prison with highly publicized cases..! thought it would be a good idea to develop an organization that was all-inclusive for the real revolutionary… ” -Ali Khalid Abdullah
With that in mind, PPWC stands to fight against kapitalism because we recognize that the seeds of all the social ills today stem from the greed of man. Kapitalism is about greed, exploitation, manipulation and deceit. So this is one of the reasons why PPWC is against kapitalism. PPWC is also against all manner of racism, sexism, homophobia, class divisions, youth bashing, elderly neglect and, and, and … As I said, PPWC was began in prison from a concept I had, but PPWC isn’t Just for prisoners. I mean, anyone can join PPWC and start a PPWC chapter. I’d like to see PPWC chapters all over the world. So far, we are working with comrades within the Anarchist Black Cross and anti-authority groups, as well as some Maoist and other revolutionary groups and individuals from around the world. We aren’t gonna get caught up on doctrines and things like that. We try to maximize on what we have in common and work through that on the basis of mutual aid, free association and like that. PPWC isn’t a Black thing nor a white thing, nor a Latino thing, nor a First Nation or Native American thing .. .it’s a peoples’ thing!