President Barack Obama Grant Dr. Mutulu Shakur Executive Clemency
Campaign created by Family and Friends of Dr. Mutulu Shakur
We’re urging President Obama to use his executive power to grant clemency to Mutulu Shakur given the context in which his crimes were committed, the time he’s already served, and ultimately in light of the positive good he can serve the community in light of his rehabilitation.
Why is this important?
The continued incarceration of Dr. Mutulu Shakur is representative of the failure of our criminal justice system in working towards the stated goal of rehabilitation. Dr. Mutulu Shakur is being held for punitive purposes because he broke the law in the service of a movement meant to break systemic racism. We demand that our criminal justice system works in the way that the system says it should.
Dr. Mutulu Shakur has been incarcerated for over thirty years where he’s been denied parole eight times despite taking full responsibility for his actions and committing himself to community healing and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms while under state control.
Here is Dr. Mutulu Shakur in his own words,“For many years I have been a staunch advocate for the establishment of a truth and reconciliation process to address issues of racial and economic disparities. I have been influenced by examples in South Africa, Latin America, Northern Ireland and here in the United States of efforts at restorative justice through the pursuit of truth and reconciliation …
I cannot undo the violence and tragedy that took place more than thirty years ago. But for several decades while incarcerated I have dedicated myself to being a healer, spreading a message of reconciliation and justice, and playing a positive role in the lives of those I come into contact with, in and out of prison …
This country is not the same country it was at the time of my conviction and I have lived long enough to understand the changes the country and I have undergone. I will always care about freedom and equality for black Americans, marginalized people and the lower classes in this country and abroad. The struggle was never about me, but for the will of the people.”