Supporters rally ahead of Uhuru 3 trial

St. Petersburg, FL – “We’re going to beat you in the court, and then when we do that we’re going to beat you in the streets,” said former NYC Councilman Charles Barron. He was talking about the fight for justice for the Uhuru 3, addressing a crowd of 125 community members and activists. The crowd gathered outside the Uhuru House in Saint Petersburg, Florida on August 31 to rally around the Uhuru 3, three Uhuru Movement leaders facing 15 years in prison for their international solidarity work.

On July 29, 2022, the FBI carried out violent, military-style raids on Uhuru Movement leader Chairman Omali Yeshitela’s home in Saint Louis, Missouri, and several other homes and offices. A year later, a federal grand jury in Tampa, Florida indicted three Uhuru members on bogus claims of acting as agents of the Russian government. The Uhuru 3 includes Omali Yeshitela, chairman and founder of the African Peoples Socialist Party (APSP) and the Uhuru Movement; Penny Hess, chairperson of the African People’s Solidarity Committee; and Jesse Nevel, chair of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement.

These charges are not coming down for any wrongdoing, but because of the Uhuru 3’s political positions. “We understand that these charges are a part of a long and brutal history of political repression waged by the U.S. government against the people’s movements. Those who have fought for a better world, for the masses and oppressed people, have been made and seen as enemies of the U.S. government,” said Joesph Nohava of the Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (TAARPR).

“The Uhuru 3 are not guilty of these charges, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever of the nonsense that they have accused the chairman and the Uhuru 3 of carrying out. If it was about the law, we would have gotten an acquittal yesterday. If it was about the evidence, we would have gotten an acquittal yesterday. It has nothing to do with the law. They’re using the law as an instrument to make a political attack,” said Jesse Nevel, one of the Uhuru 3.

The rally included speakers from several different organizations, including the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Julian Assange Defense Committee, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Union Del Bario, Students for a Democratic Society, and more.

Those in attendance recognized that the case of the Uhuru represents a larger attack on the First Amendment right to free speech within social movements. “This is coming down not just on their organization or our organization. If they can put the African People’s Socialist Party in, they can put you in prison, they will not stop,” said Joe Iosbaker, one of the Anti-War 23 – anti-war and international solidarity activists who were subpoenaed or raided by the FBI in 2010.

Speaking to the variety of progressive organizations showing solidarity with the Uhuru 3, Chairman Omali Yeshitela said, “I know there’s all kinds of differences in terms of political and tactical and things like that. But I’m saying there’s enough room in here because the greater divide is not between us. It’s between us and them. That’s the great divide that we have to take on.”

On Tuesday, September 3, the Uhuru 3 will face trial at the Sam Gibbons Federal Courthouse in Tampa, Florida. Progressive people from all across the country will be traveling to pack the courthouse to defend the Uhuru 3 and our right to free speech.

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