Product Code Database
Kuwasi Balagoon (December 22, 1946–December 13, 1986), born Donald Weems, was an American political activist, anarchism and member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army.
Radicalized by race riots in his home state of Maryland growing up, as well as by his experiences while serving in the US Army, Weems became the black revolutionary known as Kuwasi Balagoon in New York City in the late 1960s. First becoming involved in local Afrocentric organizations in Harlem, Balagoon would move on to become involved in the New York chapter of the Black Panther Party, which quickly saw him charged and arrested for allegedly criminal behavior. Balagoon was initially part of the Panther 21 case, in which 21 Black Panthers were accused of planning to bomb several locations in New York City. Although the Panther 21 were acquitted, Balagoon's case was separated off and he was convicted instead of a New Jersey bank robbery.
While serving his sentence, Balagoon became disillusioned with the Black Panther Party and drifted into the more radical Black Liberation Army while also ideologically embracing Black anarchism. During the 1970s Balagoon would escape prison twice, and during his second period on the run, would be involved in breaking Assata Shakur out of prison in 1979. In 1981 Balagoon was amongst the several BLA, May 19 Communist Organization and Weather Underground members involved in the 1981 Brink's robbery, which resulted in the deaths of two police officers and one security guard. Following his capture in 1982, Balagoon would be tried and sentenced to life for his involvement. While in prison, Balagoon died of pneumocystis pneumonia brought about by AIDS on 13 December 1986. He was 39 years old.
After graduating high school, Weems joined the US Army and was deployed to Germany, where he experienced racism and physical attacks from white officers and enlisted men. In response, Weems and other Black soldiers formed a secret group with the Army called "Da Legislators" which carried out revenge attacks. It was during this period in Europe that Weems visited London, England where he met African immigrants, Black immigrants from the Caribbean and other Black British people. Weems found the experience of meeting Black people of other nationalities stimulating and began embracing a more Afrocentrism lifestyle.
Having served 3 years in the army, mostly in Germany, Weems was honourably discharged in 1967. He returned home to the United States and settled in New York City where his sister Dianne now lived.
Following this, Weems moved on from the CCOH and joined the Central Harlem Committee for Self-Defense, a group involved with providing food and water to students who occupied buildings as part of the Columbia University protests of 1968. It was around this same time period that Weems became interested and involved with the Yoruba Temple in Harlem run by Adefunmi, which promoted a form of West African traditional religion. Adefunmi promoted Black Nationalism and encouraged followers to "Africanise" everything about themselves. It was under this influence that Weems Africanized his name to Kuwasi Balagoon. “Kuwasi” is a Ghanaian name for a male born on Sunday, while the Yoruba name “Balagoon” translates as “Warlord".
It was at this point that Balagoon joined the Black Panther Party (BPP). Balagoon had first become aware of the BPP following the arrest of Huey Newton following a shoot out with local police in Oakland, California in October 1967. Around the same time, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Revolutionary Action Movement were involved in setting up a chapter of the Black Panthers in Harlem, New York City. Balagoon quickly joined the chapter, citing the Panthers' adoption of Maoism as a motivating factor.
In the first week of October 1970, while awaiting trial, members of the Black Panther Party, including Balagoon, were involved in co-ordinated prison riots at both the Queens Branch House of Detention and Brooklyn House of Detention. Balagoon was being held in Queens with Lumumba Shakur and fellow Panther 21 defendant Kwando Kinshasa where, during the rioting, seven hostages were taken. As authorities attempted to negotiate with the prisoners, who were demanding better conditions inside the prison and speedier trials, inside the prison Balagoon attempted to influence decision-making, believing decisions should be consensus-based. However, Balagoon ultimately felt that the prisoners allowed the Black Panthers to make the decisions, and began disengaging from meetings. The prisons were later retaken, and while Balagoon was disappointed with the outcome, he was evidently pleased with the experience, expressing the belief that the riots demonstrated ordinary people could overcome the power of the state.
Balagoon's legal case was separated from 13 of those who had been arrested originally in the Panther 21 trial in order for Balagoon to face charges relating to the robbery in New Jersey. After two years of imprisonment, those 13 panthers were eventually acquitted. Meanwhile, in October 1971, Balagoon pled guilty to the charge that he attempted to shoot police officers during the Jersey robbery and he was sentenced to a term of between 23 and 29 years.
Although in prison, Balagoon was aware of these events and was demoralized by them. Balagoon, alongside many former Panthers imprisoned alongside himself, began to look ideologically towards anarchism in response. Balagoon came to believe the Black Panther Party had stopped being a party concerned with the daily struggle of Black people in America and instead one totally focused on defending its membership in court trials against the state. It was this new ideological view that also brought Balagoon towards a new radical Panther splinter group called the Black Liberation Army, which advocated fighting a "war" against the state by members who had gone "underground".
Imprisoned once again, Balagoon committed further to Anarchism and began exploring the works of Wilhelm Reich, Emma Goldman, Errico Malatesta, Buenaventura Durruti and Severino Di Giovanni and trying to applying their thoughts to "Black Liberation". Balagoon also began to affiliate with the Republic of New Afrika, a group that advocated African-Americans identifying as "New Afrikans" and that sought a Black nation-state within North America. From this point onwards Balagoon identified as a "New Afrikan Anarchist".
In July 1983, Balagoon was placed on trial alongside David Gilbert and Judith Alice Clark, white accomplices who had helped during the robbery. Upon a motion by the defence, the trial was transferred from Rockland County to Orange County due to concerns regarding the impartiality of the juror pool in Rockland. During the trial, Balagoon dismissed legal representation and instead represented himself, using his speaking time to reject the authority of the court and to portray himself as a "prisoner of war". During the trial Balagoon was allowed to call Odinga as a witness, who had previously been convicted of racketeering and conspiracy but acquitted of the robbery and any murder charges due to double jeopardy laws. During Balagoon's examination of Odinga, Odinga confirmed that Balagoon and himself had been a part of the robbery and stated that the deaths that had taken place had been "justified." Previous to Odinga's testimony, none of the defendants had admitted any role in the robbery.
Balagoon was convicted of murder and other charges and sentenced to life imprisonment. Following the trial, he wrote: "As to the seventy-five years in prison, I am not really worried, not only because I am in the habit of not completing sentences or waiting on parole or any of that nonsense but also because the State simply isn't going to last seventy-five or even fifty years."
Since 2020, Black and Pink, a prison abolitionist organization supporting LGBTQ and HIV-positive prisoners, has run a "Kuwasi Balagoon award" for those living with HIV/AIDS.
|
|
