Eddie “Kabaka” Ellis
Eddie “Kabaka” Ellis was born in Harlem in 1941. In the early 1960s he began to build relationships with people who were actively involved in developing the theory and practice of the Black Liberation struggle. He was mentored by and had exchanges with intellectuals such as Muhammad Ahmad (then Maxwell Stanford) of the Revolutionary Action Movement, Herman Ferguson of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the pan-Africanist playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka and Larry Neal of the Black Arts Movement. These people helped Eddie develop as an intellectual and cultivate a revolutionary consciousness. An incisive wordsmith, Eddie began writing for several political publications, including the radical leftist publication, The Liberator Magazine (Tinson 2010). Eddie helped found the first Harlem Chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) in 1966.
In 1969, Eddie was arrested for the murder of James Howard. Eddie maintained his innocence for the rest of his life, asserting that he, like so many other activists of the period, was targeted for “neutralization” as part of the United States Government’s illegal Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO). Under COINTELPRO, the U.S. Government deployed a range of strategies and tactics against the BPP and other radical formations, including infiltration, surveillance, internal disruption, “false flag” operations, criminalization, capture and targeted assassination (Churchill and Vander Wall 2002; Newton 1980). Eddie’s capture generated community outrage and mobilization. Movement supporters organized rallies in Harlem and established the Eddie Ellis Defense Fund, but these actions fell short of securing his release. Eddie was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to twenty-five years in New York State Prisons (Dixon 1969). Eddie fits the profile of the traditionally conceived ‘political prisoner.’ He was captured because of his political activity and had already been exposed to Black radical theory and praxis. Mr. Ellis spent 23 ½ years caged. At the time of his arrest, he was a leader in the Black Panther Party, a writer and community organizer.
Eddie’s life is evidence of the fact that, while COINTELPRO successfully debilitated the integrity of organizations like the Black Panther Party, this organized state repression facilitated the emergence and circulation of revolutionary consciousness and praxis in the prisons. While confined, political prisoners like Eddie established and participated in networks and organizations that included ‘social prisoners’ - captives whose ‘crimes’ were not immediately legible as political, or who were not formally inured to a political-intellectual tradition prior to their capture. Crucially, these social prisoners also entered the prison with their own sets of knowledge and ideas about the world. Eddie played a key role in transforming the prison into a site of knowledge production and a space of “revolutionary learning:” While confined in Attica, Eddie participated in the political education sessions that preceded the rebellion.
Following Attica, Eddie and others were transferred to Green Haven Prison. Eddie began organizing with the Think Tank Concept, a group of imprisoned intellectuals that was actively working to extend the idea of Attica by cultivating consciousness within and beyond prisons. In 1979, he was part of a group of men that introduced the Non Traditional Approach to Criminal and Social Justice, also known as the Seven Neighborhood Study. This groundbreaking study documented the disproportionate representation of Black and Latino/Pan Afrikan men from seven neighborhoods in New York State’s prison system, and is still referred to today, often cited by elected officials. While in prison, Eddie Ellis obtained two associate degrees, one in paralegal studies from Sullivan Community College and one in liberal arts from the State University of New York, a bachelor’s degree in business administration, graduating magna cum laude from Marist College, and a master’s degree from New York Theological Seminary, graduating summa cum laude.
Once Eddie “Kabaka” Ellis was released from prison, he resumed his work as a humble servant, teacher, advisor and advocator. “Kabaka” lectured and traveled extensively throughout the United States, England, Scotland, Belgium, the Caribbean and South Africa, where he visited prisons and developed initiatives around public policy and criminal justice reform. Eddie served on the Drug Policy Task Force developed by the New York County Trial Lawyers Association, and he was a senior consultant for Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute as part of the Criminal Justice Initiative. Eddie was the executive producer and host of the long-running radio program, On The Count, the WBAI criminal justice program and report. For several years, Mr. Ellis directed the prison ministries at the historic Riverside Church in New York City, where he developed guidelines for creating prison ministries at other churches. In 2001, Eddie co-founded the Center for NuLeadership on Human Justice and Healing; and co-authored the “Language Letter” calling for humanizing terms when referring to PEOPLE who are or were incarcerated. Eddie shifted the framework towards our shared humanity, on human justice and healing long before these concepts and terminology were used. Eddie mentored thousands of formerly incarcerated and directly impacted men and women all over the country. “Kabaka” authored many articles; received numerous awards and citations, among them the Drum Major for Justice Award, presented by Harvard Law School’s Institute for Race and Justice, the Human Justice Award, presented by Harry Belafonte, and the Joseph L. Galiber Award for Community Service, presented by the New York State Association of Black and Puerto Rican State Legislators, to name a few. For over 50 years, Eddie worked tirelessly to uplift and empower Black and Afrikan people with a focus on garnering support and resources for people in Harlem and other marginalized and underserved communities. Kabaka’s global impact is felt today, 11 years after his transition in 2014.
For Description Citation See Full Texts: Dr. Orisanmi Burton (2023) Tip of the spear: Black radicalism, prison repression, and the Long Attica Revolt. Univ of California Press & (2016). Attica is: Revolutionary consciousness, counterinsurgency and the deferred abolition of New York State prisons. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
