>>>In 1967, H. Rap Brown spoke at a Black community rally in
Cambridge, Maryland and proclaimed, "Black folks built America, and if America don't come around, we're going to burn America down." A rebellion followed--during which Rap was wounded in the forehead by a shotgun pellet.. Several buildings were burned down. Rap Brown was charged with inciting riot and arson.
When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in April 1968, over a hundred rebellions broke out in Black communities across the U.S. Six days later, the U.S. Congress passed the notorious "Rap Brown Amendment" which made it illegal to cross state lines to "incite" rebellions. It was openly designed to suppress and criminalize the militant views and activities of H. Rap Brown and Black liberation activists like him.
Al-Amin was indicted for "conspiracy" and put on trial in New
Orleans. One observer wrote, "The courtroom was ringed with
armed National Guards. Every day you had to go through the
military to get into the courtroom. Every night Rap Brown would speak to crowds of 10,000 people in the Black community. It was a city under a state of siege, practically.
Rap Brown went underground. During a countrywide manhunt, he
was put on the FBI's list of "10 most wanted." In 1971, he was finally captured in an incident connected to an armed action against a New York City bar known for its police connections and its distribution of hard drugs in the Black community. Rap served six years in prison--where he converted to Islam and took the name Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin. <<<
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