Sekou Odinga (born June 17, 1944, as Nathanial Burns) is an American activist and convicted felon who was imprisoned for actions with the
Black Liberation Army
The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was a far-left, black nationalist, underground Black Power revolutionary paramilitary organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981. Composed of former Black Panthers (BPP) and Republic ...
in the 1960s and 1970s.
In 1965, Sekou joined the
Organization of Afro-American Unity
__NOTOC__
The Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) was a Pan-Africanist organization founded by Malcolm X in 1964. The OAAU was modeled on the Organization of African Unity, which had impressed Malcolm X during his visit to Africa ...
(OAAU), founded by
Malcolm X
Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. A spokesman for the Nation of Is ...
. After Malcolm's death, the OAAU was not going in the direction he wanted and by 1967 he was looking at the
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...
. In early 1968, he helped build
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
chapter of the Black Panther Party. On January 17, 1969, two Panthers,
Bunchy Carter and
John Huggins
John Jerome Huggins Jr. (February 11, 1945 – January 17, 1969) was an American activist. He was the leader in the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party who was killed by black nationalist US Organization members at the University o ...
, were killed by members of
US Organization
US Organization, or Organization Us, is a Black nationalism, Black nationalist group in the United States founded in 1965. It was established as a community organization by Hakim Jamal together with Maulana Karenga. It was a rival to the Black Pan ...
on the
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
campus, and a fellow New York Panther who was in police custody was brutally beaten. Sekou was informed that police were searching for him in connection with a police shooting. The confluence of these events convinced Sekou to disappear from public-facing organizing and join the black underground with the Black Liberation Army.
Sekou Odinga remained underground, partaking in revolutionary clandestine activity for twelve years until his capture. Upon being captured in 1981, he was charged with six counts of attempted murder, nine predicate acts of
Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO), stemming from his involvement in the escape of
Assata Shakur
Assata Olugbala Shakur (born JoAnne Deborah Byron; July 16, 1947; also married name, JoAnne Chesimard) is an American political activist who was a member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA). In 1977, she was convicted in the first-degree murder ...
from prison and the
Brink's armored car robbery. He was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to a consecutive twenty-five years to life state sentence and a forty-year federal sentence.
[Black Panther Convicted of Trying to Kill 6 Officers Released From Prison]
, DNAInfo, Nov. 26, 2014. Burns' convictions were affirmed by the
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (in case citations, 2d Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. Its territory comprises the states of Connecticut, New York and Vermont. The court has appellate juri ...
in March 1985.
Odinga was released from prison on November 25, 2014.
[
]
Personal life
Odinga has eight children and 18 grandchildren. He is the father of deceased rapper Yaki Kadafi
Yafeu Akiyele Fula (October 9, 1977 – November 10, 1996), better known by his stage name Yaki Kadafi, was an American rapper and a founder and member of the hip hop groups Outlawz and Dramacydal.
Early life and education
Yafeu Fula was born ...
.
Further reading
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References
American prisoners and detainees
Inmates of ADX Florence
Living people
Members of the Black Liberation Army
Members of the Black Panther Party
People from Queens, New York
Prisoners and detainees of New York (state)
1944 births
American people convicted of attempted murder
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