Susan Lisa Rosenberg (born October 5, 1955) is an American activist, writer, advocate for
social justice
Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...
and prisoners' rights. From the late 1970s into the mid-1980s, Rosenberg was active in the
far-left
Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...
terrorist
May 19th Communist Organization
The May 19th Communist Organization (also variously referred to as the May 19 Coalition, May 19 Communist Coalition or M19CO) was a US-based far-left armed terrorist group formed by members of the Weather Underground Organization. The group was ...
("M19CO") which, according to a contemporaneous FBI report, "openly advocate
the overthrow of the U.S. Government through armed struggle and the use of violence".
M19CO provided support to an offshoot of 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 of Ne ...
, including in armored truck robberies, and later engaged in bombings of government buildings, including the
1983 Capitol bombing.
After living as a fugitive for two years, Rosenberg was arrested in 1984 while in possession of a large cache of explosives and firearms, including automatic weapons. She had also been sought as an accomplice in the 1979 prison 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 ...
and in the
1981 Brink's robbery
The 1981 Brink's robbery was an armed robbery and three related murders committed on October 20, 1981, by several Black Liberation Army members and four former members of the Weatherman (organization), Weather Underground, now associated with the M ...
that resulted in the deaths of two police officers and a guard,
although she was never charged in either case. Convicted after a trial on the weapons and explosives charges, Rosenberg was sentenced to 58 years' imprisonment.
She spent 16 years in prison, during which she became a poet, author, and
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
activist. Her sentence was commuted to time served by President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
on January 20, 2001, his final day in office.
Early life
Rosenberg was born into a middle-class
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. Her father was a dentist and her mother a theatrical producer. She attended the progressive
Walden School and later went to
Barnard College
Barnard College of Columbia University is a private women's liberal arts college in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a group of women led by young student activist Annie Nathan Meyer, who petitioned Columbia ...
at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
She left Barnard and became a drug counselor at
Lincoln Hospital in
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 ...
, eventually becoming licensed in the practice of Chinese medicine and acupuncture.
She also worked as an anti-drug counselor and acupuncturist at health centers in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
, including the Black Acupuncture Advisory of North America.
Activism and imprisonment
In an interview with the radio show ''
Democracy Now
''Democracy Now!'' is an hour-long American TV, radio, and Internet news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman (who also acts as the show's executive producer), Juan González, and Nermeen Shaikh. The show, which airs live each weekday at ...
'', Rosenberg said that she was "totally and profoundly influenced by the revolutionary movements of the '60s and '70s". She became active in
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
causes, and worked in support of the
Puerto Rican independence movement
Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to obtain independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1898 and since then from the United States.
A spectrum of pro-autonomy, p ...
and the fight against the
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
's
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO ( syllabic abbreviation derived from Counter Intelligence Program; 1956–1971) was a series of covert and illegal projects actively conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrati ...
program.
Rosenberg joined the
May 19th Communist Organization
The May 19th Communist Organization (also variously referred to as the May 19 Coalition, May 19 Communist Coalition or M19CO) was a US-based far-left armed terrorist group formed by members of the Weather Underground Organization. The group was ...
, a female-led clandestine group working in support of 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 of Ne ...
and its offshoots (including assistance in armored truck robberies), the
Weather Underground
The Weather Underground was a Far-left politics, far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organiz ...
and other revolutionary organizations.
Rosenberg was charged with a role in bombings at the
U.S. Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the Legislature, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is form ...
, the U.S.
National War College
The National War College (NWC) of the United States is a school in the National Defense University. It is housed in Roosevelt Hall on Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C., the third-oldest Army post still active.
History
The National War Colle ...
and the
New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Association building, but these charges were dropped as part of a plea deal by other members of her group.
![Susan Rosenberg Wanted Poster](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Susan_Rosenberg_Wanted_Poster.jpg)
Arrested in November 1984 for possession of over 750 lbs of explosives, after two years underground following the Brink's robbery, Rosenberg was convicted in March 1985 by a federal jury in New Jersey and given a 58-year-sentence. Supporters said this was sixteen times the national average for such offenses. Her lawyers contended that, had the case not been politically charged, Rosenberg would have received a five-year sentence.
Rosenberg was one of the first two inmates of the
High Security Unit High Security Unit (HSU) was a "control" unit for women within the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. In the less than two years that the HSU was operational it became a focus of national and international concern over human rights ab ...
(HSU), an isolation unit in the basement of the Federal Correctional Institution (currently the
Federal Medical Center) in
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
.
Allegations were made that the unit was an experimental underground political prison that practiced isolation and
sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing, while more complex devices can al ...
. The women were subject to 24-hour camera surveillance and frequent strip searches, and were given only limited access to visitors or to exercise. After touring the unit, the American Civil Liberties Union denounced it as a "living tomb", and Amnesty International called it "deliberately and gratuitously oppressive". After a lawsuit was brought by the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
and other organizations, the unit was ordered closed by a federal judge in 1988 and the prisoners transferred to regular cells.
["Judge Bars U.S. From Isolating Prisoners for Political Beliefs"](_blank)
''The New York Times'', July 17, 1988. Accessed 19 October 2008
Rosenberg was transferred to various prisons around the country, including
FCI Coleman, Florida,
FCI Dublin, California and, finally,
FCI Danbury, Connecticut. In prison, she devoted herself to writing and to AIDS activism, and obtained a master's degree from Antioch University.
Speaking at a 2007 forum, Rosenberg said that writing "became the mechanism by which to save my own sanity". She added that she began writing partly because the intense isolation of prison was threatening to cut her off completely from the real world and that she did not want to lose her connection to that world.
Release
Rosenberg's sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001, his last day in office, to the more than 16 years' time served. Her commutation produced a wave of criticism by police and New York elected officials.
After her release, Rosenberg became the communications director for the
American Jewish World Service
American Jewish World Service (AJWS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit international development and human rights organization that supports community-based organizations in 19 countries in the developing world and works to educate the American Jewish com ...
, an international development and human rights organization, based in New York City. She also continued her work as an anti-prison activist, and taught literature at
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts c ...
, in
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
, New York City. After teaching for four semesters there as an adjunct instructor, the CUNY administration, responding to political pressure, forced John Jay College to end its association with Rosenberg, and her contract with the school was allowed to expire without her being rehired.
In 2004,
Hamilton College
Hamilton College is a private liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York. It was founded as Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and was chartered as Hamilton College in 1812 in honor of inaugural trustee Alexander Hamilton, following ...
offered her a position to teach a for-credit month-long seminar, "Resistance Memoirs: Writing, Identity and Change". Some professors, alumni and parents of students objected and as a result of the ongoing protests, she declined the offer.
As of 2020, Rosenberg serves as vice chair of the board of directors of
Thousand Currents, a non-profit foundation
that raises funds and provides institutional support for grassroots groups, particularly in the
Global South
The concept of Global North and Global South (or North–South divide in a global context) is used to describe a grouping of countries along socio-economic and political characteristics. The Global South is a term often used to identify region ...
.
Writing
In 2011, Rosenberg published a memoir of her time in prison called, ''An American Radical: A Political Prisoner In My Own Country''. ''
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
'' said of the book, "Articulate and clear-eyed, Rosenberg's memoir memorably records the struggles of a woman determined to be the agent of her own life."
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See also
*
Bill Clinton pardon controversy
Bill Clinton was criticized for some of his presidential pardons and acts of executive clemency. Pardoning or commuting sentences is a power granted by the Constitution to sitting U.S. presidents. Scholars use two different models to describe the ...
*
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