In addition to her work as a journalist, radio personality and television host and producer Kiilu has written hundreds of letters to political prisoners. She also uses her disability to spur her to activism rather than excuse her from continuing to struggle.
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Letter writing was once considered a literary form. Many books are written in epistolary form or are indeed just compilations of letters. You spend significant time writing to political prisoners. What is the importance of this work?
Prisoner correspondence is a two-way street and can be quite beneficial to ourselves because prisoners have the time to think and study, listen and learn, and share…
For over 45 years, I wrote to political prisoners, some of who are still in prison or have joined the ancestors either in prison or after their release. I cannot overstate the importance of this work; just imagine yourself being locked in a cage 24/7 (esp. in solitary confinement) and never hearing from anyone outside in the real world. Moreover, prisoner correspondence is a two-way street and can be quite beneficial to ourselves because prisoners have the time to think and study, listen and learn, and share their knowledge and experience. The best example, of course, is George Lester Jackson who wrote a best seller and a second book published posthumously. I can’t begin to tell you how much he influenced my life and work. Devastated by his assassination, I continued to
Hugo Pinell
write as many prisoners as I could, including one of his closest comrades, Hugo “Yogi Bear” Pinell. Yogi kept me company for over 24 years once I found him again in Pelican Bay. His murder sent me to the hospital. So I must confess that at this late date in my life (77 years!) I’ve stopped writing prisoners because I can’t handle the emotional stress anymore, not to mention the literal work and expense.
Those who know you speak of you as a role model in so many ways. Despite your disabilities you stay active and engaged? How does being a disabled activist influence your work?
I would say that being disabled…has certainly alerted me to a new form of discrimination
Being a disabled activist definitely changed my M.O. since I could no longer run around, climb stairs, and make it to all the meetings, events and protests. It also pushed me into radio for the first time since my disabilities didn’t preclude running my mouth. I would say that being disabled, having to use a wheelchair for mobility, has certainly alerted me to a new form of discrimination and made me more sensitive to disability issues myself. Also, being disabled made me a much more intellectual person than I was able-bodied (for nearly 40 years) because I spent more time in athletic activity, less time studying. I used the years of medical prison time to follow the example of George Jackson and other prisoners who used it to study. I.e., I’ve tried to turn my disabilities into an asset.
Since the 2016 USA National election, or selection, many people seeming to be running about much like Chicken Little speaking of the falling sky? If you had action advice for any of these doom-sayers what would it be?
The Trump selection has separated the wheat from the chaff politically, allowing us to see clearly how fascist this hierarchy really is. I’m optimistic because the people are “woke!” Unlike the Obama selection, people are not unconscious and ready to give “hope and change” years of passivity and rationalization of warmongering policies. People are already exercising their power to resist; the reactionary 2017 Congress felt it immediately when they tried to gut the ethics bill and their phones lit up like a Christmas tree.
I know sketching is also a part of your creative life. What does rendering of people, rendering of movers and shakers in the liberation struggle, differ from writing with or about these same people?
George Jackson by Kiilu Nyasha
Art – painting and drawing — has been a part of my life as long as I can remember. However, I’ve been limited by my disability to only doing sketches, mainly portraits of late. I focus on revolutionaries, martyrs, and comrades in order to share their images with the public so they’ll question who they are. Since “a picture is worth a thousand words,” these images are often more impactful or evocative than writings.
You have been an activist, a revolutionary for over 45 years. What keeps the fire burning in the face of set-backs amidst small victories?
I’ve been in the struggle now since 1968 beginning with the so-called War on Poverty 
followed by two years (1969-1971) in the New Haven Chapter of the Black Panther Party. All movements suffer setbacks that we must overcome; and victories we must relish to recharge our batteries and keep us going. E.g., we witnessed the demise of the BPP and the Rainbow Coalition resulting from COINTELPRO’s successful offensive. We’ve suffered the loss of our heroes: Chris Hani, George Jackson, Marilyn Buck, Noah Washington, Hugo Pinell, et al. Their sacrifices are not in vane; they fuel our determination to carry the liberation struggle forward, to pass the torch to our youth.
Our many victories include: the end of So. African Apartheid, the release of political prisoners likes Nelson Mandela, the late geronimo ji Jaga (Pratt), Eddie Conway, et al. Just recently I won a battle to render my building wheelchair accessible by installing push buttons for wheelchair entrance to my building – in keeping with the motto, “Think globally, act locally.” That recharged my batteries and puts a smile on my face every time I enter or leave my home.
To read some of Killu’s articles and see more of her art please visit her blogspot
Her latest piece on Women of the Black Panther Party Reflect on Today’s Struggle, Staying Engaged and Why Trump’s Win Might be a Good Thing is an interesting and provocative read.