We strongly support the parole and immediate compassionate release for Dr. Mutulu Shakur. We are confident that his release poses no danger to our communities, and we urge you to allow him to rejoin his family and friends.

Dr. Shakur is recognized as a leading member of the movement for human rights for African Americans. He has spent over three decades behind bars because of his political beliefs and the actions motivated by those beliefs. He is also recognized as a Doctor of Acupuncture who pioneered the use of acupuncture for drug addiction. Acupuncturists all over the United States and Canada are still utilizing his work to this day.

Mutulu's convictions come out of a complex and turbulent moment in American history, when civil unrest fractured our country into pieces. They arise from his commitment to the social justice movement for Black liberation, originating in the 1960's. He was targeted and victimized by the FBI's now-infamous Counter- Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) as early as 1968. He was convicted of RICO conspiracy and connection to the 1981 Brinks Robbery, and the earlier prison escape of Assata Shakur. Dr. Shakur has taken full responsibility for his life and his actions.

Dr. Shakur has received a diagnosis of life-threatening advanced bone marrow cancer. He had already been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and glaucoma. In 2013, he suffered from a stroke that required several months for recovery. In 2019 he experienced increasing pain; after months of medical neglect, advanced bone marrow cancer was diagnosed. Now Mutulu is suffering from extensive painful bone lesions, caused by the growth of the bone marrow cancer in parts of his spine, ribs and pelvis. The cancer has also destroyed a large area of bone around his right 7th rib, replacing bone with cancer cells, creating a propensity to break. Dr. Shakur is 69 years old, and aging in prison after 34 years of incarceration. He needs treatment and recovery in humane conditions immediately. We fear for his survival and his life.