Kiilu Nyasha: Still Strong, Still True, and Still a Revolutionary – In Struggle Spotlight

The blood, sweat, tears, and suffering of Black people
are the foundation of the wealth and power of the
United States of America.

– Huey P. Newton, THE BLACK PANTHER newspaper, February 17, 1969, Vol 2. #23

The Black Panther Party with its many programs, including free breakfast programs for children, free medical programs, free clothing programs, free escort programs for seniors, and free food programs in service to the people, incurred the wrath of the racist, avaricious corporate government of the United States of America, and was shamelessly, ultimately physically decimated by said government and its many agents. However, the legacy of the Black Panther Party still stands true and tall in the hearts and minds of conscious peoples in this nation and around the world.

Nonetheless, what is all too often missed is the invaluable role of women in the Black Panther Party. Indeed, had it not been for Black women there would have been no viable Black Panther Party, for as Kiilu Nyasha correctly states; “Women were the back bone of the (Black Panther) Party.” Kiilu should know, for she functioned as an integral part of that “back bone” of the Black Panther Party (BPP) while in New Haven, Connecticut, and elsewhere.

Kiilu Nyasha is a comrade’s comrade. She, like so many other sisters, gave of herself in every way. When in 1970, as a direct result of vicious and illegal U.S. Government COINTELPRO [Counter Intelligence Program] activities, Bobby Seale and Ericka Huggins were on trial for their very lives in New Haven, Connecticut; Kiilu was there performing the urgent and necessary grunt work of coordinating legal and community efforts to rally support for our beleaguered Black Panther Party (BPP) comrades. She opened up her home to BPP activists and saw to it that their needs were met. In so doing, she did not hesitate to rise in the wee hours of the morning and work steadily throughout long and grueling days in service to the people and the Black Panther Party. She did not hesitate to give her all to the struggle.—“——

In the year 2010, Kiilu Nyasha has not stopped. Her voice is still strong as she continues to deliver the clarion call for uncompromising revolutionary struggle and systemic change. She has written and continues to adroitly write for the San Francisco Bay View newspaper and The Black Commentator. In spite of physical pain and having to use a wheel chair for mobility, her mind is sharp and her powerful voice is that of a lioness for the people. As Kiilu so succinctly says it, she remains a firm adherent to “plain living and hard struggle” in her daily life. Her life has been, and is, in a word, exemplary.

To get an important glimpse of Kiilu Nyasha’s ongoing work, go to kiilunyasha.blogspot.com . It will be an inspiration and well worth your while.—“——

While we must always remember the enormous service to the people by men such as Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Hutton, George Jackson, John Huggins & Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter, Fred Hampton & Mark Clark, Billy X Jennings, and Emory Douglas, etc., let us not even for an instant, forget the day to day service to the people by Kiilu Nyasha and other women who were, and remain, unsung giants in service to Black people and humanity as a whole. Let them be unsung no longer!

In this period of deceit, exploitation, war, and mediocrity,— Kiilu Nyasha is still strong, still true, and still a revolutionary. Thank you comrade sister Kiilu, thank you and all the brilliant and powerful women who have struggled and continue today, this struggle for the every day people! —“

All Power to the People!

Onward sisters and brothers. We can afford to do no less. Onward!