WHO IS IMAM JAMIL ABDULLAH AL-AMIN?

Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin (né Hubert Giroir Brown) was born on October 9, 1943 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He became known as H. Rap Brown in the early 1960s. Imam Jamil was the fifth chairman of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s and in 1968 was the Minister of Justice between SNCC and the Black Panther Party. As the chairman of SNCC, he attended a contentious civil rights meeting at the White House with President Lyndon Johnson during the Selma Crisis of 1965. In 1966, he organized for black voter registration and enforcement of the Voting Rights Act in Alabama. Al-Amin continued Stokely Carmichael’s support for Black Power in 1967 wherein he toured the nation calling for the black community to organize. Imam Jamil was heavily involved in the fight against Jim Crow Segregation. Imam Jamil is the historic foundation of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

In the 1970s, Imam Jamil reverted to Islam. His work thereafter focused on advocating for justice irrespective of race or cultural difference. Imam Jamil went on to create his own Muslim community in the West End of Atlanta, Georgia.  In 1987, Imam Jamil was a national participant of the “Stop the Killing Movement” which produced community empowerment drug patrols.  In 1991, Imam Jamil was a member of peace envoys to Chicago, Los Angeles, and other major cities to engage in truce and cease fire negotiations among street gang organizations. By 1992, he was a member of the peace envoy that ultimately produced a national truce and peace treaty signed by major street gangs.  In 1993, Imam Jamil became the Co-convener or the first National Urban Peace and Justice Summit in Kansas City that developed an Urban Peace Treaty and Policy Initiative.  Imam Jamil committed his life to the upliftment of his community.

The work of Imam Jamil Al-Amin (formerly known as H. Rap Brown) during the late 1960s, 1980s and ‘90s, with community-based and gang organization leaders and the development of an urban peace treaty and policy initiative resulted in a 10% drop in crime nationally and a 25% reduction in homicides among Black and Brown youth in the 1990s. Imam Jamil Al-Amin’s work in this area also gave him the opportunity to assist in initiating the national hip hop peace treaty and rappers pledge signed in Chicago which created peace between east coast and west coast rappers.

The work of the urban peace and justice movement has continued in many cities throughout the country. Imam Al-Amin was one of the architects and sustaining influences of this movement. Community organizers relate that Imam Al-Amin’s dedication to bringing peace is attributed to “saving thousands of lives.”

HOW IMAM JAMIL AL-AMIN LAID THE FOUNDATION FOR THE CURRENT NATIONAL MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS:

In November 1976, Imam Jamil traveled to Saudi Arabia for his hajj and returned to Atlanta, Georgia to organize a Muslim community in the southwest part (West End) of Atlanta. Between 1977 – 2000, Imam Jamil organized and maintained a neighborhood cleanup of drugs, prostitution and crime; worked with youth and street organizations; participated in initiating the establishment of the “National Jamaat”(Al Ummah) comprised of approximately 40 masajids in various cities in the United States and the Caribbean.

In 1983 Imam Jamil was the Convenor of the first Annual Riyaadah, a national annual sports competition, held in Atlanta, Georgia.  By 1987, Imam Jamil Al-Amin became the Founder and Co-convener of the National Majlis Ash-Shura of North America, a council of Muslim leaders representing the majority of Muslims in the United States.  It was comprised of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Ministry of W.D. Mohamed, and the “National Jamaat” led by Imam Jamil. Imam Jamil served as the first Amir (leader) beginning in 1993.  In the 1990s, he was involved in the Bosnian Taskforce against the Bosnian Genocide and was very outspoken on the liberation of the Palestinian People.

In 1993, Imam Jamil led the first and largest rally in Washington, D.C. (50,000+) at the Washington Mall to demand that they stop the genocide in Bosnia.  In 1994, he led a U.S. Delegation to the Arabic and Islamic Conference in Khartoum. In the 1990s, Imam Jamil was also Vice President and then President of the American Muslim Council, the first Muslim organization based in Washington DC to promote Muslim issues.  It established innovative programs, such as the Military Muslim Chaplaincy, Muslim Census, National Prison Chaplaincy, Organizer of the National Community Hajj Project responsible for coordinating hajj for hundreds of Muslims from the U.S. and traveling with the groups.

CURRENT SITUATION:

Imam Jamil Al-Amin’s is serving a life sentence for a crime he did not commit. His case is currently under review by the Fulton County Conviction Integrity Unit. There is no evidence placing Imam Jamil at the scene of the crime: no fingerprints, no gun residue, no DNA. In fact, Otis Jackson has been consistent in his confession of the crime for which Imam Jamil is serving a life sentence (giving multiple written sworn statements and testifying in another trial under oath), and evidence corroborates Otis Jackson’s confession. Despite Imam Jamil serving a life sentence for a Georgia State offense, he is being housed by the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona away from his family and his attorneys. Imam Jamil is categorized as needing a level 4 facility due to his extensive medical needs; however, the Federal Prison System has kept him at a level 3 and has completely failed to provide him with necessary medical treatment. They have essentially intentionally blinded Imam Jamil.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals addresses the gross misconduct by the prosecutors in this case, specifically stating “We regret that we cannot provide Mr. Al-Amin relief in the face of the prosecutorial misconduct that occurred at his trial. A prosecutor’s duty in a criminal proceeding is not to secure a conviction by any means, but to ensure that justice will prevail. The prosecutor at Al-Amin’s trial failed to live up to that duty.” 

There is currently an undocumented gag order on Imam Jamil wherein historians and the media have been completely denied access to him in prison. He is deliberately being erased from history.