1970s Free Pontiac Brothers Prison Rebellion Death Penalty Racism Protest Pin

Description

THIS LISTING BEGAN ON JULY 12, 2021 AND
WILL END WITHIN  30 DAYS
,
ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 12, 2021,
IF THE ITEM IS NOT SOLD
OFFERED FOR SALE IS THIS
1 3/4 INCH CELLULOID PINBACK BUTTON
IN WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE REALLY NICE SHAPE.
HOWEVER, THAT IS JUST MY OPINION.  SEE PHOTO FOR CONDITION, AND YOU BE THE JUDGE.     NOTE: BACK OF THE PIN IS IN REAL NICE SHAPE TOO, WITH MINOR OXIDATION ON THE METAL BACK.
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, PLEASE CONTACT ME BEFORE BIDDING OR BUYING.
RETURNS ARE NOT ACCEPTED UNLESS THE ITEM IS NOT AS DESCRIBED OR SHOWN IN THE PHOTOS OR HAS SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OR DEFECTS  NOT VISIBLE IN THE PHOTOS OR OTHERWISE DESCRIBED.
GUARANTEED AUTHENTIC AND ORIGINAL AS DESCRIBED
.
Check out my other Political and Social Protest and Cause items!
This Pin issued and sold circa
1978
by the
Pontiac Prisoners' Support Coalition ( PPSC )
to raise funds and support for the legal defense of the so called " Pontiac Brothers ", who were prisoners at Pontiac Prison who rioted and were charged with murder.
The pin has really fine graphics of protesting and chained black prisoners.  It reads:
FREE THE PONTIAC BROTHERS!
SMASH THE DEATH PENALTY!
The
Pontiac Prison case
is
one of the largest civilian death penalty cases
in the history of the US.
On July 22, 1978, prisoners at Pontiac Prison (Illinois) rebelled
. During the rebellion
3 white guards were killed
and millions of dollars of damage was done to the prison. The Pontiac Prison was known for its crowded quarters and mistreatment of prisoners.
For 8 months after the rebellion, prisoners were locked in their cells 24 hours a day while investigators gathered their evidence. Testimony by these investigators during the pre-trial motions revealed that bribery (over ,000 at that point had been paid to witnesses) and intimidation (reluctant witnesses were threatened with the electric chair) were tools of “persuasion.”
Eventually,
31 men
, 28 Black and 3 Latino, were indicted for various crimes.
Sixteen of these men, all Black, were charged with killing each guard
4 different ways
. These men faced a total of 200 charges, any one of which could lead to the death penalty. 16 of the convicted prisoners were sentenced to death.
Pontiac Prisoner’s Support Coalition
(
PPSC
)
:
The Pontiac Prison Support Coalition was a broad-based coalition of community and human rights organizations,
working within the larger Coalition to Free the Pontiac Brothers
.
The PPSC was called into existence by the Pontiac Brothers
and other concerned prisoners and acted in accordance with the desires of the Brothers who were
consulted in detail
on every non-trivial issue.
This underground pinback button pin or badge relates to the Hippie (or Hippy ) Counterculture Movement of the psychedelic Sixties (1960s and Seventies (1970s).  That movement included such themes and topics as peace, protest, civil rights, radical, socialist, communist, anarchist, union labor strikes, drugs, marijuana, pot, weed, lsd, acid, sds, iww, anti draft, anti war, anti rotc, welfare rights, poverty, equal rights, integration, gay, women's rights, black panthers, black power, left wing, liberal, etc.  progressive political movement and is guaranteed to be genuine as described.
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The strategy and methods that the Deacons employed attracted the attention and concern of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which authorized an investigation into the group’s activities. The investigation stalled, however, when more influential black power organizations such as US and the
Black Panther Party
emerged after the
1965 Watts Riot
.  With public attention, and the attention of the FBI focused elsewhere, the Deacons lost most of their notoriety and slowly declined in influence.  By 1968 they were all but extinct.  In 2003 the activities of the Deacons was the subject of a 2003, “Deacons for Defense.” - See more at: HTTPS://www.blackpast.org/aah/deacons-defense-and-justice#sthash.s6D3h3ZZ.dpuf
On July 10, 1964, a group of African American men in Jonesboro,
Louisiana
led by Earnest “Chilly Willy” Thomas and Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick founded the group known as The Deacons for Defense and Justice to protect members of the
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
against Ku Klux Klan violence.  Most of the “Deacons” were veterans of
World War II
and the
Korean War
. The Jonesboro chapter organized its first affiliate chapter in nearby Bogalusa, Louisiana led by Charles Sims, A.Z. Young and Robert Hicks. Eventually they organized a third chapter in Louisiana. The Deacons tense confrontation with the Klan in Bogalusa was crucial in forcing the federal government to intervene on behalf of the local African American community.  The national attention they garnered also persuaded state and national officials to initiate efforts to neutralize the Klan in that area of the Deep South.
The Deacons emerged as one of the first visible self-defense forces in the South and as such represented a new face of the
civil rights
movement.  Traditional civil rights organizations remained silent on them or repudiated their activities.  They were effective however in providing protection for local African Americans who sought to register to vote and for white and black civil rights workers in the area.  The Deacons, for example, provided security for the 1966 March Against Fear from Memphis to Jackson,
Mississippi
.  Moreover their presence in Southeastern Louisiana meant that the Klan would no longer be able to intimidate and terrorize local African Americans without challenge.
The strategy and methods that the Deacons employed attracted the attention and concern of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which authorized an investigation into the group’s activities. The investigation stalled, however, when more influential black power organizations such as US and the
Black Panther Party
emerged after the
1965 Watts Riot
.  With public attention, and the attention of the FBI focused elsewhere, the Deacons lost most of their notoriety and slowly declined in influence.  By 1968 they were all but extinct.  In 2003 the activities of the Deacons was the subject of a 2003, “Deacons for Defense.” - See more at: HTTPS://www.blackpast.org/aah/deacons-defense-and-justice#sthash.s6D3h3ZZ.dpuf
On July 10, 1964, a group of African American men in Jonesboro,
Louisiana
led by Earnest “Chilly Willy” Thomas and Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick founded the group known as The Deacons for Defense and Justice to protect members of the
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
against Ku Klux Klan violence.  Most of the “Deacons” were veterans of
World War II
and the
Korean War
. The Jonesboro chapter organized its first affiliate chapter in nearby Bogalusa, Louisiana led by Charles Sims, A.Z. Young and Robert Hicks. Eventually they organized a third chapter in Louisiana. The Deacons tense confrontation with the Klan in Bogalusa was crucial in forcing the federal government to intervene on behalf of the local African American community.  The national attention they garnered also persuaded state and national officials to initiate efforts to neutralize the Klan in that area of the Deep South.
The Deacons emerged as one of the first visible self-defense forces in the South and as such represented a new face of the
civil rights
movement.  Traditional civil rights organizations remained silent on them or repudiated their activities.  They were effective however in providing protection for local African Americans who sought to register to vote and for white and black civil rights workers in the area.  The Deacons, for example, provided security for the 1966 March Against Fear from Memphis to Jackson,
Mississippi
.  Moreover their presence in Southeastern Louisiana meant that the Klan would no longer be able to intimidate and terrorize local African Americans without challenge.
The strategy and methods that the Deacons employed attracted the attention and concern of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which authorized an investigation into the group’s activities. The investigation stalled, however, when more influential black power organizations such as US and the
Black Panther Party
emerged after the
1965 Watts Riot
.  With public attention, and the attention of the FBI focused elsewhere, the Deacons lost most of their notoriety and slowly declined in influence.  By 1968 they were all but extinct.  In 2003 the activities of the Deacons was the subject of a 2003, “Deacons for Defense.” - See more at: HTTPS://www.blackpast.org/aah/deacons-defense-and-justice#sthash.s6D3h3ZZ.dpuf
On July 10, 1964, a group of African American men in Jonesboro,
Louisiana
led by Earnest “Chilly Willy” Thomas and Frederick Douglas Kirkpatrick founded the group known as The Deacons for Defense and Justice to protect members of the
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
against Ku Klux Klan violence.  Most of the “Deacons” were veterans of
World War II
and the
Korean War
. The Jonesboro chapter organized its first affiliate chapter in nearby Bogalusa, Louisiana led by Charles Sims, A.Z. Young and Robert Hicks. Eventually they organized a third chapter in Louisiana. The Deacons tense confrontation with the Klan in Bogalusa was crucial in forcing the federal government to intervene on behalf of the local African American community.  The national attention they garnered also persuaded state and national officials to initiate efforts to neutralize the Klan in that area of the Deep South. - See more at: HTTPS://www.blackpast.org/aah/deacons-defense-and-justice#sthash.s6D3h3ZZ.dpuf