Jamal Joseph

Jamal Joseph is a writer, director, producer, poet, activist, and educator. Joseph was a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. He was prosecuted as one of the Panther 21. Joseph earned his BA from the University of Kansas while at Leavenworth. He is a full professor and former chair of Columbia University’s Graduate Film Division and the artistic director of the New Heritage Theatre Group in Harlem. He is the author of a biography on Tupac Shakur, Tupac Shakur Legacy and his own autobiography, Panther Baby.

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Praise

“Listen to these voices of young men and women—from places like New Jersey or Panama, New York or Antigua—who poured their insights, courage, and creative energy into New York City’s fledgling Black Panther Party that generated chapters in all five boroughs. Unlike out west, where police shot and killed Panthers to disrupt the revolutionary group, New York relied more heavily on courts, jails, and prison to sabotage the organization.

These men and women were tried in the case called the “New York 21”—a barrel full of preposterous crimes which the Panthers supposedly conspired to commit—that led to the arrest and imprisonment of all the leaders (except those who reached an escape route before the police caught them at home). The state fully expected that the Panthers would remain behind bars for decades after being convicted, given that a police informant had masqueraded as a Panther until their arrest. However, the powerful example of Afeni Shakur, who defended herself, the fierce dedication of brilliant attorneys, and the organizing talents of Panther supporters on the outside made the trial the longest-running case in New York—with a short one-hour jury deliberation before finding the 21 not guilty on all charges.

This reprint edition allows a new generation to hear these amazing stories, and additionally, to read the authors’ reflections and insights for today.”
—Kathleen Cleaver, Black Panther Party Communications Secretary (1967–1971); Senior Lecturer, Emory University School of Law

“Look for Me in the Whirlwind could not come at a timelier moment in history. As newly-emerging grassroots movements challenge state violence against Black people in the U.S., it is essential that new generations learn anew, and that older ones are reminded, of police and FBI tools of repression deployed to demobilize Black radical activism and its growing influence on the Black working class in the ’60s. These remembrances, by those framed in the NY Panther 21 case, are vital building blocks for reconstructing the history of one of the least understood chapters of the Black Panther Party. They are also indispensable reading for those seeking to understand how individual activists and their movements were able to hold their center in the face of harrowing government repression.”
—Johanna Fernandez, Professor of History, Baruch College Department of Black and Latino Studies, City University of New York; cocurator, ¡Presente! The Young Lords in New York

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Book Events

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Reviews

• Look for Me in the Whirlwind: A Starred Publishers Weekly Review
• New York’s Black Panthers, a Legacy
• Look for Me in the Whirlwind: A Review

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Interviews

• Look for Me in the Whirlwind: Special 2-Part Interview on WBAI

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Mentions

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Blog