46 years is a long time for a 19-year-old to go to prison
and be there for the rest of their lives.
if you commit this kind of crime against
the people who protect society, you actually deserve the death penalty.
I don't see him as a violent man, I don't see him as a violent person,
I don't see him as what they portrayed him to be.
We're talking about the parole, the possible parole, of cop killers...
And yes, they're guilty then and they're guilty now
and no cop killer should ever walk the face of the earth.
It is important that people understand
that we did not receive a fair trial...
There were multiple cover-ups in this case but maybe - let me
make this point explicitly clear:
Since 2002, my first parole hearing,
I expressed remorse for the loss of life in this case, all right?
I understand the devastation
by anyone losing their loved one whether I'm guilty over it or not guilty over it...
It is a loss so expressing remorse is part of my own humanity,
the nature of the case and nature of the crime as one that can never change
but nonetheless have held against me
and so, still in prison.
This is a photo of myself at the funeral.
I could not still could not believe
that he was gone.
There was a time when I kept setting the table
with his dish and then I realised, 'I have to stop doing this', you know,
he's not here, you know, he's not coming.
It just never, never goes away, the hurt never goes away...
On May 21st 1971, I was waiting for Joe to come home
and there was a knock at the door
and I looked out and it was raining and I could see the police lights,
the lights, no sirens, just the lights.
They took me in the police car to my father's house in Queens Village,
my father got in the car with me and then we went to Harlem hospital.
We got to Harlem hospital as I was starting to get out of the car,
my father grabbed my arm and he told me that he was no longer alive
and then we went into Harlem hospital.
Anthony Bottom has never admitted that he killed my husband Joe.
He has shown no remorse.
All he's looking for right now is to get out of prison.
The whole black nation has to be put together, the black army.
And we go walk on this nation, you're gonna walk on this racist power structure
and we're gonna say to the whole damn government,
'stick em up motherfucker' this is a holdup; we come for what's ours.
Being part of the Black Panther Party
give you a sense of belonging, a sense of manhood, a cause,
but the idea that black men armed
and prepared to fight for the rights of black people was exciting.
It was something that was intriguing.
So when we look at what was going on at that time,
we believed for the most part,
we were indeed engaged in a revolution in this country.
What we are seeing today in terms of the number of people being killed
but strictly young black unarmed men being killed by police officers
across this country, right?
Back then, it was being done with impunity.
The police in our community occupy our area, our community, as a foreign troop
occupies a territory and the police are there not to, in our community,
not to promote our welfare or for our security and our safety
but they're there to contain us, to brutalise and murder us.
There was no cameras, there was no dash cams...
It was the Black Panther Party that took it upon themselves.
The first begin to cop-watch, right, and developed kind of forms of security
and let them know that there will be others who gonna be watching what you're doing,
right, in the name of the law.
In terms of having been engaged in struggle,
I think it was noble,
I think that's a noble act for any person to fight for what they know is their
human and inalienable rights.
My mom was pregnant with me when he went to prison
when I was born he was in prison.
Can say maybe about ten times I've called
seeing him most of it was my adult life.
My dad growing up in San Jose, you know, working mom, working dad
and things like that but then when you go out into the community
in Oakland, in San Francisco, you don't see that he didn't see that...
He saw the brutality and things like that, he saw the moms and the kids struggling
and asking for money for food and things like that and I think that's what
prompted him like everybody should live like I'm living so why not go out
and help a community, help, you know, get with a group of people that are thinking like me
so that we can grow.
I don't see him as a violent man, I don't see him as a violent person,
I don't see him as what they portrayed him to be.
He was always been loving and caring
and want to know what I'm doing, making sure that I'm getting good grades...
Want to make sure that I'm doing the right thing,
staying on the right track...
I just feel like, if they can have the opportunity to see
what we see in him, you know, maybe things would be different
but I just feel like with everything that's going on,
they're trying to keep him in this sheltered, in this little box,
they don't want him to be able to spend time with his kids
and grandchildren and stuff like that, you know, he's never met my son...
Aren't they there to rehabilitate, you know?
He's in there for 46 years...
How long does it take?
There's other people that have killed people and are home...
Are they rehabilitated?
It's like... come on!
How long does it take?
My endurance of nearly half a century in prison
is more or less due to the politics
of this particular case.
If I was a common criminal, the greater probability [is] that
I would have been out a long time ago...
When we see the PPA adamantly opposing our release
or they try to vilify us and call us terrorists...
That's politics, they want to find their position in political terms
When 25 years came up, I just knew my dad was coming home
I just knew my dad was coming home.
And now it's almost 25 years later from his first parole...
So...
It is not for me to forgive anyone...
their trespasses so to speak, it's not for me, that's for God
and when Anthony Bottom and Herman Bell meet their God, whoever their God is,
he is going to put justice where it belongs.