Albert Woodfox

Albert Woodfox entered this world in the year 1947, a turbulent and defining time indeed—two years after World War II ended and the year of the National Security Act of 1947, which created the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Perhaps this branded him for the tumultuous, but momentous  journey he would take. Albert grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of six children (one sister who is now deceased and four brothers). He was raised by a single mother. While love was never lacking, poverty permeated. By the time he was a young adult, he had succumbed to the tempting lure of the streets and he soon found himself behind bars in a state that now has the distinction of being the forerunner when it comes to mass incarceration. His encounters with the law eventually landed him in the Louisiana State Penitentiary (known as Angola), which was notoriously dangerous.

By 1977, two courts had concluded that state and federal constitutional violations were rampant in the facility, one noting that conditions at Angola »shock the conscience of any right thinking person.« In addition to this, in the 1960s and 1970s, Angola was segregated. By the early 1970s, Angola did not even have African American employees. In this volatile climate, Albert Woodfox and the late Herman Wallace courageously founded a prison chapter of the Black Panther Party at Angola. Robert King later joined them in their campaign for fair treatment and better conditions for inmates; racial solidarity between black and white inmates; and, an end to the rape and sexual slavery that was then endemic in the prison. Their heroic efforts cost them dearly. In an effort to quell their organizing, they were framed for murders and placed in solitary confinement, known as Closed Cell Restriction in Louisiana. They, dubbed »the Angola 3«, consistently professed their innocence and mounted their own defense for over twenty years until a local support group was formed and legal representation followed. Thereafter, their support expanded to a national and then an international coalition. What was initially a case soon became a campaign and then a movement. The movement, which is ongoing, seeks to disrupt unjust and inhumane practices wherever they exist. After emerging from forty-three horrific years in solitary confinement, Albert has joined the effort that he inspired. When asked to explain how it is that he defied so many odds, Albert says: “If a cause is noble, you can carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.” Albert spends his days making presentations, advocating for policy changes and legal reforms and enjoying the company of his daughter, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, the Angola 3 support team, and his immense conglomerate of family, friends and associates.

Albert is a victim of racism, abuses of power, prosecutorial misconduct, instances of judicial indifference and official corruption, but he chooses his legacy to be that of an overcomer. Albert carries the energy of his birth year. He is keenly aware that his survival was tied to a much greater calling—that being the pursuit of justice. His struggles have made him certain of this assurance:

»Whatever is unjust, carries in itself the seeds of defeat and decay. Justice is irrepressible. No matter how you may trample it, no matter with what fortifications you may surround the structure which you build up in opposition to that great principle, its voice is never silent. It clamors from day to day with a force that is irresistible, until at last its voice will be heard and the structure, whose foundations rest upon its violation, will crumble into ruin, a corroboration of the maxim that 'Nothing is settled until it is settled right'.«