A Word: A Black Power Radicals Rise and Fall

Published: Dec. 22, 2023, 8 a.m.

b'The man who rose to fame \\u2013some would say infamy\\u2013 as H. Rap Brown has a uniquely American story, inventing and reinventing himself over the course of decades. He turned himself from a teenage tough guy into a civil rights leader. He abandoned the philosophy of non-violence to become a Black Power pioneer. He underwent a jailhouse conversion to Islam, and became Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a guiding force of an insular Black Muslim community.\\xa0And then, almost 40 years after he stepped into the public consciousness, he was convicted of fatally shooting a cop.\\xa0\\n\\nBut was Imam Jamil being punished for his actions, or his past?\\n\\nIn today\\u2019s episode of A Word, host Jason Johnson dives into the tangled history of the man once known as H. Rap Brown, and the murder case that landed him in jail for life. His guest is Mosi Secret, journalist and the host of the Radical podcast, which explores the case and the complicated search for justice.\\n\\nGuest: Mosi Secret, investigative journalist and host of the Radical podcast\\xa0\\n\\nPodcast production by Kristie Taiwo-Makanjuola\\n\\nYou can skip all the ads in A Word by joining Slate Plus. Sign up now at slate.com/awordplus for $15 for your first three months.\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'