Political prisoner and former death row inmate, Zolo Agona Azania, needs your help. Zolo was finally released on Monday, February 6, 2017, after spending 35 years in prison, 27 years on death row. Zolo is a prolific writer and an accomplished artist. His writings and art reflect his deep commitment to the Black freedom struggle and a just world for all people.
Zolo exited prison practically penniless and faces enormous financial challenges. He needs to pay for housing, food, clothing, transportation, furniture, a cell phone, utilities, and the many other expenses we all encounter.
Zolo will seek employment but at the present time he has little savings. He has been paid $.35 an hour during most of the time he has worked inside Indiana’s prisons.
Let’s ease Zolo’s path and make sure he does not confront his financial challenges—and all the challenges he will face–alone. Please donate generously.
Zolo is alive today due to his efforts and the work of his supporters and a strong legal team. The Indiana Supreme Court twice reversed his death penalty conviction due to racially discriminatory practices that occurred during the trial process.
Zolo is a jailhouse lawyer. He has done legal work on his own behalf and for other inmates. He has acquired a paralegal certificate and has gained an associate degree by completing 2 years of college work.
In spite of his difficult circumstances, Zolo is a positive person with a quick smile and a vibrant laugh. Let’s answer his positivity with support.
All funds will go directly to Zolo and will be deposited into a fund managed by me, Howie Emmer. Along with others, I have visited and supported Zolo for 13 years. For more information contact: zoloazania.org http://www.zoloazania.org/ and Chicago Committee to Free Black Political Prisoners on Facebook.
Thank you in advance for your generosity.
#GoBeyondGiving
https://www.gofundme.com/helpzolorebuild
http://us12.campaign-archive2.com/?u=0aca83ec057f583557dec5ce0&id=18681d4c18&e=cc610c1c56
Zolo Azania
Personal Background
Zolo Azania is a former Black Panther convicted of a 1981 bank robbery that left a Gary, Indiana cop dead. He was arrested miles away from the incident as he was walking, unarmed, down the street. After a trial plagued with injustices, Zolo was given the death penalty. After years of campaigning and several orders to stop his execution, the death penalty sentence was finally dropped. Zolo still adamantly maintains innocence and continues to fight for his freedom.
At the time of his arrest, Zolo was a well known activist in his hometown of Gary, Indiana. He was an ex-con who had grown up in extreme poverty, but he was also the valedictorian of his CETA federal job training class and had received a scholarship to Purdue University just prior to his arrest. An artist and writer, he was involved in the campaign to make Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday and had designed a button used by campaigners in Gary.
Legal Case
During Zolo’s trial, the prosecution intimidated witnesses, suppressed favorable evidence, presented false eyewitness and expert testimony, and denied him the right to speak or present motions in his own behalf.
The two other men charged and convicted with Zolo received sentences of 60 years. But Zolo’s political history and beliefs were used to paint an unfair and inaccurate picture of him and he received the death penalty for a crime he was not involved in.
Since the trial, the battle to save Zolo’s life has successfully resisted several attempts to follow through with the death penalty conviction. On October 17, 2008 after two overturned judge rulings barring his execution, the State of Indiana finally abandoned their 27 year campaign to execute Zolo Azania. Zolo no longer faces the death penalty! This is a real victory for all Zolo’s supporters and all of those who oppose the death penalty.
As part of the agreement, Judge Altice imposed two sentences instead of the death penalty. He sentenced Zolo to 60 years for the shooting death of a policeman. Zolo should serve 30 years of that sentence and the 27 years he has already served will be deducted from that, leaving 3 more years to serve on that sentence. . Zolo has been denied the ability to earn a college degree in the past because he had been sentenced to be executed. Before his arrest on these charges in 1981, Zolo had received a scholarship to Purdue University.
Life in Prison
Since his arrest Zolo has fought the charges against him from his prison cell, often on death row. His tireless efforts have exposed the unfair and racist way his case has been handled by the authorities. He has defended his own rights and the rights of other prisoners winning the respect of fellow prisoners and jailers alike. His victories, overturning his death sentence twice, have set precedents cited by other prisoners.
Zolo was finlly released from prison on Monday, February 6, 2017!
Zolo’s Essays
- “The Law Is For Everyone” (Fall 2000) describing the death penalty and it’s relationship to law. This was also published in the webzine: North Coast Xpress
- “Azania on Art”
- “Who is the New Afrikan?” (May 1988)
- “Our New Name: New Afrikan Cultural Identity” (July 1992)
- “World Gangsters” (July 1993)
- “Money and Power Hook or Crook”
Art
The Free 
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Political prisoner and former death row inmate, Zolo Agona Azania was finally released on Monday, February 6, 2017, after spending 35 years in prison, 27 years on death row. Zolo is a prolific writer and an accomplished artist. His writings and art reflect his deep commitment to the Black freedom struggle and a just world for all people.
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