Two deceased Black Panther leaders, Edward Poindexter and Wopashitwe Eyen Mondo we Langa (former David Rice) were honored in a ceremony at the University of Nebraska at Omaha commemorating the 99th birthday of Malcolm Little, better known as Malcolm X. The two men, who both died at the Nebraska State Penitentiary serving life sentences, were convicted following a controversial trial for the August 17, 1970 bombing murder of an Omaha policeman and had been targeted by the infamous COINTELPRO operation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Malcolm X was born in Omaha, but moved from the city as an infant after the family was terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan. His birthplace is now a community center run by the Malcolm X Foundation. The organization joined with the UNO Black Studies program to celebrate his birthday and issue “X Awards” for community service. Before his imprisonment, Mondo spoke at the UNO student center where the award ceremony was held and advocated the establishment of a black studies program at UNO.
Mondo and Ed, as the Omaha Two were known, both denied any involvement in the murder of Patrolman Larry Minard who was killed by a suitcase bomb in a vacant house. A fifteen year-old Black Panther wannabe named Duane Peak confessed to planting the bomb but his accomplice who made a 911 call to lure police into a deadly trap was never identified. Two suspects, Peak’s older brother Donald, and Raleigh House, who Peak testified supplied the suitcase and dynamite, were never charged for Minard’s murder. Duane Peak made a deal and said Mondo and Ed put him up to the crime allowing Peak to escape a prison sentence.
Wrongfully convicted at a COINTELPRO manipulated trial that featured perjured testimony by Peak, withheld evidence sent to the FBI Laboratory, conflicting police testimony, and questionable evidence supplied by the Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms Division, the pair were repeatedly denied a new trial by the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Revelations revealed years after the trial through the Freedom of Information Act that document the FBI misdeeds in the case have caused a growing recognition that justice was not served in Omaha at the April 1971 trial. In death, Mondo and Ed have gained a measure of respect that was denied them in life. Ed Poindexter, a Vietnam veteran, was buried with full military honors. Mondo’s poetry and essays were featured in a literature course at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln several years ago. A book of Mondo’s poems, The Black Panther is an African Cat, is available at the Aframerican Bookstore in Omaha.
Before their deaths, both men talked about the emotional pain of the long years of undeserved imprisonment. Ed explained: “You never get used to it. Every time you wake up is a fresh reminder where you are. Every time you get searched, every time you get ordered to go somewhere, every the cell door slams shut you are reminded. You never get used to it.”
Mondo realized he and Ed were chosen to pay for Minard’s death because of their leadership positions in the National Committee to Combat Fascism, a Black Panther affiliate group. Mondo said, “I am paying on a debt I do not owe.”
Now, the Malcolm X Foundation has seen fit to award the two men posthumously with Transformation Change Agent awards. Both Mondo and Ed mentored many fellow inmates, guiding them away from crime to a life of value.
Angela Davis visited Mondo and Ed in prison and spoke at memorials for both men. Angela’s words at Ed’s funeral explains why the Malcolm X Foundation decided to honor the men. “We give thanks to Ed Poindexter, Mondo we Langa, and many others who courageously contested forces of racism and repression.”
“Imprisonment did not prevent him from educating himself. Imprisonment did not prevent him from mentoring young people. Imprisonment did not prevent him from making lasting contributions to the ongoing struggle for black freedom. Imprisonment did not prevent him from building the hope we all need to carry on and pass on tenacity which will guarantee that the desire for freedom takes hold in the younger generation.”
“There can be no doubt that Ed Poindexter will always be there guiding us and those that will come after us with the spiritual strength to carry on. What I said at Mondo’s memorial, I will say today for Ed.”
“Ed has joined the ancestors. The brother is finally free and it is up to us to carry out his legacy.”
For more information on the Omaha Two see FRAMED: J. Edgar Hoover, COINTELPRO & the Omaha Two story. Available from Amazon and ebook. Portions of the book may be read free online at Northomahahistory.com. Patrons of the Omaha Public Library may read the book free of cost.
Richardson Reports 