Forced Exile: Leaving Amerikkka

by Ali Khalid Abdullah

Ever since Afrikans were kidnapped, chained and beaten away from the continent of Afrika and dragged off to the shores of Amerikkka, the search for freedom, justice and true liberation has ben· at the top of the list for Afrikan Amerikans.

All during the torturous years of chattel slavery, Afrikans have sought their freedom; their independence; their liberty. From the time of chattel slavery to now, some have escaped the horrors of bondage but still, never quite escaping racism, while others have stayed and fought using various methods and techniques. Some, in slavery time, went into exile and moved to Canada, to find a place to live without the threat of bondage, racial fear and ill-treatment because of the color of their skin. After the alleged end of chattel slavery via the Civil War and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and during the periods of Jim Crowism, we have had Afrikan Amerikans leaving Amerikkka to find solace in other countries to escape Jim Crowism and legalized lynching's.

As strange as it may sound -- today is no different than 150 years ago in this respect. There are Afrikan Amerikans who've either become targets by the government and its bogus law enforcement agencies, or they simply have renounced any and all ties with this country and seek to leave it. However, leaving Amerikkka isn't as simple as that for the Black man or womyn who've liberated their minds from the racist indoctrinations of white supremacy. Such is the case of Bankole and Aisha Irungu.

Bankole and Aisha Irungu (formally known as David and Aisha Angela Taylor), are two Afrikan Amerikans who've sought political asylum in Canada, Sweden and now in the United Kingdom from, according to them, "FBI surveillance, main tampering and harassment."

Their saga began in 1994 in Charlottesville, Virginia, after they filed complaints of discrimination and launched lawsuits relating to their treatment in the workplace. Soon, they say, their mail was being opened, their phone lines tapped and their utilities shut off in the middle of the winter.

After moving to Philadelphia they continued to feel the threat of harassment. In 1998, Aisha Irungu received a job offer from a company in Markham, Ontario, Canada, where both her and Bankole moved, but they say, FBI agents followed them to Canada, according to an article written by Marina Jimenez of the National Post, April 25, 2000.

Aisha reported how "people trashed my desk" and "my mail was stolen at work", and reportedly was dismissed from her job.

A complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission was filed, and sought the advise of an immigration lawyer, who had recommended they file refugee claims.

Bankole and Aisha have over 4,000 pages of evidence and testimony to support their allegations of being targeted by the FBI's domestic intelligence and counter insurgency initiative known as COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program), which was suppose to have ended in the mid-1970s but which still exists today only under a different name and tactics.

In 1967, COINTELPRO was engineered to target Black Liberation Movements and other minority organizations that fought against racism, human and civil rights violations, discrimination and injustices in the United States.

Bankole and Aisha petitioned the Canadian government for political refugee status, but were turned down and forced to leave the country. They went to Sweden hoping to find refuge and were denied there. Now they're in the U.K. hoping to find relief.

In an article written in the Afrikan Viewpoint Issue No. 6, May/June 2001, Aisha has developed Panic Disorder while Bankole has developed Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD).

Aisha has reported that it was impossible for them to produce evidence (as had been demanded by the Canadian Immigration authorities) from the U.S. government admitting terror and harassment against them by the FBI. However, one can only read Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall's book, Agents of Repression, to know the validity of what Bankole and Aisha are saying about proving facts against the U.S. government's covert actions, and how sinister the U.S. government operates, and why it would be difficult for Bankole and Aisha to produce any hard proofs needed to satisfy governments that are U.S. lackeys.

Bankole said; "We believe that our application was turned down by the Canadian authorities because of Trade considerations with the United States.