I AM MAROON: The True Story of an American Political Prisoner

Book launch dates:

Premiere Event: NYC, Fri., Sept 6, from 6:30-8:30 PM, The People's Forum

NYC, Sat., Sept 7, from 5-7 PM, Bluestockings Bookstore, 116 Suffolk St., Manhattan

South Orange New Jersey, Sept 7th, Elitist Coffee

Philadelphia, Sept 22, One Art Community Center

From the Publisher:

Freedom. That is the central idea and destination of Russell Shoatz’s posthumous memoir of justice and redemption, I AM MAROON: The True Story of an American Political Prisoner (Bold Type Books; on sale 9/3/24). Charting the former Black Panther’s tumultuous life from gang member to Black liberation leader to political prisoner, this book delivers a cinematic story which aims to be a blueprint for how we might dedicate our lives and minds to the ongoing fight for freedom.

At age eleven, Shoatz was a gang member battling for territory and dignity amid the white flight of 1950s Philadelphia. But at twenty-three, after hearing Malcolm X speak on a street corner in Harlem, his life changed course. From that moment he began his lifelong crusade for justice: as a Black Panther, a soldier in one of the most militant units of the Black Liberation Army, and a community organizer who constantly fought against Philadelphia’s notorious police commissioner Frank Rizzo and his police commandos.

As the struggle for self-determination among Black communities intensified, Shoatz was convicted to life in prison as one of the “Philly Five” following a coordinated attack on a park police station that left one guard dead. The prison walls, however, could not deter Shoatz’s battle for personal and collective freedom. He escaped state prison twice, making him a living legend amongst prison populations and endowing him with the moniker “Maroon,” once used to honor slaves who ran from the sugarcane fields in the Caribbean and the cotton plantations in the American south. As a result, he was placed in solitary confinement for over twenty years. Again, his resolve for freedom could not be deterred by captivity and punishment. Instead, he took on the mission to radicalize his prison communities—working to resolve racial tensions and collectively organizing against mistreatment by guards.

In October 2021, after 49 years in prison, Maroon was released into hospice care, reuniting briefly with his children before he passed away. But for nine years before his death, he worked with award-winning Sri Lankan writer Kanya D’Almeida, who he recognized as a comrade, to record his life’s work in print. With unforgettable voice and personality that comes off the page, Maroon’s journey from Black Panther to prisoner to runaway to reformer brings to life questions about race, justice, incarceration and more—while also reminding us that we too are capable of radical change.