Susan Rosenberg
Encyclopedia
Susan Lisa Rosenberg is an American radical
political activist, author and advocate for social justice
and prisoners' rights. Rosenberg was active in many radical movements of the 1960s and 1970s. After living as a fugitive for two years, she was arrested with an accomplice, Timothy Blunk, in 1984 while unloading 740 pounds of dynamite and weapons from a car into a storage locker in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
. She had also been sought as an accomplice in the 1979 prison escape of Assata Shakur
.
She was accused, but never tried or convicted, of driving the getaway car in the Brinks robbery (1981)
in which two police officers and an armored-car guard were killed.
Rosenberg was sentenced to 58 years in prison on the weapons and explosives charges. She spent 16 years in prison, during which she became a poet, author and AIDS activist. Her sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton
on January 20, 2001, his final day in office.
. Her father was a dentist and her mother a theatrical producer. She attended the progressive Walden School
and later went to Barnard College
. She left Barnard and became a drug counselor at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, eventually becoming licensed in the practice of Chinese medicine and acupuncture. She also worked as an anti-drug counselor and acupuncturist at health centers in Harlem
, including the Black Acupuncture Advisory of North America.
and the fight against the FBI's COINTELPRO
program. She also joined the May 19th Communist Organization, which worked in support of the Black Liberation Army
, the Weather Underground and other revolutionary organizations .
Rosenberg was charged with a role in the 1983 bombing of the United States Capitol Building
, the U.S. Naval War College
and the New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, but the charges were dropped as part of a plea deal by other members of her group.
A statement that her compatriots issued, on the occasion of the Capitol bombing, said, "We purposely aimed our attack at the institutions of imperialist rule rather than at individual members of the ruling class. We did not choose to kill any of them this time. But their lives are not sacred."
When she was convicted of explosive possession in 1984, she received a 58-year-sentence, which was sixteen times the national average for such offenses. Her lawyers contend that, had the case not been politically charged, Rosenberg would have received a five-year sentence.
Rosenberg was one of the first two inmates of the High Security Unit
(HSU), a high-security isolation unit in the basement of the Federal Correctional Institution (currently the Federal Medical Center
) in Lexington, Kentucky
. Allegations were made that the unit was an experimental underground political prison that practiced isolation and sensory deprivation
. The women were subject to 24-hour camera surveillance and constant strip searches, and were only given limited access to visitors or to exercise. After touring the unit, the American Civil Liberties Union denounced it as a "living tomb," and Amnesty International called it "deliberately and gratuitously oppressive." After a lawsuit was brought by the ACLU and other organizations, the unit was ordered closed by a federal judge in 1988 and the prisoners transferred to regular cells.
Rosenberg was transferred to various prisons around the country, in Florida, California and, finally, in Danbury, Connecticut. While in prison, she devoted herself to writing and to activism around AIDS, and obtained a Master's degree from Antioch College. Speaking at a 2007 forum, Rosenberg said that writing “became the mechanism by which to save my own sanity.” She added that she began writing partly because the intense isolation of prison was threatening to cut her off completely from the “real world,” and that she did not want to lose her connection to that world.
After her release, Rosenberg became the communications director for the American Jewish World Service
, an international development and human rights organization based in New York. She also continued her work as an anti-prison activist, and taught literature at John Jay School of Criminal Justice in New York. After teaching for four semesters there as an adjunct instructor, the CUNY administration, responding to political pressure, forced the John Jay School to end its association with Rosenberg, and her contract with the school was allowed to expire without her being rehired.
In 2004 Hamilton College offered her a position to teach a for-credit month-long seminar, "Resistance Memoirs: Writing, Identity and Change." Some professors, alumni and parents of students objected and as a result of the ongoing protests, she withdrew from the offer.
George Russell, executive editor of the Fox News channel, commented in Commentary Magazine that it is “deceitful.”
Far left
Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...
political activist, author and advocate for social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
and prisoners' rights. Rosenberg was active in many radical movements of the 1960s and 1970s. After living as a fugitive for two years, she was arrested with an accomplice, Timothy Blunk, in 1984 while unloading 740 pounds of dynamite and weapons from a car into a storage locker in Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill, New Jersey
Cherry Hill is a township in Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a population of 71,045, representing an increase of 1,080 from the 69,965 residents enumerated during the 2000 Census...
. She had also been sought as an accomplice in the 1979 prison escape of Assata Shakur
Assata Shakur
Assata Olugbala Shakur is an African-American activist and escaped convict who was a member of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army...
.
She was accused, but never tried or convicted, of driving the getaway car in the Brinks robbery (1981)
Brinks robbery (1981)
The Brink's robbery of 1981 was an armed robbery committed on October 20, 1981, which was carried out by Black Liberation Army members; including Jeral Wayne Williams , Donald Weems , Samuel Smith, Nathaniel Burns , Cecilio "Chui" Ferguson, Samuel Brown ; several former members of the Weather...
in which two police officers and an armored-car guard were killed.
Rosenberg was sentenced to 58 years in prison on the weapons and explosives charges. She spent 16 years in prison, during which she became a poet, author and AIDS activist. Her sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
on January 20, 2001, his final day in office.
Early Life
Rosenberg was born into a middle class family in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Her father was a dentist and her mother a theatrical producer. She attended the progressive Walden School
Walden School (New York City)
__notoc__Walden School was a private day school in Manhattan, New York City that operated from 1914 until 1988, when it merged with the New Lincoln School; the merged school closed in 1991. Walden was known as an innovator in progressive education. The Walden School was founded in 1914 by Margaret...
and later went to Barnard College
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
. She left Barnard and became a drug counselor at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, eventually becoming licensed in the practice of Chinese medicine and acupuncture. She also worked as an anti-drug counselor and acupuncturist at health centers in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, including the Black Acupuncture Advisory of North America.
Activism and Imprisonment
In an interview with the radio show Democracy Now, Rosenberg said that she was "totally and profoundly influenced by the revolutionary movements of the '60s and '70s." She became active in feminist causes, and worked in support of the Puerto Rican independence movementPuerto Rican independence movement
The Puerto Rican independence movement refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at obtaining independence for the Island, first from Spain, and then from the United States...
and the fight against the FBI's COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO
COINTELPRO was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological...
program. She also joined the May 19th Communist Organization, which worked in support of the Black Liberation Army
Black Liberation Army
The Black Liberation Army was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1970 to 1981...
, the Weather Underground and other revolutionary organizations .
Rosenberg was charged with a role in the 1983 bombing of the United States Capitol Building
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall...
, the U.S. Naval War College
Naval War College
The Naval War College is an education and research institution of the United States Navy that specializes in developing ideas for naval warfare and passing them along to officers of the Navy. The college is located on the grounds of Naval Station Newport in Newport, Rhode Island...
and the New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, but the charges were dropped as part of a plea deal by other members of her group.
A statement that her compatriots issued, on the occasion of the Capitol bombing, said, "We purposely aimed our attack at the institutions of imperialist rule rather than at individual members of the ruling class. We did not choose to kill any of them this time. But their lives are not sacred."
When she was convicted of explosive possession in 1984, she received a 58-year-sentence, which was sixteen times the national average for such offenses. Her lawyers contend that, had the case not been politically charged, Rosenberg would have received a five-year sentence.
Rosenberg was one of the first two inmates of the High Security Unit
High Security Unit
High Security Unit was a "control" unit for women within the Federal Correctional Institution in Lexington, Kentucky. In the less than two years that the HSU was operational it became a focus of national and international concern over human rights abuses.It was opened in 1986 by the U.S. Federal...
(HSU), a high-security isolation unit in the basement of the Federal Correctional Institution (currently the Federal Medical Center
Federal Medical Center, Lexington
The Federal Medical Center, Lexington is a federal prison in Lexington, Kentucky housing 1,464 male inmates at high security and 296 female inmates at a low security camp.-History:...
) in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. Allegations were made that the unit was an experimental underground political prison that practiced isolation and sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation
Sensory deprivation or perceptual isolation is the deliberate reduction or removal of stimuli from one or more of the senses. Simple devices such as blindfolds or hoods and earmuffs can cut off sight and hearing respectively, while more complex devices can also cut off the sense of smell, touch,...
. The women were subject to 24-hour camera surveillance and constant strip searches, and were only given limited access to visitors or to exercise. After touring the unit, the American Civil Liberties Union denounced it as a "living tomb," and Amnesty International called it "deliberately and gratuitously oppressive." After a lawsuit was brought by the ACLU and other organizations, the unit was ordered closed by a federal judge in 1988 and the prisoners transferred to regular cells.
Rosenberg was transferred to various prisons around the country, in Florida, California and, finally, in Danbury, Connecticut. While in prison, she devoted herself to writing and to activism around AIDS, and obtained a Master's degree from Antioch College. Speaking at a 2007 forum, Rosenberg said that writing “became the mechanism by which to save my own sanity.” She added that she began writing partly because the intense isolation of prison was threatening to cut her off completely from the “real world,” and that she did not want to lose her connection to that world.
Release
Rosenberg's sentence was commuted by President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001, his last day in office. Her commutation produced a wave of criticism by police and New York elected officials.After her release, Rosenberg became the communications director for the American Jewish World Service
American Jewish World Service
American Jewish World Service is a nonprofit international development organization, founded in 1985, which supports community-based organizations in 35 countries in the developing world and works to educate the American Jewish community about global justice...
, an international development and human rights organization based in New York. She also continued her work as an anti-prison activist, and taught literature at John Jay School of Criminal Justice in New York. After teaching for four semesters there as an adjunct instructor, the CUNY administration, responding to political pressure, forced the John Jay School to end its association with Rosenberg, and her contract with the school was allowed to expire without her being rehired.
In 2004 Hamilton College offered her a position to teach a for-credit month-long seminar, "Resistance Memoirs: Writing, Identity and Change." Some professors, alumni and parents of students objected and as a result of the ongoing protests, she withdrew from the offer.
An American Radical
In 2011, Rosenberg published a memoir of her time in prison called An American Radical: A Political Prisoner In My Own Country. Kirkus Review said of the book, “Articulate and clear-eyed, Rosenberg’s memoir memorably records the struggles of a woman determined to be the agent of her own life.”George Russell, executive editor of the Fox News channel, commented in Commentary Magazine that it is “deceitful.”
See also
- Bill Clinton pardons controversyBill Clinton pardons controversyPresident Bill Clinton was criticized for some of his pardons and acts of executive clemency. While most presidents grant pardons on several days throughout their terms, Clinton chose to make most of them on January 20, 2001. Collectively, the controversy surrounding these actions has sometimes...
- Brinks Robbery (1981)Brinks robbery (1981)The Brink's robbery of 1981 was an armed robbery committed on October 20, 1981, which was carried out by Black Liberation Army members; including Jeral Wayne Williams , Donald Weems , Samuel Smith, Nathaniel Burns , Cecilio "Chui" Ferguson, Samuel Brown ; several former members of the Weather...
- Weather Underground Organization
- May 19th Communist Organization