Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer, activist, and Black anarchist. He is a former member of the Black Panther Party
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
. He has lived in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
since 2010.
Youth and early activism
When he was 12, Ervin joined the NAACP youth group and participated in the sit-inSit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
protests that helped end racial segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
in Chattanooga. He was drafted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
during the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
and served in the army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
for two years, where he became an anti-War activist
Opposition to the Vietnam War
The movement against US involvment in the in Vietnam War began in the United States with demonstrations in 1964 and grew in strength in later years. The US became polarized between those who advocated continued involvement in Vietnam, and those who wanted peace. Peace movements consisted largely of...
. In 1967 he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
and, a short time later, the Black Panther Party.
Hijacking and incarceration
In February 1969, Ervin hijacked a planeAircraft hijacking
Aircraft hijacking is the unlawful seizure of an aircraft by an individual or a group. In most cases, the pilot is forced to fly according to the orders of the hijackers. Occasionally, however, the hijackers have flown the aircraft themselves, such as the September 11 attacks of 2001...
to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
to evade prosecution for allegedly trying to kill a Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
leader. While in Cuba and Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, Ervin became disillusioned with state socialism
State socialism
State socialism is an economic system with limited socialist characteristics, such as public ownership of major industries, remedial measures to benefit the working class, and a gradual process of developing socialism through government policy...
. After several unsuccessful attempts, the American government eventually extradited
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
Ervin and brought him to the U.S. to face trial. Ervin was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
.
Ervin first learned about anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
while in prison in the late 1970s. He read numerous anarchist books, and his case was adopted by the Anarchist Black Cross
Anarchist Black Cross
The Anarchist Black Cross is an anarchist politics support organization. The group is notable for its efforts at providing prisoners with political literature, but it also organises material and legal support for class struggle prisoners worldwide...
, a political prisoner support organization. While in prison, Ervin wrote several anarchist pamphlets, including "Anarchism and the Black Revolution," which has been reprinted many times and may be his best-known work.
Eventually, Ervin's legal challenges and an international campaign led to his release from prison after 15 years.
Post-prison activism
Ervin returned to Chattanooga after his release, where he became involved with a local civil rightsCivil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
group called Concerned Citizens for Justice, fighting police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
and the Klan. In 1987, Ervin helped file a class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
civil rights lawsuit that resulted in the restructuring of the Chattanooga government and the election of several black city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
members.
On April 26, 2008, Ervin and his wife organized a march and rally in Nashville, Tennessee to protest the deaths of two youths in Tennessee facilities, including the Chad Center.
Australian Speaking Tour
During July 1997 Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin was invited to tour AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
by local anarchist organization Angry People. The far-right organization Australians Against Further Immigration
Australians Against Further Immigration
Australians Against Further Immigration was an Australian political party who described themselves as "eco-nationalists" and were against positive net immigration. The party was founded in 1989 and registered in 1990 by Rodney and Robyn Spencer, the parents of actor Jesse Spencer...
, raised the issue with Acting Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone
Amanda Vanstone
Amanda Eloise Vanstone is a former Australian politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the Howard Government. After her resignation from the Senate in 2007, she served as the Australian...
. Then anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson
Pauline Hanson
Pauline Lee Hanson is an Australian politician and former leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation, a political party with a populist and anti-multiculturalism platform...
accused him of being "a known terrorist and gun-runner".
Prime Minister John Howard
John Howard
John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....
was reported as horrified to learn that Mr Lorenzo Kom'Boa Ervin had been granted a visa and was visiting Australia, and Immigration officials started an urgent investigation, detaining Ervin in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and canceling his visa. The visa was canceled on the grounds that he was not of good character, which Ervin disputed.
Ervin had visited 20 countries on lecture tours since his release from prison in 1983. Ervin's Australian visa had been granted through an electronic lodgment system in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The imprisonment of Ervin was taken to the High Court of Australia
High Court of Australia
The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia. It has both original and appellate jurisdiction, has the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and the parliaments of the States, and...
, where Chief Justice, Sir Gerard Brennan
Gerard Brennan
Sir Francis Gerard Brennan, AC, KBE, QC , is an Australian lawyer, judge and 10th Chief Justice of Australia. He is father to Jesuit priest and lawyer Frank Brennan....
, restored Ervin's visa and ordered his release from prison saying that Ervin did not appear to have been accorded natural justice, as well as chiding the Government's lawyers for suggesting he had no power to hear the case.
Legal costs were awarded against the Federal Government. Ervin stated that Mr Howard should apologize.
The detainment of Ervin stimulated international protests that included pickets of Australian embassies and consulates in South Africa, Greece, Italy, Sweden, UK, Ireland, New Zealand and the US.
Immediately after his release from 4 days in prison, Ervin attended NAIDOC
NAIDOC
NAIDOC is an awareness committee and the name of an Australian week of observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday....
celebrations in Musgrave Park, West End, as a guest of the Murri people (Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
from Queensland), and gave a brief speech. Ervin continued his speaking tour, while Immigration officials prepared further questions for him to answer. While traveling on his speaking tour Ervin attempted to visit Australian Black Panther movement activist, Denis Walker in Cessnock Jail
Cessnock Correctional Centre
Cessnock Correctional Centre is a minimum and maximum security Australian prison for males, located in Cessnock, New South Wales, Australia. It is the reception prison for the Newcastle and Hunter Region.-Notable prisoners:*William MacDonald...
, but was denied access by police and warders.
The actions of the government were generally said to have generated attention and publicity for Ervin, and to have resulted in many more people attending his speaking tour than would have otherwise.
The affair resulted in Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock
Philip Ruddock
Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...
cutting short an overseas trip to oversee further Immigration handling of the issue. Ervin left Australia on July 24, 1997 claiming that Immigration officials had threatened to deport him if he stayed any longer. Soon after Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock announced an upgrade of Australia's migrant alert systems and toughened its visa screening procedures, with more stringent checking of "high-risk" applicants.