Baba Herman Ferguson
Baba Herman Ferguson a living legacy at 93 years of age has joined the Ancestors after dedicating his entire life to the end struggling for Black human rights and self-determination. Baba Herman was a progressive Black Nationalist educator in the New York City schools system; he was an associate of Malcolm X and a member of both the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) .
Baba Herman was the organizer and director of the OAAU Liberation School; he formed the Black Brotherhood Inc. in Queen, NY, which joined the Revolutionary Action Movement in 1967. In response to white supremacist groups arming themselves, Baba Herman formed a rifle club for Blacks in Queens, NY. He also motivated his students like Mutulu Shakur and Abdul Majid to become active in the the Black Power movement.
Baba Herman also joined the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika (PGRNA) in 1968. Because of his Black Nationalist activism he was targeted by the FBI COINTELPRO Program and forced into exile in Guyana. He would spend 19 years in Guyana living and working under the pseudonym "Paul Adams." When his wife Iyaluua joined him there in the 1970's the two moved to the nation's capitol Georgetown, and after a meeting with Guyana's Minister of the Interior they were hired by the national service to help revamp the country's educational system. By the time"Paul Adams" retired, Guyana was grateful, he was awarded an honorable discharge for his service to the nation.
Baba Herman didn't want to stay retired in Guyana, as a longtime Black Power activist he longed to end his days back home. In 1988, he had his lawyer and other contacts in New York advise the U.S. government that he was ready to return. Baba's friends set up the "Defense Committee for Herman Ferguson," but the government wasn't ready to make any concessions: if he returned, they said, the old charges still applied.
Baba Herman would still have to serve seven years for attempted assassination and one year on federal charges for having fled the country to avoid arrest. Against his wife's wishes, Ferguson accepted the deal. "I just didn't want to spend my years in retirement in Guyana, away from my family, my childhood friends and the Black movement," Ferguson explains. "That was the reason I decided to come back."
In 1989, he booked a ticket for a non-stop flight from Georgetown to New York and when the plane landed at Kennedy Airport, federal officers came on board to arrest him. The U.S. government did not take it easy on Baba Herman when he returned. He served three years behind bars, two years on work release, and two years on parole as a political prisoner.
After his release Baba Herman fought for the release of other incarcerated freedom fighters; he initiated the Jericho Movement for Amnesty for U.S. political prisoners; he also initiated the Nationtime newspaper and the New Afrikan Liberation Front. Baba and his wife and partner in love and struggle, Mama Iyaluua Ferguson have consistently been officials in the PGRNA.
Iyaluua along with Baba Herman authored an autobiography of his life titled 'An Unlikely Warrior: Evolution of a Black Nationalist Revolutionary'. As Akinyele Umoja stated: "Those of us are blessed and more enriched to have learned and worked with Baba Herman. His spirit will continue to guide and fight for us as a New Afrikan Ancestor."
Baba Herman Ferguson a living legacy at 93 years of age has joined the Ancestors after dedicating his entire life to the end struggling for Black human rights and self-determination. Baba Herman was a progressive Black Nationalist educator in the New York City schools system; he was an associate of Malcolm X and a member of both the Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) .
Baba Herman was the organizer and director of the OAAU Liberation School; he formed the Black Brotherhood Inc. in Queen, NY, which joined the Revolutionary Action Movement in 1967. In response to white supremacist groups arming themselves, Baba Herman formed a rifle club for Blacks in Queens, NY. He also motivated his students like Mutulu Shakur and Abdul Majid to become active in the the Black Power movement.
Baba Herman also joined the Provisional Government of the Republic of New Afrika (PGRNA) in 1968. Because of his Black Nationalist activism he was targeted by the FBI COINTELPRO Program and forced into exile in Guyana. He would spend 19 years in Guyana living and working under the pseudonym "Paul Adams." When his wife Iyaluua joined him there in the 1970's the two moved to the nation's capitol Georgetown, and after a meeting with Guyana's Minister of the Interior they were hired by the national service to help revamp the country's educational system. By the time"Paul Adams" retired, Guyana was grateful, he was awarded an honorable discharge for his service to the nation.
Baba Herman didn't want to stay retired in Guyana, as a longtime Black Power activist he longed to end his days back home. In 1988, he had his lawyer and other contacts in New York advise the U.S. government that he was ready to return. Baba's friends set up the "Defense Committee for Herman Ferguson," but the government wasn't ready to make any concessions: if he returned, they said, the old charges still applied.
Baba Herman would still have to serve seven years for attempted assassination and one year on federal charges for having fled the country to avoid arrest. Against his wife's wishes, Ferguson accepted the deal. "I just didn't want to spend my years in retirement in Guyana, away from my family, my childhood friends and the Black movement," Ferguson explains. "That was the reason I decided to come back."
In 1989, he booked a ticket for a non-stop flight from Georgetown to New York and when the plane landed at Kennedy Airport, federal officers came on board to arrest him. The U.S. government did not take it easy on Baba Herman when he returned. He served three years behind bars, two years on work release, and two years on parole as a political prisoner.
After his release Baba Herman fought for the release of other incarcerated freedom fighters; he initiated the Jericho Movement for Amnesty for U.S. political prisoners; he also initiated the Nationtime newspaper and the New Afrikan Liberation Front. Baba and his wife and partner in love and struggle, Mama Iyaluua Ferguson have consistently been officials in the PGRNA.
Iyaluua along with Baba Herman authored an autobiography of his life titled 'An Unlikely Warrior: Evolution of a Black Nationalist Revolutionary'. As Akinyele Umoja stated: "Those of us are blessed and more enriched to have learned and worked with Baba Herman. His spirit will continue to guide and fight for us as a New Afrikan Ancestor."