On January 17, 1969, an altercation at UCLA ended in gunfire that left two members of the Black Panther Party dead. Watani Stiner–who was a member of the conflicting Us Organization–was there that day. But despite not shooting anyone, he and his brother George were sentenced to life in prison for conspiracy to commit murder and second-degree murder. He spent the next several decades in prison, as well as a few in exile after an escape. He’s now on the outside and shares his story of accountability and repair for a crime he didn’t commit because he contributed to a culture that enabled it.
In this episode, Watani tells his life’s story–from what led to that fateful day and his perspective on what happened–as well as the cascading impacts the incident had on the rest of his life and his journey toward restorative justice.
Watani is also joined by his friend, neighbor, and restorative justice facilitator, Kazu Haga, who recently published a piece for us at Convergence about Watani’s story and how the COINTELPRO era of the 60s intersects with movement work today: “Learning from COINTELPRO’s Survivors: Accountability and Repair.”
Resources From This Episode
- “What If We Organized Survivors of Sexual Violence?” by JoEllen Chernow
Want more?
- Become a member to support this show and others like it: convergencemag.com/membership
- Submit your article proposals to Convergence
- Enrich your media diet: Movement Media Alliance
- Contact us: [email protected]
- Subscribe to Convergence Magazine’s YouTube to catch the video premiere of each episode: Mondays at 7:00 PM ET / 4:00 PM PT
Episode Guests
Kazu Haga is a trainer and practitioner of nonviolence and restorative justice with over 25 years of experience in social change work, a core member of the Fierce Vulnerability Network, a founding core member of the Ahimsa Collective, a YES! Jam facilitator, and author of Healing Resistance: A Radically Different Response to Harm and Fierce Vulnerability: Healing from Trauma, Emerging through Collapse. He works with incarcerated people, youth, and activists from around the country. He is a resident of the Canticle Farm community on Lisjan Ohlone land, Oakland, CA.