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Sekou Odinga | |
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_1.png) Odinga in the late 1980s | |
| Born | Nathanial Burns (1944-06-07)June 7, 1944 |
| Died | January 12, 2024(2024-01-12) (aged 79) |
| Occupation | Activist |
| Organization(s) | Organization of Afro-American Unity,Black Panther Party,Black Liberation Army |
| Spouse | Dequi Kioni-Sadiki |
| Children | 8, includingYaki Kadafi |
Sekou Odinga (bornNathanial Burns, June 17, 1944 – January 12, 2024) was an AmericanNew Afrikan activist who was imprisoned for actions with theBlack Liberation Army in the 1960s and 1970s.[1]
In 1965, Sekou joined theOrganization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU), founded byMalcolm X. After Malcolm's death, the OAAU was not going in the direction he wanted and by 1967 he was looking at theBlack Panther Party. In early 1968, he helped buildthe Bronx chapter of the Black Panther Party. On January 17, 1969, two Panthers,Bunchy Carter andJohn Huggins, were killed by members ofUS Organization on theUCLA campus, and a fellow New York Panther who was in police custody was brutally beaten. Sekou was informed that police were searching for him in connection with a police shooting. The confluence of these events convinced Sekou to disappear from public-facing organizing and join the black underground with the Black Liberation Army.
Sekou Odinga remained underground, partaking in revolutionary clandestine activity for twelve years until his capture. Upon being captured in 1981, he was charged with six counts of attempted murder, nine predicate acts ofRacketeering Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO), stemming from his involvement in the escape ofAssata Shakur from prison and theBrink's armored car robbery. He was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to a consecutive twenty-five years to life state sentence and a forty-year federal sentence.[2] Burns' convictions were affirmed by theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in March 1985.[3] Odinga was released from prison on November 25, 2014.[2]
Odinga died on January 12, 2024, at the age of 79. He is survived by eight children and 18 grandchildren. He was the father of deceased rapperYaki Kadafi.[4]
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