Independence Day is behind us, but I’m still thinking about patriotism. Perhaps given the circumstances of my life that’s hardly surprising. In this country we expend plenty of energy debating what constitutes patriotism, but precious little time discussing its efficacy.

Last week I joined the Advisory Board of the Bradley Manning Support Network. I sought them out not only because it is a honor to join a Board that includes Medea Benjamin of Code Pink, as well as Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame, and filmmaker Michael Moore, among others, but also because I believe it is imperative for as many people as possible to raise their voices in support of Manning.

We began planning for the RFC’s 20th anniversary over two years ago. We’d produced several large-scale dramatic readings interspersed with music to mark prior milestones such as the 40th and 50th anniversary of my parents’ execution or the RFC’s 10th anniversary, but this time we wanted to do something different. Rather than one big event on or near the anniversary date (September 4th, 2010), we decided to hold 20 events, in 20 cities, over 20 months (our 20/20/20 program).

My family was among the most well-known victims of the McCarthy period. Our story has been told in books, films, plays, poems and songs. However, as we approach the 58th Anniversary of my parents’ execution, I’d like to chronicle another family’s ordeal. I share this as an example of the thousands who suffered from the anti-communist hysteria of the late 1940’s and early 1950s’s.

Geronimo “ji-Jaga” Pratt died last week. He spent 27 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. It took place in Los Angeles while he was 350 miles away under FBI surveillance. Pratt was a target of the FBI’s notorious COINTELPRO program, along with hundreds of other Black Panthers, Puerto Rican Nationalists, American Indian Movement members and other anti-imperialists and radicals.