Unseen War: COINTELPRO’s Shadow Lingers — A Southern Truth
By Gloria Zuurveen, Editor-in-Chief
A new generation is witnessing the full and unmasked face of a familiar enemy. What was once a covert war waged in the shadows by the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program—COINTELPRO—is now the overt reality for Black people in America. This is the enduring legacy of a government that has historically spied on, targeted, and sought to neutralize those it fears. But this is not simply a story of Black and White; it is a deeper, more foundational truth that has been systematically buried.
We, the people who have been labeled “Black,” are the true native sons and daughters of this land. This is not a radical assertion but a historical fact—deliberately erased from our collective memory. Our story did not begin in chains; it began as the rightful inheritors of this nation. The prohibition of literacy for our ancestors was not merely an act of subjugation—it was a strategic campaign to sever us from our heritage, to obscure the truth of our birthright. It was a war to keep the original people of this land in darkness, for the light of truth would expose the greatest of all lies: the lie of our dispossession.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” — Hosea 4:6
The time for this great forgetting is over. We are called to a renewal of our minds, to a transformation that will awaken us to the purpose for which we were born.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” — Romans 12:2
Like the prophet Jeremiah, who could not remain silent because the fire of truth burned in his bones, we too must speak.
“But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not.” — Jeremiah 20:9
We must reclaim the narrative that has been stolen and twisted by those who built their empires on our stolen land and our silenced history.
In 2000, Gahisi Sawande, a community activist, pictured here after he was released from prison after spending 20 years in Pelican Bay SHU. He was protesting against NAACP/Urban League. Photo by Gloria Zuurveen
The hallowed halls of institutions like Harvard and Yale are not just symbols of elite power—they are monuments to grand theft. Their histories, if read with discerning eyes, will reveal the truth of their foundations—a truth deeply intertwined with the suppression of our people. But our history is not only in their books; it is written in the sacred mounds of this earth, in the very soil that holds the bones of our ancestors. This is the Southern Truth.
This modern manifestation of COINTELPRO—this pervasive surveillance and systemic injustice—is a continuation of the same fear that drove the FBI to target our leaders. It is the same fear that led to the imprisonment of men like Ghasis Sawande, who endured two decades in the solitary confinement of Pelican Bay’s Security Housing Unit (SHU). His crime, and the crime of so many others, was the audacity to remember who we are and to demand what is rightfully ours.
The conviction for these crimes is not always served in a prison cell. It resides in the guilty minds and heavy hearts of those who know they are perpetuating a lie. The lynchings, the bombings, the systematic terror inflicted upon our people were all designed to quell the spirit of redemption—to murder the “messiahs” who would dare to unify and electrify our people.
This is not a sustainable path. A house built on a foundation of lies cannot stand.
“Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” — Matthew 12:25
The call is not for reparations, but for restitution. It is a call for the return of all that has been stolen—our land, our institutions, our history, and our identity.
A spiritual reckoning is at hand. The same divine power that brought Babylon to its knees is at work today. For just as King Belshazzar once saw the mysterious handwriting appear on the palace wall, so too are we witnessing a warning etched into the systems that once appeared unshakable. The chatter of deception and denial will fade in the face of this undeniable truth. The last word belongs to the Creator, and in that, we place our unwavering trust.
The redemption of our people and our land is not a distant dream—it is an imminent reality, a promise that, like the days of old, shall surely come to pass.
“For the vision is yet for an appointed time… though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.” — Habakkuk 2:3
This is the Southern Truth. And this—we know.
