Day 13 of the 28 Days of Black Liberation 2024
Born 1962 in Brooklyn NY, Reverend Joyce Blake Powell is a Pentecostal pastor, activist, organizer, mother, writer and poet. A black woman targeted by the state because of her activism. The cousin of Kamau Sadiki who served as an introduction for her own radical politics, she said she used to sit at his feet and listen to his stories as to why he gave his life to the people. Powell defines the Black Radical Tradition and how the State punishes those who organize for a more equitable society.
Powell witnessed and experienced numerous human rights violations and was assaulted by a correctional officer in ’95 and demanded the authorities investigate her assault. She, along with other women, filed a class action lawsuit because of these human rights violations.
Powell began to initiate and organize local protests against fratricide, calls for police accountability against police terrorism, led local events such as neighborhood clean-ups and operated a local youth shelter out of her salon. She fed children and teenagers after school and during the summer months, and held anti-violence classes for the community. In 2000, she began organizing candlelight vigils for victims of neighborhood violence, after her son was killed by gang violence. After the shooting of a neurodivergent man, Powell created an “Emergency Response Team” to better respond to mental health situations.
In 2006, Reverend Powell was falsely arrested and convicted to 16 years in prison by an all white jury for burglary and assault and then later of murder. Convicted due to false charges and her politics, the Rochester Police Department along with the state admitted to Powell that she was targeted because of her activism/organizing.
God keeps her going. And in her own words, she advises: “Find out the truth! I would say take a stand too because when you pledge to the flag you’re basically pledging to a country that hates your guts.”
Write her:
Reverend Joy Powell
#07G0632–Bedford Hills CF
P.O. Box 1000
Bedford Hills, NY 10507-2499
United States
Or to write her through email/JPay:
Access the JPay website
Select New York as the state
And enter #07G0632 as the inmate ID