Biography
Frank Khali Abney was imprisoned at Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch, New York, when Midnight Special published an appeal for his freedom in February 1977. The appeal reported a conviction for attempted murder of a police officer and a sentence of fifteen years to life. In prison he founded and served as president of the Eastern Branch of the NAACP, organized against Ku Klux Klan activity and participated in two lawsuits against the Klan. The paper attributed harassment of Abney and other politically active Black prisoners to Klan members among prison staff. The defense account disputed the underlying prosecution.
The Black Panther (April 24, 1976, p. 10) identified him as Frank K. Abney, president of the Eastern Inmate NAACP Branch, and reported that in March 1975 he and three others filed federal class-action suits against the Pine Bush Ku Klux Klan chapter and Eastern prison administrators.
Frank Khali Abney was imprisoned at Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch, New York, when Midnight Special published an appeal for his freedom in February 1977. The appeal reported a conviction for attempted murder of a police officer and a sentence of fifteen years to life. In prison he founded and served as president of the Eastern Branch of the NAACP, organized against Ku Klux Klan activity and participated in two lawsuits against the Klan. The paper attributed harassment of Abney and other politically active Black prisoners to Klan members among prison staff. The defense account disputed the underlying prosecution.
