Richard Lake
Biography
Founder/leader of the Atmore-Holman prison group Inmates For Action (known as 'Mafundi'), held in solitary confinement over 62 days for his political beliefs and, per The Black Panther Vol. 17 no.25 (1977), targeted with frame-up marijuana and gun charges.
Richard Mafundi Lake was a political activist from Birmingham, Alabama who while participating in the Montgomery Bus Boycott as a high school student was framed by police for committing a $34 robbery and sentenced to 14 years hard labor. While in prison Mafundi founded the group Inmates for Action (IFA) and in retaliation spent 12 consecutive years in solitary confinement. After his release Mafundi helped to organize the first prisoner support organizations in Alabama: the Committee for Prisoner Support in Birmingham, Families for Action, African People’s Survival Committee and the Atmore-Holman Brothers Defense Committee. In November of 1979 Mafundi organized a march in support of the Iranian Revolution which made international news and caused diplomatic embarrassment to the United States after the demonstration was attacked by an angry mob of flag waving conservatives. In May 1983 he organized a National African Liberation Day march, rally and conference. The FBI worked with local police to do anything they could to stop the event. including denying them parade permits and intimidating local hosts to stop them from acquiring venue space. The event was a success and 8 days later Mafundi was arrested for rape. Due to his past conviction he was declared a habitual offender and sentenced to life in prison.
Mafundi, identified as founding chairman of Inmates for Action and a veteran of thirteen years in Alabama prisons, addressed the June 4, 1975 Birmingham rally demanding investigation of Frank X. Moore’s death. The rounded retrospective duration is preserved as the newspaper’s description, without assigning precise custody endpoints or an actual-day counter. Source: https://www.workers.org/wp-content/uploads/ww1975-0613-v17n24.pdf#page=12
As Richard E. Lake Jr., he organized prisoners to petition outside institutions and helped bring Lake v. Lee in 1969. After the courts rejected most of their complaints, he helped establish Inmates for Action at Atmore in fall 1971. The group organized prison labor strikes in 1972.
The Vulcan Historical Review, volume 20 (2016), 20th Anniversary Issue, University of Alabama at Birmingham, PDF page 113; The Vulcan Historical Review, volume 20 (2016), 20th Anniversary Issue, University of Alabama at Birmingham, PDF page 114; The Vulcan Historical Review, volume 20 (2016), 20th Anniversary Issue, University of Alabama at Birmingham, PDF page 115; The Vulcan Historical Review, volume 20 (2016), 20th Anniversary Issue, University of Alabama at Birmingham, PDF page 116; The Vulcan Historical Review, volume 20 (2016), 20th Anniversary Issue, University of Alabama at Birmingham, PDF page 117.
