Biography
Rolando "Montae" Hearn coordinated Philadelphia Panther breakfast work and was jailed in a robbery prosecution contested by the Party.
In a signed prison essay, Hearn describes being incarcerated for two months and discusses criminal prosecutions, political education and solidarity among prisoners. The relative duration is a custody observation at publication, not a completed term or an exact admission date. The Black Panther, April 18, 1970, vol IV no20, original PDF page 5. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/black-panther/04%20no%2020%201-20%20apr%2018%201970.pdf#page=5
A Philadelphia report describes Rolando Hearn, called Montae, accompanying another Panther identified only as Pinkett to collect Tommie Frye’s belongings. It says police ordered Hearn out of the car, examined his license, identified him and Pinkett as Black Panther Party members, and subjected them to questioning by the Civil Disobedience Squad before releasing them. The report is framed around July 22, 1969 and an event two days earlier, but no exact detention endpoints or measured duration are entered. This was brief police detention, distinct from Hearn’s separately documented robbery imprisonment. Pinkett’s first name is not supplied, so he is not equated with the Houston mutiny prisoner LeRoy Pinkett.
The October report identifies breakfast coordinator Rolando Montae Hearn among six Panthers arrested in Philadelphia at about 10:30 p.m. September 23, 1969. Unlike four companions released by 7 a.m. the next day, Hearn remained held for contempt connected with an older robbery charge. This is an earlier detention episode, not proof of continuous confinement until his later January 1970 sentence.
