Biography
Victor Martinez was a member of the Inmates Liberation Front, the organization that grew out of the 1970 rebellion at the Tombs (the Manhattan House of Detention) in New York City. After the uprising, indictments for kidnapping and conspiracy to murder came down on about two dozen prisoners; Martinez, out on bail, was one of them. Shortly after giving an interview to The Black Panther (January 16, 1971), fearing for his life if jailed again, he went underground.
In the interview published January 16, 1971, Martinez describes organizing in the Tombs and being transferred after its first rebellion to the Queens House of Detention, where he and other prisoners organized education classes and produced The Inmates Forum. The introductory account names him among the Queens prisoners chosen to negotiate during the October 1970 uprising. His account supplies historical institutions and organizing activity, not exact admission, transfer or bail-release dates.
