Category: Ramsey Muniz

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Ramsey Muniz Prays for Freedom Now!

Letter from federal prisoner Ramsey Muniz:

For the first time in twenty years I have begun to pray and ask God for my freedom now! I have told God that I have suffered more than any other human being in the prisons of America, and that I feel the essence and pain of my beloved brother, Nelson Mandela. He was confined in the prisons and dungeons of Africa for over 20 years, and at this very moment he is fighting for his life. I prayed and cried for Nelson Mandela, and I ask our brothers and sisters to please take the time and go to a church and light a candle for him. Ask God to keep him alive for we need him at this very moment in our lives.

I demand my freedom now! I want my freedom now! Twenty years of suffering for an unjust incarceration is beyond the constitutional definition of “cruel and unusual punishment.” How much more must I suffer for something I did not do, and why?

I demand my freedom now and I ask that my brothers and sisters not ask or request, but begin to demand that I be a free man now! During the last 20 years I never even asked God to help bring about my freedom. For the first time throughout the morning, I felt as if God wanted for me to ask for my freedom, because the time has come for me to be a free man once again.

The message received is that we as Hispanics, Latinos, Mexican Americans, and Chicanos, are now in a strong political position to tell the Untied States government that justice needs to be addressed in the death sentence unjustly imposed on Ramiro “Ramsey” Muiz. We cannot allow this injustice to continue, for I do not want to die inside the prisons of America. My brother, Nelson Mandela, who struggled for his freedom and for his people, knows how it feels.

It is all about freedom, justice, and love, I demand my freedom now! I want to be a free man in this world once again.

We will share this sense of urgency with religious institutions, civil rights organizations, as well as national Hispanic, Latino, African American, and women organizations.

I continue to be strong spiritually, just as my brother Nelson Mandela has been to this very hour and minute, for I can feel the essence of his love and freedom.

Amor,
Ramsey

freeramsey.com

freeramsey.blogspot.com

supportramsey.blogspot.com

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Ramsey Muniz: 'The world is not going to let them bury me in the prisons of America'

As supporters of Ramsey Muniz gather today in Houston, we share a recent letter forwarded by his wife, Irma.–gm

Dear Friends:
I share a personal letter sent to me by Ramsey.
–Irma Muniz

Your father has given lectures like you have no idea or thought. He takes me all the way back to when we, the roots of our Chicano cultural, political, and spiritual movement, would speak about freedom, justice, and about having a voice in America’s process like never ever before in our history. I would ask why it was that we, Mexicanos, were the majority of population in the entire South Texas and we would at times not even have one city council or school board member.

The conservative establishment was against me because I was arousing the consciousness of our people like no other in history. Before they knew it, Mexcianos, Chicanos, and Hispanic candidates were stepping forward in the life of democracy like never ever before. That is a history that was created with the help of God. Now we have Latinos, Hispanics, Chicanos, Mexican American U.S. Congressmen and Congresswomen and even Republican women as governors in New Mexico and in Nevada and all because we had a vision that one day we would be the majority and counted in this world. I sought happiness, peace, love, equality, and family love like never ever before and all of that has now gradually come to pass.

Even our young people are going to witness changes in the entire Southwest of the United States like never ever before in our history and they can mark that down because it is going to happen. How do I know? Well, they would have to communicate with the spirits who are in heaven and those spirits only communicate with those that God has chosen.

We will forever keep our hearts open and our souls ready to forgive those who never ever gave me a drink of water for my thirst, a piece of bread for my hunger, or a blanket to cover my body which was naked for days, weeks, and months shackled and chained the entire time.

The world is not going to let them bury me in the prisons of America which is what they desire to do. Otherwise they would be up front seeking my freedom. We do not wish to die in the prisons of America and we are going to do everything possible because my freedom is the freedom for the masses of humanity out there in the so-called free world

Amor,
TEZ

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Forum in Rio Grande Valley: Bringing Back Ideas, Freeing Ramsey Muñiz

By Nick Braune…

Smugglers? — Yes, book smugglers, “librotraficantes,” traveled this spring in a caravan across Texas and across New Mexico, eventually reaching their destination, Tucson, Arizona. Back in 2010, when the harsh anti-immigrant bill (SB 1070) was passed in Arizona, there was also a coordinated attack against Mexican-American Studies, and Tucson took the whole program out of its high schools. The “book smugglers” brought with them 80 different books which the high school Mexican-American Studies program had been using successfully in Tucson before it was shut down. (The program had a vibrant history and literature component.)

The smugglers made stops on the way to Tucson, holding community meetings in many towns and reading selections from the shut-down program’s books. In Tucson they are helping to form an “underground library” center to rally the people against the prejudiced, xenophobic legislators and to give the youth a sense of their heritage and a connection to liberative activity.

My wife and I had just read an interesting article (Huffington Post, 2-22-12) about the smuggler’s caravan — surely book smuggling and standing up to censorship and bans must hold an honored place in civilization — and we were pleased that a speaker we heard on Friday (July 27) also mentioned the “Librotraficantes” favorably. And the speaker understood the caravan’s symbolism: If power tries to stifle ideas, those ideas will come back in innovative ways.

The speaker was Raul Garcia, who teaches philosophy at Lamar University and was addressing a Valley meeting sponsored by People for Peace and Justice. Garcia is part of a campaign urging President Obama to release Ramsey Muñiz, an imprisoned Chicano activist who ran for governor of Texas in 1972 and 1974 on the La Raza Unida ticket. Garcia knew Ramsey in middle school and high school in Corpus Christi, where they both were athletes.

Maybe because Muñiz picked cotton as a child and for some reason would push himself to work faster and harder than people thought he could – he would even skip breaks — he became a driven football player. His high school won the state championship, and Muñiz got a scholarship to Baylor. He graduated from Baylor, as did his friend Raul Garcia, our speaker. During their years in high school and particularly their years in college in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was growing Chicano activism in Texas. Courageous new voices were being heard, what some social theorists call a “mass strike process.” After Muñiz graduated, he went to Baylor’s law school (making ends meet as an assistant football coach), and became a fine young lawyer and a charismatic speaker.

Because Muñiz, as La Raza Unida’s ticket leader, got almost 7 percent of the vote — this was really surprising for a new third party — powerful groups became edgy. (Just as members of the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement found themselves viciously targeted by the FBI, particularly during the Nixon administration, La Raza Unida was also on the government’s internal “enemies list.” Senator Frank Church in the 1970s documented the FBI and CIA illegal intelligence-gathering and frame-up mentality: the FBI’s notorious “Cointelpro” effort.)

Drug charges hit Muñiz once in the 1970s and once in the 1990s — with informants and government-owned narcotics around every corner. The story is complicated, but Muñiz looks innocent to me and he is now 70 years old.

The presentation we attended on Friday night was energetic, and Garcia was an informative and stimulating speaker. Prompted by his presentation, the questions focused on two matters: on the need to teach Mexican-American History and the need to pressure Obama to release Ramsey Muñiz. There was also a philosophical theme recurring, that there is always a back and forth connection between ignorance and injustice.

One person in attendance found and wore her “Vote for Ramsey Muniz” campaign button from 1974.”

Irma Muñiz, the wife of Ramsey, sent greetings to our meeting and to the Valley.

[This piece first appeared in “Reflection and Change,” Mid-Valley Town Crier, 7-30-12]

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Irma Muniz: Open Letter for Meeting with Obama

July 21, 2012

Dear Friends:

My name is Irma Muñiz and I have struggled for many years to free my husband, Ramiro “Ramsey” Muñiz from imprisonment for a 1994 conviction and excessive sentence of life without parole for a non-violent drug offense. Ramsey and our family have endured pain, agony, and nearly 20 years of suffering. Ramsey is now turning 70 years of age and we refuse to let him die in prison.

Wrong perceptions and judgment, mistakes, withholding evidence, and Ramsey’s political background contributed to his convictions. He was a community activist during the Civil Rights Movement. Ramsey raised political consciousness in Texas and the Southwest. He enabled many to gain a political voice and seek public office at local, state, and national levels. He incurred legal problems as a result of this activism.

We have fought my husband’s case for many years, but all appeals have been exhausted as the laws favor the government. I now seek an audience with President Barack Obama so that I can present my husband’s situation to him. I seek letters of support.

To send a letter of support by mail, please print and sign the sample letter and mail it to me so that I can compile it with others. See the sample letter on the next page.

To send a letter to President Barack Obama by email, go to the “submit questions can comments” section of the White House website. Copy and paste the letter and sign it or write your own.

Thank you in advance for helping me to free my husband from his wrongful incarceration since 1994. To learn about him, go to:
www.freeramsey.com
www.freeramsey.blogspot.com
www.studentsfreeramsey.blogspot.com

Very truly yours,
Irma Muñiz, Chairperson
National Committee to Free Ramsey Muñiz

Sample letter

July 21, 2012

The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Re: Meeting Requested by Irma Muñiz, wife of Ramsey Muñiz
July 21, 2012

Dear President Obama:

I write to express my support for Irma Muñiz, who seeks a meeting to discuss the case of her husband, Ramiro “Ramsey” Muñiz. This will allow her to present information about her husband’s situation and seek your assistance.

This humanitarian issue pertains to the suffering that incarceration has on families. Irma Muñiz and her family have struggled for many years to free a husband, father, and son-in-law who is turning 70 years of age.

You and First Lady Michelle Obama stress the essence of the family. As President of the United States, we ask that you grant Irma Muñiz a meeting and allow her to share one family’s perspective on suffering. Her experience can serve as an example to many who seek a means of overcoming hardship through faith and the love that God gives to all families.

Very truly yours,

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Wife of Ramsey Muniz Seeks Meeting with President Obama

Irma Muñiz, wife of Ramiro “Ramsey” Muñiz, has sent correspondence to the White House requesting a meeting with President Barack Obama.

She wishes to discuss the situation of her husband who has been incarcerated for approximately 20 years for a non-violent drug conviction.

She seeks an opportunity to convey the devastating effect that his incarceration has had on her husband, his supportive wife, and families who continue to suffer after many years.

Ramsey Muñiz, who is turning 70 years of age, is supported by family, friends, and supporters who continue years of efforts to obtain his freedom. Organizations and various supporters, including National LULAC, the American GI Forum, the League of Latin American Citizens, Friends of Justice, and the Chicano Studies Network have submitted letters of support.

Congressman Blake Farenthold (TX-27) also enclosed a letter requesting that Mrs. Muñiz be given due consideration for a meeting. Mrs. Muñiz has stated in her correspondence, “As President of the most powerful country, you stress the essence of the family. Our family has suffered greatly without my husband, and we thank God for granting us the faith, strength, and spirituality to continue to struggle for his freedom.”

Dr. Alan Bean, Executive Director of Friends of Justice, published a narrative revealing troubling questions raised from the 1994 conviction of Ramsey Muñiz. His analysis of the Muñiz trials can be accessed through the Friends of Justice website (and re-posted by permission at the Texas Civil Rights Review).

Steven Fischer, a law professor who is a member of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors and past District Attorney, wrote an editorial calling for Ramsey’s release stating, “What I do know is Ramiro Muñiz turns 70 in this, his 18th year of incarceration. Society is safe from Muñiz, and further prison is a waste of our money….Let Ramsey Muñiz out of prison to live his remaining years with his family and those who believe in him.” (2012, Corpus Christi Caller Times).

Speaking about her husband, Mrs. Muñiz states, “Ramsey made great contributions to the Civil Rights and Chicano Movements. He ran for Governor of Texas when he was only 30 years of age, and due to his work as a community volunteer, he brought about significant social, educational, political and economic advancements for Mexican Americans, Hispanics, and other Americans throughout Texas, the Southwest, and nation. Because my husband was an advocate and spokesman for civil rights, he encountered many problems in his adult life.”

Source: Press Release from Irma Muñiz