al-Amin, Jamil Abdullah

al-Amin, Jamil Abdullah (originally H. Rap Brown) (1943–  ) political activist, author; born in Baton Rouge, La. As chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), he emerged with Stokely Carmichael (1966) as an advocate of black power. He was charged with inciting a riot in Cambridge, Md. (1968), and was convicted in New Orleans on a federal charge of carrying a gun between states. During this period he wrote Die Nigger Die (1969). He disappeared (1970) before going to trial in Maryland and was shot (1972) while holding up a saloon in New York City. He was arrested, convicted for the incident, and imprisoned (1974). During his sentence he converted to the Islamic faith and took the name Jamil Abdullah al-Amin. On his release he opened a grocery store in Atlanta. He was a writer/lecturer for Dial Press and leader of the Community Mosque, Atlanta.