Mutulu Shakur, 2017

Mutulu Shakur was born in Baltimore in 1950. Shakur became the assistant director of the Lincoln Detox, a community organized drug detoxification clinic in an occupied building at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx which was founded in 1970 by the Black Panther Party, the Republic of New Afrika, and the Young Lords. After its closing Shakur went on to found the Black Acupuncture Advisory Association of North America (BAAANA) as well as the Harlem Institute of Acupuncture. Shakur has been incarcerated since 1986. There is an ongoing campaign for his clemency.

Ing ‘Doc Hay, 2017

Gustavo Gutiérrez, 2017

Gustavo Gutierrez was born in Lima, Peru in 1928. He is an originator and leading proponent of Liberation Theology. He is attributed with the phrase, “a preferential treatment of the poor”  If a practice doesn’t work for the poorest people, then it doesn’t work. This ethos is foundational to Liberation Acupuncture.

Miriam Lee, 2017

Michael Smith, 2017

Michael Smith was born in 1942. In 1974, he became the director of Lincoln Detox, a community organized drug detoxification clinic in an occupied building at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx which was founded in 1970 by the Black Panther Party, the Republic of New Afrika, and the Young Lords. After it was shut down he started NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association), which sought to train healthcare providers to perform ear acupuncture. NADA is also a leader in acupuncture research outlining the effectiveness of this simple, affordable treatment.

Master Tung, 2017

Ignacio Martín-Baró, 2017

Ignacio Martín-Baró was born in Spain in 1942. He worked largely in El Salvador. A proponent of Liberation Psychology, Baró was adamant that the practice had to work for the specific group. One could not import European styled psychology for the Central American people with their different experiences of imperialism and poverty. Baró was assassinated by the US trained El Salvadorian Army in 1989.