- published: 27 Aug 2010
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Malik Rahim (born Donald Guyton in 1948) is a former Black Panther, and a long-time housing and prison activist in the U.S. state of Louisiana. He gained publicity as a community organizer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
In 2008, Rahim ran for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district seat of the U.S. House of Representatives as a Green Party candidate, but lost to Republican candidate Joseph Cao.
Rahim was born and raised in Algiers, Louisiana. He attended Landry High School, but left prior to graduation to join the Navy and serve in the Vietnam War.
In May 1970, after leaving the service, Rahim joined in attempting to organize a chapter of the Black Panther Party for Louisiana. Their first step was the creation of the "National Committee to Combat Fascism," an organization which became the Black Panther Louisiana chapter. The group set up in a house on Saint Thomas Street, from which it administered its political activities and breakfast, tutoring, and anti-crime programs, but was soon evicted by the owner. The future Panthers moved in to a house on Piety Street, near the Desire housing project. They were again served with an eviction notice, but now refused to move out. The house was raided by police on September 14, leading to a shootout and the arrest of several Panthers. The Panthers moved into a house in the Desire project. Police attempted a raid on November 19, but after a shootout and brief standoff, thousands of residents of the project prevented the police from entering. On November 26, police succeeded in raiding the house and arresting the Panthers present by disguising some officers as priests who participated in the breakfast program. Rahim, by now the chapter's defense minister, was one of several Panthers charged with attempted murder for two shootouts, but the charges were dismissed.
Brandon Darby was an informant for the FBI and previously a co-founder of Common Ground Relief, a non-profit relief organization that provided supplies and assistance to New Orleanians in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He was Director of Operations for the organization from January to April 2007.
Darby's role as a community organizer and, at times, a humanitarian relief activist, has been the subject of numerous print, radio and television reports, as well as having been profiled in several documentary films, some which have been critical of his actions.
Brandon Darby is better known for his role in infiltrating a small group of 2008 Republican National Convention protesters while working as an FBI informant and subsequently taking the stand against them in court. The two activists out of a group of eight who actually served or are serving jail time are David McKay and Bradley Crowder.
Darby started working as an FBI informant in November 2007, which Darby acknowledged and justified in a December 2008 open letter to his former fellow community organizers and activists.