Mumia Abu Jamal is one of many political prisoners in the U. S. However, due to years of exposing racist police brutality, as a journalist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he is the ONLY political prisoner on death row. Mumia has been convicted by a ruthlessly racist legal system, in a trial founded upon the false testimony of paid/ petrified police informants. (For complete details on the framing of Mumia, see “International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal” online via http://www.mumia.org/ )
Philadelphia is one of the most vicious police states in America. It is also one of the most rabidly racist cities in America. Philadelphia is the city where MOVE members and 60 other Black residents were bombed. MOVE’s revolutionary politics and radical lifestyles were deemed as ground for public execution. Philadelphia is also a city where a neocon mammy named Courtney Mann is the head nigger and honorary KKK bitch-in-blackface CEO of the NAAWP.
Of all the uniquely repulsive horrors that define the state of Pennsylvania, there is yet another, newer racist tragedy. On February 18, 1998, Jamal Hart, the 26 year old son of Mumia, was sentenced to 15 years and 6 months, followed by 5 years parole, on a “gun posession” conviction. Police claim they found a gun after Jamal allegedly ran a stop sign. As always, it was his word against local agents of the New World Order. Thus, another warrior from another generation has perished under the power of police. Mumia has written: “[Jamal’s] transfer represents punishment before trial, as his bust itself is punishment for his efforts on behalf of his dad.”
To this day, racists are doing all they can to torture, execute and deny Mumia his freedom. Various sources have recently reported that Mumia is embroiled in a hunger strike, in protest of the removal of ALL of his books and papers from his cell. Yet, even after 17 years in a cage, Mumia remains absolutely beautiful and strong, defiant and regal, determined and undaunted, dredlocked and undefeated.
Mumia was fearless as a very young boy. He remains so as a man. He will be so eternally. COINTELPRO captured his body. NOTHING will ever capture his spirit, bind his soul, or weaken his powerful legacy.
For more info, read Live from Death Row by Mumia Abu Jamal. Also read his second book entitled Death Blossoms-Reflections From a Prisoner of Conscience. The following quotes are taken from essays in Death Blossoms:
From “Father Hunger”: “Here in this man-made hell, there are countless young men bubbling with bittter hatreds and roiling resentments against their absent fathers. Several have taken to the odd habit of calling me “Papa”, an endearment whose irony escapes them...
I resent being “Papa” to young men I didn’t know, while being denied-by decree of state banishment-the opportunity to be a father to the children of my own flesh and heart. My sons were babies when I was cast into this hell, and no number of letters, cards, or phone calls can ever heal the wounds that they and their sisters have suffered over the long, lonely years of separation...
They are me...I realize that I live amidst a generation of young men drunk not only with general loneliness, but with the particular, gnawing anguish of father-hunger...”
From “Interview with Mumia”: “I’m actually named after my first son. It means “father of Jamal” and my first son is named Jamal.
...How did Americans (or people who call themselves Americans), how did they acquire political power here in this country, if not through a gun? How did they prevail over the forces of the Crown, of Britain, in the so-called Revolutionary War, if not through the power and force of arms? How did they prevail over the native peoples of this country in the so-called Indian Wars, if not through force of arms?...If Americans did not fight with all the tools at their command-including guns-against the British, we’d all be speaking with a British accent and saying “God Save the Queen”.
...How many people can brag-and I use that term with a little humor-about having an FBI file from the time they were fourteen? I have. Phone calls, mail, the whole deal. I’ve been tracked by the FBI since I was a child. Dogged by them for my political beliefs, my political expressions, my political associations...They wrote letters to people in my name, signed them, sent them-these letters were complete lies. Because as a young man I spoke out as part of the Ministry of Information of the Black Panther Party. And, I spoke about black liberation...
As we speak, the state of California has announced a moratorium on all interviews with all prisoners throughout the penal system. There’s a reason for that. It’s to keep people in the dark...”
To remain informed about Mumia and his son Jamal, contact: International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, POB 19709, Philadelphia, PA, 19143; Phone: 215-476-8812; E-mail: mumia@aol.com
Pray for both of these warriors, who share the same regal
blood and revolutionary
courage...