Sunday, December 17, 2006

Now or Never for Mumia Abu-Jamal

By Norman (Otis) Richmond
It is now or never for U.S. political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal’ supporters are being implored to renew their efforts to free him, or at least grant him a new trial.

Revolutionary journalist, Kiilu Nyasha, is calling for Abu-Jamal supporters to step up their efforts to liberate Abu Jamal. Says Nyasha:“They (the State) want to kill him (Abu-Jamal). Make no mistake. I want people to feel the urgency of it. It’s a matter of months.

When the last appeal was filed on October 23rd, the judge said, ‘the hearing will be scheduled in a few months’, which means it might come up in January. If it comes down in January or February what ever the outcome is, it will either be a new trial or a death sentence.”

The San Francisco- based journalist blames “sectarian non-sense” for the fact that the movement to free Abu-Jamal has “lost steam” in NorthAmerica. She points out that the movement is moving in Europe. “The energy is in Europe.”

Even the African-named Chaka Fattah a mayoral candidate in Philadelphiahas caved in to the pressure of anti-Abu-Jamal forces. Linn Washington pointed out in a recent article in the Philadelphia Tribune , America’s oldest black owned newspaper, “When Fattah recently announced his candidacy for mayor of Philadelphia , the city’s police union – the leading group pushing for Abu Jamal’s execution – announced it would oppose Fattah’s candidacy due solely to his mid-90s support for a new trial.”

In the mid-1990s, Fattah spearheaded an effort among members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which a called for a fair trial Abu-Jamal.

Huey P. Newton once remarked that “Blackness was necessary but not sufficient.” Fattah’s actions are proof of this statement.

Abu-Jamal is a former member of the Black Panther Party a Move supporter. He is a symbol in the struggle for justice in the United States and the abolition of the death penalty. He is an award-winning journalist who chronicles the human condition. He has been a resident of Pennsylvania’s death row for twenty-five years. Writing from his solitary confinement cell his essays have reached a worldwide audience. His “Dispatches FromDeath Row” commentaries are played every Saturday on Saturday Morning Liveat 10am on CKLN-FM 88.1 and they can be heard in cyberspace www.ckln.fm All of Abu-Jamal’s commentaries can be heard on www.prisonradio.org

While Abu-Jamal is clearly an African American patriot he has stood up forthe world’s oppressed. His commentaries are Pan-African in scope and deal with everything from Hank Aaron to Chaka and the Zulus. However, Abu-Jamal is an internationalist and tackles issues form Hamid Karzai’s, Afghanistan to Robert Mugabe’s, Zimbabwe. At the time of this writing Abu Jamal’s last commentary is “Why The Iraq Study Group is No Solution.”

His books Live From Death Row, Death Blossoms, All Things Censored, Faithof Our Fathers and the recently released We Want Freedom have sold over150,000 copies and been translated into nine languages.

His 1982-murder trial and subsequent conviction has been the subject ofgreat debate. On December 9, 1981 Philadelphia police office Daniel Faulkner was shot and killed during a routine Center City traffic stop. Abu-Jamal was charged with Faulkner‘s murder.

Abu-Jamal has garnered international support. World leader, elected officials, celebrities and every day people from Africa, Asia, South Africa and the Caribbean have called for Abu Jamal’s freedom. Fidel Castro, Nelson Mandela, Rubin (Hurricane) Carter, Danielle Mitterrand(former First Lady of France), the Episcopal Church of the United States of America; and City Governments such as those of San Francisco, SantaCruz, California, and Detroit have gone on record as supporting his release. Cultural workers like Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, andBoots Reily of the Coup, dead prez, Jello Biafra, Danny Glover, SnoopDogg, Ossie Davis, Susan Sarandon, and Ed Asner has done the same.


In October 2003, Mumia Abu-Jamal was awarded the status of honorary citizen of Paris in a ceremony attended by Angela Davis. The mayor ofParis, Bertrand Delanoe, said in a press release that the award was meant to be a reminder of the continuing fight against the death penalty, which was abolished in France in 1981. The proposal to make Abu-Jamal an honorary citizen was approved by the city's council in 2001.

In 2006, a street was named after Abu-Jamal by the administration of the city of Saint - Denis, a suburb of Paris, provoking some uproar in theU.S.

Nyasha is calling for world—wide action to stop the execution of Abu-Jamal.

“We must urge our neigbhors, friends, and everyone to send letters, e-mail, make phone calls, march in the streets and whatever is necessaryto stop this execution.”

In Toronto the Partisan Defense Committee is sponsoring a meeting,“Abu-Jamal! Abolish the Racist Death Penalty, this Friday, December 15, 7to 10 pm at the Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street (1 Block south ofCollege at Ross Street, west of Queen’s Park Station) $5 advance, $8dollars at the door.Norman Richmond can be contacted norman@ckln.fm

2 comments:

Tony Allen said...

As a former supporter of Mumia who spent nearly ten years supporting him I would urge you to get the facts of the case before you write mis-informed screeds about un-repentant killers.

danielfaulkner.com
antimove.blogspot.com

Um Willem said...

"Former supporter" trolling. How original. Can you provide any evidence in that regard?