Forwarded message: > From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mon Jun 12 10:08:02 1995 > Date: Mon, 12 Jun 1995 00:00:48 -0400 > Reply-To: PNEWS Progressive News and Views Distribution List > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sender: PNEWS Progressive News and Views Distribution List > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > From: PNEWS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: New Mumia Column > > [*********PNEWS CONFERENCES************] > > /* Written by spartacist in igc:p.news */ > /* ---------- "New Mumia Column" ---------- */ > A "Write Up" for Writing > > June 4, 1995 -- c. Mumia Abu-Jamal > > On June 6, 1995, one day after being served > with a Death Warrant, I was served with a Miscon- > duct Report (here called a "write up") for "en- > gaging actively in a business or profession". In > other words, I was being a journalist. > > So strongly does the state object to my writ- > ing what you are now reading, they have begun to > punish me (while I'm in the most punitive section > that the system allows) for daring to speak and > write the truth. > > My institutional "offense"? The book, Live > >From Death Row. > > It paints an uncomplimentary picture of a > prison system that calls itself "corrections," but > does little more than the "corruption" of human > souls; a system that eats hundreds of millions of > dollars a year to torture, maim, and mutilate tens > of thousands of men and women; a system that > teaches bitterness and hones hatred. > > Clearly, what the government wants is not > just death, but silence. > > A "correct" inmate is a silent one. > > One who speaks, writes, and exposes this > horror for what it is, is given a "misconduct". > > Is that a "correct" system? > > Is that a "system of corrections"? > > In this department of state government, the > First Amendment is a nullity. It doesn't apply. > > No one--not a cop, nor a guard--can find a > lie in Live From Death Row. Indeed, it is pre- > cisely because of its truth that it is a target by > the state and its minions. It is a truth that > they don't want you to see. > > Consider: Why haven't you seen, heard, or > read anything like this on TV, radio, or newspa- > pers? May I suggest it is because these media are > increasingly the property of either multinational > corporations or wealthy individuals and they > therefore reflect the perspective of the rich and > the established, not the poor and the powerless? > > In Live From Death Row, you hear the voices > of many: the oppresed, the damned and the bombed! > I paid a high price to bring it to you, and I will > pay more. But, I tell you here, I would do it a > thousand times, no matter what the cost because it > is Right! Long Live John Africa! > > To quote John Africa: "When you are committed > to doing what is right, the power of righteousness > will never betray you..."; Long Live John Africa! > > It was right to write Live From Death Row, > and it's right for you to read it, no matter what > cop, guard, prisoncrat, politician, or media > mouthpiece tells you otherwise. > > Every day of your life you hear of "freedom > of the press" or "freedom of speech", but what can > such "freedoms" mean without the freedoms to read, > or to hear, what you want? > > As you read this, know that I am being "pun- > ished" by the government for writing Live from > Death Row, and these very words you are reading > now. Indeed, I've been "punished" by the govern- > ment for my writings since I was 15 years of age, > but I've kept right on writing. > > You keep right on reading! > > M A Jamal > c 199 > > via PNEWS >
