Mumia's case in the age of Obama
http://socialistworker.org/2010/04/13/mumia-and-the-obama-era
By Daphna Thier and Lee Wengraf
April 13, 2010
NEW YORK--Hundreds of activists gathered at Columbia University April
3 for a day-long conference and evening plenary about the case of
Pennsylvania death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. The event was
organized by Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal (EMAJ), with the help of
co-organizers LUCHA, a student activist group at Columbia University,
Called the "voice of the voiceless," Mumia is a former Black Panther
and journalist who has been on death row for 28 years, wrongfully
convicted for the killing of a police officer.
Sent to death row on the basis of police-coerced testimony and
blatant racial bias, his trial and subsequent appeals have been a
travesty of justice, denounced by human rights organizations and
activists worldwide, from Amnesty International to the NAACP.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant Mumia's petition
for an appeal on several grounds, including evidence of
discrimination against Black jurors, considered one of Mumia's most
promising avenues for a new trial. In the face of clear evidence that
justice in the courts for Mumia is hard to come by, activists
recently launched a campaign demanding a civil rights investigation.
Topics of the workshops at the conference, which more than 50 people
attended, included "Mumia 101," in which EMAJ Coordinators Professor
Mark L. Taylor and Professor Johanna Fernandez gave an informative
layout of the initial facts of the case, and "Organizing on
campuses," where Columbia students led a discussion on student
movements and networking.
In another session, Suzanne Ross of the Free Mumia Coalition-NYC laid
out the strategy to secure a civil rights investigation from U.S.
Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department's Civil
Rights Division.
The campaign for a civil rights investigation is nearly a year old,
launched on the heels of the legal setback in 2009, with the U.S.
Supreme Court's refusal to grant Mumia's appeal. Over 20,000
signatures petitioning for a civil rights investigation were
delivered to the Justice Department in December 2009. Supporters
signing on to the call included Noam Chomsky, U.S. Rep. Charles
Rangel, NAACP Board Chair Julian Bond, trade unionists from Venezuela
and Ecuador, and many more.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
AN EVENING plenary at the conference was titled "Live From Death Row:
Mumia at the Crossroads in the Age of Obama" and took up the slogan
"We need his voice, we need his life."
Dr. Cornel West, Professor Vijay Prashad, Professor Jamal Joseph and
Pam Africa of the MOVE organization spoke to roughly 400 people,
filling the large hall to the brim.
Opening the evening's event, Pam Africa reminded us of mass movements
past. Pam described Mumia as a "free man on death row." She called
for mass action, leading the crowd in chants of "The people, united,
will never be defeated."
Professor Jamal Joseph, a former Black Panther, gave a very powerful
speech filled with humor and optimism, describing the legacy of the
Black Panther Party. "We need movement...everyone here is a great
weapon because everyone here has the power to organize," Joseph concluded.
Professor Vijay Prashad spoke of people becoming more and more
"disposable." "They don't just want Gaza--they want to be human," he
said. "Mumia is Gaza. Mumia is Guantánamo Bay...a 'disposable' who
refuses to remain disposable but wants to be a human."
Dr. Cornel West spent the evening moving up and down the stage to
hand out hugs to Frances Golden (Mumia's literary agent), Pam Africa,
the IMPACT peformers and others, and rooted enthusiastically for all
the speakers. "Mumia comes from a tradition," he said, referring to
Frederick Douglass, A. Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and more.
He accused the ruling class of having an "obsession with the 11th
Commandment: 'thou shall not get caught'...[The] age of Reagan
continues in the age of Obama." He called not for prisons but for
"education, rehabilitation...for 2.3 million people in the jails" and
called out for a movement of poor people and the working class.
A taped greeting from Mumia filled his audience with warmth, love and
inspiration. Mumia spoke on the election of Obama, stating that,
"People voted because they wanted to end the war, they wanted
change...and still the machine of oppression goes on."
Reflecting on the Black Panther Party, Mumia said what motivated
them, always, was to "serve the people...We didn't get paid, we
didn't want to get paid, we were paid by the love people gave us."
Addressing young people, Mumia recalled that Huey Newton was 24 years
old when he founded the Black Panther Party, and he didn't send a
letter to Martin Luther King asking, "Is this a good idea?" "Never
think of what you can't do. You're young for a reason. You have to do
what you were born to be--active."
The next step in the struggle for justice for Mumia is a march on the
Justice Department in Washington, D.C., scheduled for April 26.
Visit the Free Mumia Abu Jamal Coalition Web site for information
about the march.
http://www.freemumia.com/
.
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