Report back on events April 19 and 20

In response to the 3rd Circuit Court’s decision to deny him a fair trial, the people were in the streets of Philly on April 19 demanding that the government free political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal. Free ‘em all!

And this is after the appeal judges refused to even consider evidence pointing to Mumia’s innocence, like the confession from Arnold Beverly, who claims that he killed the pig that Mumia is languishing in prison over, and like some recently discovered crime scene photos that explicitly show Philly holice tampering with the evidence that have come to light since the “legal theater” which they euphemistically called a trial concluded in the early ‘80s. The Philly protest was just one of the protests held in response to the international call put out by the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal (IFFMAJ) for people to get in the streets to protest this legal lynching that the government is trying to set the stage for.

Political heavyweights were brought backstage by Pam Africa, the chairwoman of the ICFFMAJ, to speak at the pre-rally before the march. Candidate for the Green Party presidential nomination and former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, a longtime supporter of political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, was the first to speak. She was followed by political attorney Lynne Stewart, who is currently fighting to avoid being a political prisoner herself.

After the 30-minute or so pre-rally, the protesters on all of the corners grouped up and began to march in the streets, with the final destination being City Hall. Once we began, a group of drummers who’d traveled from New York beat on their drums of all sizes as a backdrop to chants like “Back up, back up, we want freedom, freedom! All those dirty ass cops, we don’t need ‘em need ‘em!” and “No justice, no peace, until Mumia Abu Jamal is released!”

There were people of all nationalities and ages, who came from all over the world to be a part of this demonstration. I met an organizer from Saint Denis, France, who helped to organize for the renaming of a street for Mumia there in ‘06. Pam Africa’s daughters, Pixie and Rose of the Move organization, were keeping their eyes on a number of youngstas while they had smaller ones on their hips. A number of elderly people came out with their walking sticks, to make their voices heard.

As I moved through the crowd, I ran into Shujaa Graham who was exonerated from deathrow and is a veteran of the prison movement of the ‘60s-’70s and one of my teachers, who had traveled from Baltimore to show his support for the “Free Mumia” campaign, just like former Black Panther Nana Conway, the wife of political prisoner Eddie Conway, who also came from the same city. A number of other East Coast former Panthers were there to show support for their comrade – Panthers like Reggie Schell, Paulette Peebles, Ashanti Alston and S.E. Anderson.

Naji, a broadcaster on D.C. radio station WPFW, was seizing the time like myself and getting interviews with supporters for future reports, much like what Mumia would’ve been doing at a rally, had the government not set him up on this bogus, trumped up case. Dara, an organizer from D.C. with the Hands Off Assata campaign, was out there helping people to see that the same enemy, the U.S. government, is at work in both of these freedom fighters’ cases.

When we reached City Hall, the post-rally featured Julia Wright, the daughter of legendary Black writer Richard Wright, who has been involved in the international campaign to “Free Mumia!” for many years and who spoke eloquently for Mumia’s release. Legendary movement attorney Roger Wareham, of the December 12th Movement, was also one of the fiery speakers who stuck in my head throughout the day.

Powerhouse Ramona Africa, the sole adult survivor of the 1985 Move bombing, explained very simply and plainly what’s at stake in the cases of political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal and her family members, the Move 9. On April 22 the women of the case were unjustifiably denied parole after 30 years of being locked up in a case where evidence points at the pig being killed by friendly fire. This incident, which led to this bogus case, is on video for you to judge for yourself.

And to add insult to injury, I don’t know how in the hell nine people can be charged with killing one police officer with one bullet. That absurd charge is similar to the murder charges currently being imposed on the SF 8, a case where eight men were charged in the murder of one pig, with one shot, but that’s another story that I will soon write.

Back to the April 19 demo. The biggest highlight of the day for me was seeing a number of individuals from Mumia’s family, including two of his daughters and some of his grandchildren who were out there representing. Goldii, his youngest daughter on the scene, made the hair on my neck stand up with her passionate and emotional message about her Pops, Mumia, and our need to intensify our efforts to free him now.

The next day, an entourage of Cuban rappers, including Dj Leydis, Miki Flowz, Las Krudas, Junior Clan and Dj Compadre, hooked up with the Prisoners of Conscience Committee (POCC) to throw an event in the hood, at a Puerto Rican community center, for Mumia. The POCC’s Keita hosted along with myself.

The event started with a showing of the POCC: Block Report Radio documentary “Audio Rebellion,” followed up by some words from Mumia’s daughter Goldii, who ended her speech with a rap about her father’s case entitled “Trap Door.” The Cuban rappers did their thing, all of them voicing support for Mumia, and some also talked about the cases of political exiles Assata Shakur and Nehanda Abiodun, who are in exile in Cuba currently, and ending the U.S. blockade against Cuba.

Elena, a comrade from the Native Youth Movement in British Columbia, Klanada, voiced solidarity and also talked about the cases of Native political prisoners like Leonard Peltier and others.

After the event was over, the POCC, along with Mumia’s family members who were in attendance and the Cuban rappers had a meeting where the POCC stressed the Code of Culture and the need for artists and cultural workers who support Mumia and political prisoners to concretely get involved in a tangible way with the work that needs to happen before the people can free them. It was voiced that saying “Free Mumia!” is cool, but we are in dire straits.

We need for rappers and other cultural workers to stay in contact directly with the campaign, so that they can get up to date information on the plight of Mumia and others, as well as to get propaganda out at the concerts and other forums that they are a part of. The Cuban rappers agreed that that is what needs to happen, and the night ended when Junior Clan, with tears running down his face, gave all the money made at the event to Mumia’s family to help with the expenses that they incur riding around from event to event representing for their Pops.

Both events were historical, and I know that most of the people who attended will remember these days for a long time. Hopefully this report back will inspire you to get involved in Mumia’s case, as well as the cases of others like Assata Shakur, Imam Jamil Al-Amin, the Angola 3, the San Francisco 8, the Move 9, the New York 3, Veronza Bowers, Mongo We Langa, Sekou Odinga, Sundiata Acoli and Aaron Patterson among millions of others.

If you haven’t already, check out freemumia.org and prisonradio.org to get up to date info on what’s going on in Mumia’s case. On prisonradio.org, check out the Block Report Radio interview where Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. and myself interview Mumia as he responds to the 3rd Circuit decision. You could also find his weekly radio commentaries there. Also you could hear interviews with Goldii, William Singletary, who was there on the night when Mumia was framed, and others on www.blockreportradio.com. Get involved. Free ‘em all!

Email POCC Minister of Information JR at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and visit www.blockreportradio.com, hiphopwarreport.com and myspace.com/blockreportfilm.

Shouted out loud and painted on the ground: Libertad, libertad for Mumia Abu-Jamal!

by: Amig@s de Mumia, Mexico

Young revolutionaries rallying to “Free Mumia!” in Mexico City April 19 painted a mural on the sidewalk

With these words, our compañero Armando opened the rally organized by Amig@s de Mumia, Mexico, last Saturday. Around 60-70 of us came out to support political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners.

“This embassy is the most hated one of all!” shouted doña Fili from the Santo Domingo neighborhood. “We’re here to take a stand against the criminals who are killing our sons and daughters. Mumia is our son, just like all the others who are condemned to death!”

There were many simple statements, poems and songs of support, respect and love for Mumia Abu-Jamal –– friend, brother, father, son, teacher, example, and compañero –– who has helped us understand the struggle of the African-American people, the desperate situation in the dungeons of the United States and the imperial maneuvers of that government.

As compañera Bisharu said: “It’s incredible that he does all he does in the most dangerous conditions and with so few resources. Sometimes it seems like he understands what’s happened in Acteal, Atenco and Oaxaca better than some people in our own country.” Compañeros Valentín and Santiago also spoke of the appreciation for Mumia’s clear words of solidarity.

We sent a message of support to the international march in Philadelphia called by the International Concerned Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, ICFFMAJ. Despite neo-nazi and police threats, almost an everyday occurrence for these compañeros, the march went on in high spirits.

“As we can plainly see, repression has no limits, no borders,” said Edith Rosales, former political prisoner arrested in San Salvador Atenco on May 4, 2006, and only recently released. “We see it with our compañero Mumia ... From the South to the North there are political prisoners ... because neoliberalism only serves the powerful, the ones who have money. And this is what happened in Atenco, too.”

The compañera talked about the militarized police assault that left two young boys dead and 217 political prisoners just because people had defended their land and their dignity, and she stressed the fact that we still have to free 16 Atenco prisoners: Ignacio del Valle, Felipe Álvarez and Héctor Galindo – all three sentenced to 67 years – and the 13 prisoners that are still in Molino de Flores.

Several people present had also taken part in the big demonstration in support of Mumia in ‘99 during the student strike. Compañero Matías emphasized the repression that extends from Washington, D.C., to Oaxaca: “For us, Mumia is an example of resistance and we have to get him out just like we do our prisoners in Oaxaca and the rest of Mexico.”

We expressed our support for international political prisoners, including 11,700 Palestinians, Leonard Peltier, the MOVE 9 and the San Francisco 8. El compañero Israel of the Mexican Movement in Solidarity with Cuba spoke about the case of “los Cinco” — the Cuban heroes unjustly imprisoned in the United States for their anti-terrorist work in Miami.

Compañero Victor analyzed the role of prisons under capitalism, underscoring the abolitionist sentiment expressed in our chants and spray painted slogans left on the sidewalk: “¡Libertad. Libertad for Mumia Abu-Jamal! Prisoners to the streets! Down with prison walls!”

A central theme of Saturday’s rally was the need to build strong movements to force the state to let Mumia and the other political prisoners go. Our compañera Yazmín read from one of Mumia’s recent essays, “When Courts Go Wrong”:

“We’re often surprised when courts get it wrong, but why? It’s because we expect them to get it right – and therein lies the surprise. For, if history is any judge, we should all be surprised when they get it right. For courts are political institutions, and politics is rarely about right or wrong; it’s about power. As in who has it and who doesn’t. Courts were set up to protect the wealth and property of the powerful, not the powerless; and any honest reading of legal history leads one back to that conclusion. Here in this country, courts were places for slavemasters, not slaves. ... The law has only moved when people organized to make it so. As that great abolitionist, freedom-fighter and rabble-rouser Frederick Douglass has taught, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.” Social movements in the streets brought an end to Plessy, not lawsuits. People, organized, shook the status quo, not neat words typed on crisp white paper. When people organize, they make change.” – MAJ

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