Coast to Coast People Demand:
Mumia Must Be Free!
Revolutionary Worker #935, December 7, 1997
This December there will be a number of important events in support of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Saturday, December 6 is a coast-to-coast National Day of Protest--with the People's International Tribunal in Philadelphia and a mass march and rally in San Francisco.
The People's International Tribunal was initiated by the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal. The Tribunal has received many endorsements from around the world.
The goal of the Tribunal is "to investigate a criminal conspiracy to deny justice and take the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal." There will be indictments of key figures in the power structure in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and on the federal level. These figures are being charged with "conspiracy to silence journalist and people's advocate Mumia Abu-Jamal using frame-up charges, a fraudulent trial and brutal imprisonment, and using the Death Penalty to silence him forever."
As the call for the Tribunal says: "This conspiracy against Mumia Abu-Jamal is part of a larger pattern of police brutality and corruption; of racism, discrimination and disparity in sentencing of the poor, and the collaboration of different government departments with so-called `private institutions' to silence revolutionaries or anyone who fights for justice."
The call explains that "Witnesses will be called to testify on their direct experiences with police brutality, corruption and racism. There will be witnesses who have been barred from Judge Sabo's courtroom, as well as representatives of other political prisoners, former prisoners and the families of victims of police murders, victims of the death penalty and others."
Hearing the testimony will be "an international panel of prominent jurists, political leaders, labor and community activists, cultural figures and others concerned with social justice." Among the members of the panel are: Dennis Banks, founding member of the American Indian Movement; Phile Chinoesu, Chair, Million Women March; Herman Ferguson, Republic of New Africa; Yuri Kochiyama, longtime activist; Claude Lanzmann, writer, producer and director of the film Shoah; Gamal Nkrumah, son of Pan-Africanist leader Kwame Nkrumah and journalist for African weekly Al Ahram; Orlando Leoluco, Mayor of Palermo, Italy; Bruce Wright, retired State Supreme Court Judge; Julia Wright, Paris-based journalist and daughter of author Richard Wright.
***** The mass march and rally in San Francisco was initiated by the December 6th Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal.
The announced speakers are: Pam Africa, Coordinator, Int'l Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; Ossie Davis, actor, co-chair Committee to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal; Afeni Shakur, former political prisoner, mother of Tupac Shakur; Noelle Hanrahan, Prison Radio Project/Equal Justice; Ron Kovic, Vietnam vet, author Born on the Fourth of July; Robbie Meeropol, son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Dir. Rosenberg Fund for Children; Angela Davis, former political prisoner, Prof. UC Santa Cruz; Rev. Amos Brown, SF Board of Supervisors, minister at Third Baptist Church of SF; Maudelle Shirek, Vice Mayor, City of Berkeley; Robert Bryan, attorney, past Chair of Nat'l Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.
***** On December 5, the JUST US Committee in Los Angeles is holding "an Evening with JUSTICE in Mind" at Veterans Wadsworth Theater on the UCLA campus. One focus of the evening is the demand to "Free Mumia Abu-Jamal!"
The publicity for the event says, "The institutional justice system--from police on the streets to judges and legislators--is unfair to the poor and people of color. In too many cases it is actually criminal, and a cultural cancer for our future. As artists and entertainers we're wondering what happened to Poetic Justice? And to the notion of fair play? Join us in exploring the contradictions of Criminal Justice through the looking-glass of Poetic Justice, and in forging a creative challenge to things as they are. Your presence will complete the mosaic for an evening of music, poetry, tagging, film and comedy--an arena where the artists can exercise their talents to address matters of social importance."
The list of performers includes: Spearhead, Culture Clash, Exene Cervenka & Auntie Christ; Medusa & Feline Science; Aceyalone; The Che Guevara All Stars, featuring members of Jurassic 5 and former members of Mesh of Minds, Section 8, Juice, Yeska, Groovin High, Unity Committee and Somos Marcos.
***** The Wetlands in New York City will be the venue for "A Night for Mumia" on December 8. This concert, sponsored by Refuse & Resist!, is a benefit for Mumia's legal and political defense fund.
The event features DJ Spooky, The Arsonists, Non-Phixion, Killer Priest, Mark Ribot, Roy Nathanson, Gloira, Sparrow, Universus from the Bronxside, Tracie Morris, Stephan Smith, White Collar Crime and others.
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
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