Revolutionary Worker #1002, April 18, 1999
Press conferences were held in a number of cities to build for youth/student action in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal. A statement from the youth of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal stated: "On Wednesday, April 7, 1999, youth/students in Philadelphia, PA; Brooklyn, NY; New Haven, CT; Boston, MA; New Orleans, LA; Chicago, IL; Santa Cruz, CA; Paris, FRANCE; and Vanersborg, SWEDEN will hold press conferences to announce their participation in the April 23 International Student Walkout and April 24 MILLIONS FOR MUMIA. They will let their local communities know why they support a new trial for Mumia, and why MILLIONS are taking to the streets of both Philadelphia and San Francisco on April 24."
The site of the press conference in Philadelphia--Ben Franklin High School--was chosen because it was the school Mumia attended at the time when he was a founding member of the Black Panther Party in that city. Scheduled speakers included "people from each of the different organizations throughout Philadelphia who support Mumia's struggle and the struggle of all those who are oppressed, brutalized, targeted and criminalized."
Leslie Jones, Youth Coordinator for the International Concerned Family and Friends, said, "It is important for young people to take up the struggle to save Mumia's life, because to allow this government to silence people who speak out against injustice is to allow oneself to be susceptible to the same terror, the same silencing."
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