Mumia Awareness Week
Only the People Can Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
Revolutionary Worker #1023, September 26, 1999
We revolutionaries of the RCP are proud to stand with all the resisters and people of conscience who are speaking out for justice during the Mumia Awareness Week.
This is a critical time in the fight to stop the execution of our comrade and brother, Mumia Abu-Jamal. His legal team is preparing to file the court papers that will begin the crucial and final rounds of the legal struggle. Everything we do now will make a difference in the outcome of this battle.
The stakes are high--and the Mumia Awareness Week is right on time!
It is a profound injustice that Mumia is on death row. He was convicted in a political railroad--"the trial stunk," in the words of actor Ed Asner. And Mumia was sentenced to death for his revolutionary beliefs.
Many, many more people throughout society must become aware of Mumia's story and what a historic injustice his execution would be. Those who are active in this struggle now must reach out to millions--helping them to understand the importance of this battle and getting many of them to become part of the movement to stop Mumia's execution.
The events of the Week--culminating in a punctuation point with the September 25 "100 Cities for Mumia"--need to be as broad, diverse and determined as possible. As the Call for Mumia Awareness Week says, "The effect will be to make this case, and the issues bound up in it, into a household word and a political dividing line in the United States and beyond."
The rulers of this system have made clear their intention to take the life of this precious brother away from the people. They are escalating their attacks on Mumia and his supporters--through the mainstream media, the Fraternal Order of Police network, the government apparatus and other means at their disposal.
The people CAN take on these powerful forces--we CAN compel the power structure to back off from their murderous intentions on Mumia and ultimately win his freedom.
But to win this battle, we must make a GIGANTIC LEAP in our struggle--and we must do this NOW. Through the Awareness Week and beyond, we need to take the struggle to a whole new level.
What does it mean to do this? As C. Clark Kissinger wrote: "It means that Mumia's case must become the unavoidable topic of talk shows and radio call-ins, of debates and columns in newspapers, in the arts and major cultural events, of campus teach-ins, of union resolutions, and in religious gatherings. It means that Mumia's name has to be so well known that millions are following the debate and the struggle over his case. It means that elected public officials, major social and religious organizations, and prominent figures cannot avoid taking a stand. Because today, where you stand on the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal is the benchmark of where you stand on social justice. People have to be compelled to speak to this."
We can take inspiration from Mumia--from his revolutionary courage, strength and determination. Throughout his 16 years on death row, Mumia has stood firm against all that the power structure has thrown at him. Mumia's life is about Resistance, Justice, Equality and Heroes.
What kind of a system would brutalize and try to kill a beautiful brother like Mumia? It's a cold-blooded system that has shown through its treatment of Mumia--and countless others--that it cares nothing for the truth or the lives of the people. It's a cruel system that has long used and abused millions here and around the world, a monster that doesn't deserve to exist another minute. It's a hateful system that will never change its basic nature--and must be overthrown by mass armed revolution when the time is ripe.
The RCP stands for all-the-way communist revolution to bring about a whole new society without oppression and exploitation. We see the fight to save Mumia's life as a key battlefront today, as we prepare for the future. Carl Dix, National Spokesperson for the RCP, says: "In order to get to the point when we can bring an end to this evil system of capitalism, we cannot let them crush our hope. We can't let them murder our revolutionary leaders and heroes. Imagine what it would mean for us to succeed and stop the government's plan to murder Mumia. It would be tremendously inspiring for the people and a huge setback for our enemy. Through taking on and winning battles like this one, we can build up the people's strength and organization for the future showdown with the system and put ourselves in the best position to win. This government is powerful, but it's not invincible when it's up against our determined struggle."
Will the power structure inaugurate the 21st century with the execution of a Black revolutionary, convicted in a racist proceeding? Or will the people break through with a new major victory in the struggle for justice and emancipation? That's the question of the hour.
It's time to go all out in the struggle for Mumia's life!
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
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