In support of Mumia.

Updates
5/18: Mumia's attorney, Robert Bryan, speaks on yesterday's hearing (article)
5/17: Breakdown FM Mumia radio mix (listen/download)
5/16: We're going to keep this post at the top of the page during the week of Mumia's hearing in Philly (more info).

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Original Post 5/14/2007:

A letter from The Liberator in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
"When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is just, yet refuse to defend it, at that moment you begin to die ... and I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about justice." (Mumia Abu-Jamal)

Mumia Abu-Jamal is our brother. He is also our generation’s greatest living journalist. Mumia is the answer to the question: "What does a journalist do?" He makes sense out of the fogginess we often find ourselves drenched in -- lazy analysis encouraged by the mainstream (and at times alternative) media which substantiates the status quo due to the fear of change. Since his teenage years, Mumia has been a freedom fighter -- developing his skills as a journalist and radio commentator and consistently proving himself worthy as a dedicated and selfless socio-political analyst and activist. Mumia fervently denounced police brutality -- especially against people of color -- and all other forms of oppression, in much the same way that Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe resisted in South Africa or W.E.B. Du Bois, Kwame Ture, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale did in America.

Undoubtedly, Mumia's unapologetic rejection of the status quo is why, at this very hour, he sits on death row after having been vilified as an enemy of the state; not unlike our most diligent freedom fighters who have been circumscribed to dissident status: Harriet Araminta Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Paul Robeson, Fannie Lou Hamer, El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X), Assata Shakur, and even the now canonized Martin Luther King, Jr. We must never forget that "the state" is an international organization -- it knows no boundaries. In many ways, it is the same structure that assassinated Patrice Lumumba, Walter Rodney and Steve Biko.

It is this very structure that we adamantly appeal to in earnest hope that the United States’ judicial system rejects its inherently flawed configuration, which has historically proven itself to be repugnant with truth and justice.

Mumia's case has a multitude of inconsistencies that strongly suggest justice was manipulated, including police coercion of witnesses, false testimony by police officers, the use of Mumia's political beliefs against him and refusal by police to turn over the names of over 100 witnesses interviewed for the defense. Furthermore, the facts have shown that he was never granted a fair trial with a balanced jury of his peers. Instead, no African Americans were allowed to sit on the jury even though Philly was nearly 50 percent Black at the time. The facts have also shown that pre-dating his case, he was already targeted and labeled as an enemy of the state because of his involvement with the Philadelphia Chapter of the Black Panther Party --all of which, at the very least, establishes a persuasive case for reasonable doubt.

Thus, we collectively stand in support of a new and fair trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal which encompasses an objective reassessment of the facts, the introduction of new evidence and testimony for meticulous review by an impartial judge and jury and a ruling impervious to prejudice and longstanding political sentiments. There are millions who stand with us on this simple demand; they exist in the townships of South Africa, the favelas of Brazil and the streets of America. We want justice -- transparent, simple and plain. Like our ancestors before us, we simply desire that the universal laws of truth, justice, balance and order are adhered to and recognized.

We are saddened by the state of affairs that has placed Mumia Abu-Jamal within the confines of a cell simply because he has chosen to struggle on our behalf for freedom. We are humbled by his sacrifices and know that his commitment has continued to remain true despite the many obstacles placed in his path. We recognize that the case against Mumia Abu-Jamal has been used as an attempt to crush his political spirit -- to no avail. None of the facts in this case have proven Mumia Abu-Jamal to be guilty of murder. Instead, it has exposed the blatant and pervasive injustices and oppression against our people.

Mumia's case speaks directly to the millions of hollow men walking around with forgotten (or suppressed) purpose. The journey to knowing who we are, what we believe in and what we will stand for is necessarily critical. We no longer have time to waste as time threatens our relevancy.

It is in this spirit that we, the editorial board of The Liberator Magazine, unequivocally support Mumia Abu-Jamal, the International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (ICFFMAJ) and the tireless quest to liberate all unjustly incarcerated and political prisoners, lest -- like Mumia himself warns -- we all become dead men walking.

-Melvin Barrolle, Brian Kasoro, Jon Jon Scott, Gayle Smaller, Stephanie Joy Tisdale and Kamille Whittaker

Additional statements in support of Mumia:
*Mumia says Thank You (philly|san francisco)
*Sister Empress Chionesu (listen/download)
*Fred Hampton Jr. (listen/download)
*Akua Njeri (listen/download)
*Cynthia McKinney (listen/download)
*Amiri Baraka/Razakahan Shaheed (listen/download)
*Colia Clark Grandmothers for Mumia (listen/download)
*Ramona Africa/Basimah Muhammad-Bey (listen/download)
*NY Committee Gwen Debro (listen/download)
*Sundiata Sadiq (listen/download)
*Ward Churchill (listen/download)
*Harold Wilson (listen/download)
*Tameka Cage/Johanna Fernandez/Mark Taylor (listen/download)