A Man Called Mumia: A Legacy of Courage And Strength In The Face Of American Injustice
Posted by David Adams on December 10th, 2011
Any black man in America who dare boldly stand up against the oppressive and racist economic and social systems in our nation will pay the ultimate price. We are well aware of the list of courageous men who have fallen as martyrs for their people, as far back as Slavery to the Civil Rights Era in America, and we know that freedom for our people have yet to materialize even in the 21st century. The American Justice System continues to fail her people of color, and the sweltering prisons on these shores are a constant reminder of the modern day captivity which many of our people continuously endure. For thirty years now a man name Mumia Abu Jamal has been living in a 9 x 12 cage on Death Row in the Pennsylvania Correctional System for a crime that has been proven countless times that he obviously did not commit. His case is so disturbing that he has risen to international fame as the world’s most recognized Death Row inmate or “America’s Last Political Prisoner”. They say his crime was murder in the first degree of a white Police Officer in 1981, but the more conscious ones of us know that Mumia’s crime was his news reporting, and his affiliation with the “Black Panther Party” in his youth. Abu Jamal, an award winning journalist, was a fearless activist who championed the cause of the African American community during the height of racial tensions of the post Civil Rights Era in Philadelphis. Mumia deemed an agitator, was very critical of Police Brutality enforced by a mobbed up Frank Rizzo Police Department. One night when crooked cops set out to murder one of their own (Officer Daniel Faulkner) who they believed to be a rat for the Feds, sieged the opportunity to pin the killing on Abu-Jamal. With the help of false testimony, evidence and witness tampering, and a sitting judge known to favor prosecution in criminal cases of blacks, Mumia was sent off to the gallows of Pennsylvania’s Death Row for over 30 years. Mumia’s fight for his life ended just a few days ago when Philly’s Uncle Tom DA, Seth Williams dropped the Death Sentence conviction of Abu-Jamal in favor of Life In Prison after the Supreme Court’s ruling months earlier that declared Mumia’s Death Sentence Unconstitutional. Although his life has been spared, that victory is bitter sweet when considering his murder case file. Mumia has never had so much as a parking ticket prior to the frame up job that resulted in his murder conviction. However the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice System wants society to believe that Mumia suddenly decided to kill a Police Officer. His trial and subsequent conviction were so unfair, that millions across the globe have publicly demonstrated for 3 decades calling for his immediate release. Mumia has battled his conviction through constant appeal to our nation’s highest courts and the merits of many of his case’ appellate arguments mirror landmark cases that set precedent, but have never been afforded or applied to Abu-Jamal’s case. This blatant prejudice has been dubbed “The Mumia Exception”, and is symbolic of America’s Justice System desire to establish example for other black men who aspire to follow in his path. The challenges of Pennsylvania’s Justice System never deterred Abul-Jamal or the efforts of those who fought and cried to save his life in his case, and his ability to capture attention to his plight throughout the world is only shadowed by the wrongful incarceration of Nelson Mandela during the Aparthied era of South Africa. In the coming weeks as Mumia Abu-Jamal is removed from the 9 x 12 cell on Death Row, he will be able to see, embrace, and interact with is children for the first time in 30 years. We most also realize that this is not the ending, but a new beginning in the battle to free an innocent man. We must ask ourselves if we could have endured his place for so long. Locked up in a cage for 23 hours a day for crimes that amount to nothing more then his ideology. I for one know I could not have walked in his shoes. Free Mumia Abu-Jamal now!
The People’s Champion
I’m David Adams
Any black man in America who dare boldly stand up against the oppressive and racist economic and social systems in our nation will pay the ultimate price. We are well aware of the list of courageous men who have fallen as martyrs for their people, as far back as Slavery to the Civil Rights Era in America, and we know that freedom for our people have yet to materialize even in the 21st century. The American Justice System continues to fail her people of color, and the sweltering prisons on these shores are a constant reminder of the modern day captivity which many of our people continuously endure. For thirty years now a man name Mumia Abu Jamal has been living in a 9 x 12 cage on Death Row in the Pennsylvania Correctional System for a crime that has been proven countless times that he obviously did not commit. His case is so disturbing that he has risen to international fame as the world’s most recognized Death Row inmate or “America’s Last Political Prisoner”. They say his crime was murder in the first degree of a white Police Officer in 1981, but the more conscious ones of us know that Mumia’s crime was his news reporting, and his affiliation with the “Black Panther Party” in his youth. Abu Jamal, an award winning journalist, was a fearless activist who championed the cause of the African American community during the height of racial tensions of the post Civil Rights Era in Philadelphis. Mumia deemed an agitator, was very critical of Police Brutality enforced by a mobbed up Frank Rizzo Police Department. One night when crooked cops set out to murder one of their own (Officer Daniel Faulkner) who they believed to be a rat for the Feds, sieged the opportunity to pin the killing on Abu-Jamal. With the help of false testimony, evidence and witness tampering, and a sitting judge known to favor prosecution in criminal cases of blacks, Mumia was sent off to the gallows of Pennsylvania’s Death Row for over 30 years. Mumia’s fight for his life ended just a few days ago when Philly’s Uncle Tom DA, Seth Williams dropped the Death Sentence conviction of Abu-Jamal in favor of Life In Prison after the Supreme Court’s ruling months earlier that declared Mumia’s Death Sentence Unconstitutional. Although his life has been spared, that victory is bitter sweet when considering his murder case file. Mumia has never had so much as a parking ticket prior to the frame up job that resulted in his murder conviction. However the Pennsylvania Criminal Justice System wants society to believe that Mumia suddenly decided to kill a Police Officer. His trial and subsequent conviction were so unfair, that millions across the globe have publicly demonstrated for 3 decades calling for his immediate release. Mumia has battled his conviction through constant appeal to our nation’s highest courts and the merits of many of his case’ appellate arguments mirror landmark cases that set precedent, but have never been afforded or applied to Abu-Jamal’s case. This blatant prejudice has been dubbed “The Mumia Exception”, and is symbolic of America’s Justice System desire to establish example for other black men who aspire to follow in his path. The challenges of Pennsylvania’s Justice System never deterred Abul-Jamal or the efforts of those who fought and cried to save his life in his case, and his ability to capture attention to his plight throughout the world is only shadowed by the wrongful incarceration of Nelson Mandela during the Aparthied era of South Africa. In the coming weeks as Mumia Abu-Jamal is removed from the 9 x 12 cell on Death Row, he will be able to see, embrace, and interact with is children for the first time in 30 years. We most also realize that this is not the ending, but a new beginning in the battle to free an innocent man. We must ask ourselves if we could have endured his place for so long. Locked up in a cage for 23 hours a day for crimes that amount to nothing more then his ideology. I for one know I could not have walked in his shoes. Free Mumia Abu-Jamal now!
The People’s Champion
I’m David Adams
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WOW! This is unbelievable! It’s only obvious they kept him so long because they knew that he is innocent of the crime, but they wanted “justice” for the murder of the police, and a black man to pay for it. This is awful. I hope that he is freed soon, but at least this is a start.
Utterly composed subject material, regards for selective information.