Mumia Abu Jamal

[col. writ. 2/27/13] (c)’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
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Never let it be said that I don’t have a sense of humor, for those who know me will attest that I can be as silly as a goose.
I find laughter healing and restorative.
And yet, some attempts at comedy leave me cold, especially when the butt of the jokes are Black people–or children.
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Which brings me to the present dust-up […]

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[col. writ. 2/20/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 Lynne Stewart, a brilliant, gung-ho trial attorney has a stellar history that many attorneys would kill for; a defense attorney who truly fights for her clients – and far more often than not, brings them home.
She has battled some of the biggest cases in New York history, beating quite a few – and beating the government as well.
After her […]

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[col. writ. 2/17/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 Most of us have heard of jailhouse lawyers –guys and gals who battle in court for themselves or others.
But I’d wager few of us have ever heard of a ‘jailhouse environmentalist’. Truth is I didn’t think such a thing existed.
Well, it’s real; and his name is Bryant Arroyo, a bilingual Puerto Rican who has spent a third of his […]

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[col. writ. 2/16/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 The short, but utterly fascinating post police career of Christopher Dorner has captivated the attention of millions.
Dorner, a fired Los Angeles cop, vowed war against his former colleagues, and almost made good his threats.
Citing the police department’s institutional racism, and an unfair disciplinary proceeding which resulted in his firing, the ex-cop pledged to exact revenge, and unleashed a deadly […]

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[col. writ. 2/10/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
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One day, one day relatively quite soon, the administration under President Barack Hussein Obama will come to an end, and enter the realm of history.
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Eight years will have passed, true. But it will pass with a swiftness that is difficult to articulate.
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Barack Obama, son of a Kenyan goatherd and unsuccessful civil servant, this most unlikely of candidates, will yield […]

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[col. writ. 2/2/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 If we examine today’s public school systems, especially those in Black and Latina communities, it is hard to envision a system that could be worse, or more dysfunctional.
We have, in fact, a mis-education system, one designed to do more harm than good.
Many cities are experiencing a 50% drop out rate. In cities like Baltimore, these dropout rates soar to […]

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[Speech writ. 1/30/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 I’ve been asked to write on education and incarceration and the linkages between them.
I’ve heard and read of the ‘pipeline’ between the two; but I don’t really agree with this imagery.
I’ll tell you why: several days ago, I received a letter from a young man who dropped out of school around the 10th grade. Why? It isn’t just that […]

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([4mk 1/30/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 Marpessa Kupendua is an internet warrior, who, with lightning keystrokes, fights racists, rednecks and dragons – and she has been doing so for years.
 She and I, and her husband Jahfree, have known each other since our young adulthood.
And she has been, and is, this movement’s Ida B. Wells-Barnett-writer, agitator, organizer, journalist, and activist –rebel.
 That’s who she is: rebel. And we […]

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[col. writ. 1/20/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 For the second time in American history, a Black man takes the office of U.S. President – a feat not thought possible just a few years ago.
 The re-election of Barack Hussein Obama to the nation’s highest office is indeed a watershed moment and a tribute to a man who is a true master of the game of politics.
 Few politicians […]

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[col. writ. 1/18/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal
 Several years ago, in a hotly contested case, Brown v.Plata, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to uphold a lower court ruling declaring California’s state prisons an unconstitutional violation, which threatened the mental and physical health of prisoners.
One of the reasons for this declaration of unconstitutionality was the state’s overcrowding situation, which in 2009, topped 171,000 prisoners. Cali’s prison population […]

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