Mumia Abu-Jamal

Von: "MUMIA ABU-JAMAL" < >

Betreff: !*Why Mumia is a Hero

to Young People

Datum: Sonntag, 18. Mai 2008 19:00

 

 

Why Mumia is a Hero to Young People

 

by: Tyneisha, Miya and Rhapsody Scintilla

Wednesday, 16 April 2008

 

 

Members of New York and Boston FIST

 

 

Mumia's career as a journalist began when he was a teenager writing for

the Black Panther Newspaper

The following is a commentary from three members of the youth group

Fight Imperialism, Stand Together (FIST) on the eve of the April 19

march and rally in Philadelphia to demand the freedom of Mumia Abu-Jamal.

 

 

There is a man in the state of Pennsylvania who has a street in France

named after him. That man is Mumia Abu-Jamal, a journalist and ex-member

of the Black Panther Party, an organization classified as "terrorist" by

the U.S. government. A former Black Panther, Mumia is now in his 26th

year on Pennsylvania's death row.

 

 

Mumia is a hero to Black youth and all people seeking liberation. The

"voice of the voiceless," he chronicles the legacies of people's

struggles worldwide. One of the greatest threats to U.S. imperialism is

the uprising of "young Mumias" from the streets of Philadelphia to the

streets of Paris.

 

 

At the age of 15, Mumia joined the Black Panther Party in Philadelphia,

one of the most racist and repressive cities in the country. He became

the lieutenant of information for the Philadelphia chapter and later

worked with the New York and Oakland chapters. Mumia performed a variety

of duties, ranging from selling the Black Panther newspaper to armed

security duty.

 

 

With his fellow Panthers, Mumia was a leader in the Black Liberation

struggle of the late 1960s and earlier 1970s, which was demanding the

right of Black people to self-determination, self-defense and,

ultimately, complete liberation.

 

 

Since his time in the BPP, Mumia has dedicated his life to the education

and liberation of Black people in the U.S. and across the world. He is a

journalist and was integral in calling media attention to the attacks of

the Philadelphia Police Department on local Black Panthers and the MOVE

organization, including the 1985 bombing of the MOVE compound. In that

act of state terrorism, 11 Black people died, including four children.

 

 

Is this man not a hero? Is Mumia not a freedom fighter? Why are there no

holidays for him and other leaders of the Black Liberation struggle? Did

he not dedicate his life to the liberation of the most oppressed?

 

 

In history the word "hero" has been used to define a variety of people.

The men considered to be the "founding fathers" of the United States are

often referred to as heroes, but it is undisputed that these men were

active in racist institutions, including slavery.

 

 

George Washington owned slaves and at one point had teeth removed from

the mouths of slaves in order to have them implanted in his own jaw.

Thomas Jefferson raped Sally Hemings, a teenage slave he owned, said to

be his wife's half sister. In 1858 Abraham Lincoln, the man credited

with emancipating Black people from slavery, stated the following:

"While they [Black people and white people] do remain together there

must be a position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other

man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race."

 

 

These three men, along with many other wealthy white men in U.S.

history, have been labeled heroes. Youth and students across the country

are taught daily that they are the type of people we should celebrate.

Their histories of racism, sexism, capitalism and heterosexism are

covered up and the mass murder and displacement they are responsible for

is called the establishment of the United States.

 

 

But those are the oppressor's heroes. Who are ours? Who are the heroes

of people of color, women, lesbian/bi/gay/trans/queer folks and the

working masses? One of them is definitely Mumia Abu-Jamal.

 

 

In 1981 Mumia was framed for the murder of Daniel Faulkner and sentenced

to execution. The U.S. government, the Fraternal Order of Police and the

racist mainstream media have waged a campaign against Mumia for 27

years, portraying him as a terrorist and a murderer. But the people's

struggle has kept him alive.

 

 

The negative portrayal of Mumia and the Black Liberation movement as a

whole is an aspect of the overall war against Black people, specifically

Black youth. Like the omission from the history books of the 1935 Wiley

College debate team, recently portrayed in the film "The Great

Debaters," the criminalization of Mumia is a deliberate attempt to erase

the contributions of Blacks in the United States.

 

 

Combined with disproportionate military recruitment and incarceration,

as well as the blatant murders of Black youth by the state, the

eradication of Black Liberation history is a strategic tool in the

oppression of Black people. Cases like the Jena 6, the Jersey 4, the

state murders of Sean Bell and Amadou Diallo, as well as the case of

John White, are all a part of the attack on Black people and our basic

human right to self-defense. One must ask: Why is it that when people of

color are forced to defend ourselves, it is considered by the state to

be an unheroic, criminal act?

 

 

The Black Panther Party of the 1960s and 1970s and Mumia Abu-Jamal are

our heroes and revolutionaries. They are the leaders of our national

liberation. We as youth, especially Black youth, see the BPP as proof of

Black agency in history, in opposition to the education we receive that

portrays Black people as a historically passive people.

 

 

Though many of us can name Mumia as our hero, there are far too many of

us who have no idea who he is and what he has contributed to human

history. It is a product of the state's attempted eradication of all

liberation movements fighting against U.S. imperialism, specifically

those led by people of color.

 

 

In the words of Mumia: "I'm fighting every day, not just for my freedom,

not just for my liberation, but for all of our liberation. Unabashedly

I'll fight for revolution because I think revolution is our only

solution. I'm not shy about using that word."

 

 

Mumia: father, grandfather, journalist, freedom fighter, visionary,

revolutionary. Mumia is not just a hero but a flame-sparker, and we are

the Inheritors of the Fire.

 

 

© 2008 Workers World. This story was originally published April 16,

2008, by Workers World, 55 W. 17th St., New York NY 10011,

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