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WASHINGTON—Mumia
Abu-Jamal has spent 28 years on death row. His work as a reporter,
known as the “voice of the voiceless,” gave him a reputation with the Philadelphia police and resulted in his
trial and imprisonment on frame-up charges of killing a cop.
Recently,
the Supreme Court delayed ruling on an appeal seeking Mumia’s execution, for the likely reason that it is
waiting to rule onSmith v. Spisak first. While unanimity is
often required from jurors for the death penalty, a “state’s rights”
ruling in Smith
v. Spisakwould
let states determine their own requirements. This would make it
possible for the state of Pennsylvania to put Mumia
to death based on his 1982 trial.
Does
a court exist to apply justice? The highest court of the land doesn’t
think so. In 1993 the Supreme Court allowed for the execution of an
innocent man, Leonel Herrera. The chief
justice stated that “actual innocence” could not be the deciding issue
in an execution. The Court, in his words, exists to determine
constitutionality, “not to correct errors of fact.”
The
state, including the courts, is the product of class irreconcilability.
The capitalist state intervenes in conflicts on behalf of the
capitalist class—unless it is forced to make concessions to the working
class or oppressed. In the words of Frederick Douglass, “power concedes
nothing without demand.” Faith in the courts is a pipe dream; a
struggle is necessary for justice.
It
was in this spirit that 150 activists braved rainy weather in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 12 to demonstrate
for Mumia’s release. We marched to the
Justice Department, where, in a scene reminiscent of “Miracle on 34th Street,” we delivered thousands of
signatures from all over the world in support of Mumia.
A
press conference preceded the march and brought together such figures
as Marvin Cheatham, president of the Baltimore NAACP, and Laura Moye, head of the Amnesty
International Death Penalty Project. Fignole
Saint-Cyr came from Haiti, where
he leads a lively campaign of people who add their voices to the
international movement to free Mumia!
The
highlight of the press conference was undoubtedly the speech by
13-year-old Lejla Duka.
Young Lejla is an unlikely candidate for a
movement leader, except for the fact that her father and two uncles are
victims of the “War on Terror” hysteria.
Her
relatives make up three of the “Fort Dix Five,” whose convictions rest
on taped conversations in which the men used the word “jihad,” on their
purchase of weapons, and on the testimony of paid FBI informants.
According to the government, this translated into a “plot” to attack Fort Dix.
Lejla’s presence at the Mumia
rally showed real solidarity; defense campaigns are greatly
strengthened when victims of the system are united, and can see the
connections between their struggles. Her speech earned her a long and
heartfelt standing ovation.
Pam
Africa of MOVE and the International Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal was the last to speak. MOVE has
been committed to freeing Mumia since the
very beginning. This is fitting, considering that Mumia’s
reporting on the police attacks on MOVE (including the 1978 police
beatings in which the three-week-old Life Africa was stomped to death)
earned him the ire of the Philly police, and was no doubt a factor in
deciding to frame him for murder.
Pam’s
speech included criticism of Seth Williams, elected last month as the
first Black district attorney of Philadelphia. Williams, a Democrat,
campaigned on a promise to get Mumia
executed. While organizing against Williams, Pam received phone calls
from liberals telling her to “lay off this guy, we could have our first
Black DA.”
Recently,
numbers at protest rallies have shrunk, due in part to the illusions
that many activists have had in Obama and the
Democratic Party. This rally was important. We don’t start at the
finish line; small rallies help consolidate our forces, and our most
dedicated fighters, to prepare for the inevitable upsurges that result
from continued injustices under capitalism.
Those
who would ask the movement in Mumia’s defense
to consider him a sacrificial lamb, an issue to “forget” so that we can
get some watered-down reforms from the Democrats, are badly mistaken.
The execution of Mumia would be a defeat for
all of us. Free Mumia!
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