Mumia Must Die

"I still have grave concerns about having to constantly refer to Jamal first, then talk about my struggle and Danny's murder. Having his name in the title opens the door for Jamal's supporters to tell everyone that we, in particular me, couldn't make it without exploiting Jamal and using 'his' fame to sell our book."

I responded that everyone would know that, in fact, she was not accepting a dime for this project, nor am I, despite our three years of labor. All proceeds benefit a not-for-profit she established for the education of Philadelphia children who've lost a parent to murder.

A new documentary film on the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal will screen at the London Film Festival next month. The film has the support of Amnesty International as part of its international campaign to abolish the death penalty.

The feature-length documentary, 'In Prison My Whole Life', examines the controversial case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther Party activist who has been in prison for murder in the United States since 1981, much of that time facing a death sentence. There are serious doubts about the fairness of Mumia Abu-Jamal's original trial and he is currently appealing against his conviction. Amnesty international is calling for fresh trial.

Livia Firth said:

'The film illustrates another example of the many reasons why the death penalty is never an acceptable form of punishment.

'Amnesty International has contributed to the making of the film, having previously called for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal and we are thrilled that they have agreed to support the film as part of their ongoing worldwide campaign against capital punishment.'

Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen said:

'It's shocking that the US justice system has repeatedly failed to address the appalling violation of Mumia Abu-Jamal's fundamental fair trial rights.

'We've documented Mumia Abu-Jamal's plight several times before and we strongly welcome this film as a fresh opportunity to focus attention on his situation. We hope that the film's viewers will back our call for a fair retrial for Mumia Abu-Jamal - and also support our work opposing the death penalty in the US and around the world.'

The 59th Republican Ward Executive Committee of Philadelphia, representing the Germantown area, retained a French attorney and filed criminal charges against the French cities of Paris and Saint-Denis last Thursday in connection to the case of convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. Paris awarded Abu-Jamal honorary citizenship in 2001 and Saint-Denis, a suburb near Paris, named a street after him this year.

Ward Chairman Peter Wirs allege that these actions violate Article 28, Section 2 of the French Penal Code, which impose a five year imprisonment and fine of € 45,000 to anyone who publicly "have glorified the perpetration of a crime" such as murder.

"All the other politicians were talking the talk, but not getting anything done. I'm from the old school. I'm gonna walk the walk and get this resolved," Wirs said.

The French Communist Party denounced the 59th Republican Ward Executive Committee in their newspaper, L'Humanite, calling the lawsuit a "provocation" that would not dissuade the socialist elected officials of Saint-Denis or cause them to "change their mind since they are defending the values of democracy, the struggle against the death penalty and are willing to act so that there is no more political prisoners in the USA."

"This is just a fundraising gimmick for them. They keep telling supporters that he's gonna die at any moment. He's not even on death row," Wirs added, noting District Judge William Yohn's 2001 decision overturning Abu-Jamal's death sentence, but not his conviction.
Wirs said French journalists gave him unconfirmed reports that the French Communist Party intends to burn him in effigy at an upcoming rally.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted for shooting police office Daniel Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981 at a traffic stop at 12th and Locust streets in Philadelphia.

Wirs said that after 25 years, justice is required to be served and the Faulkner family deserves closure.

* Conyers is the highest ranking politico working to free Mumia Abu-Jamal, the convicted murderer of a Philadelphia police officer. Conyers has been a National Executive Board member of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), which was created as a Soviet front and still embraces its Communist heritage.

Here are a few things France might consider:

• Renaming Place de la Concorde, the largest public square in Paris, to honor girlfriend-killer/unicorn/all-around-health-hazard Ira Einhorn. As a further tribute to the former hippie planetary enzyme, they should order it never to be cleaned by the streets department.

• A small plaza adjoining Rue Abu-Jamal should commemorate the groundbreaking work of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski. A statue in the center in the shape of a mailbox would be a nice touch.

• The market district known as the "belly of Paris," Les Halles, must be reflagged as the Gary Heidnik District, to honor the financial wizard/dungeon-master/cannibal.

• The Eiffel Tower should be rededicated to the memory of Timothy McVeigh, to "honor" the "freedom fighter" who blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City.

• Rename the Bastille as Holmesburg.

A street in a Paris suburb has been named in honor of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia police officer.

"In France, they see him as a towering figure," said Suzanne Ross, co-chair of the Free Mumia Coalition of New York City, who was part of an April 29 ceremony to dedicate the Rue Mumia Abu-Jamal in the city of St. Denis.

Ross said the street is in the town's Human Rights district, which includes Nelson Mandela Stadium.

Abu-Jamal, a former radio reporter and member of the Black Panther party, was sentenced to death in 1982 for the shooting of 25-year-old Daniel Faulkner. He has maintained his innocence. His writings and taped speeches have made him a cause celebre among Hollywood activists, foreign politicians and some death-penalty opponents who believe he was the victim of a racist justice system.

Faulkner's widow, Maureen, called the street dedication "disgusting" and urged Philadelphia residents planning a visit to Paris this summer to cancel their trips. In 2001, the Paris City Council made Abu-Jamal an honorary citizen.

"This is so unnerving for me to get this news," Faulkner said from Los Angeles, where she lives. "It's insulting to the police officers of Philadelphia that they are naming a street after a murderer."

But take a recent protest at City Hall to free cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal. There were about 30 protesters on the northeast apron asking rush-hour drivers to honk in support of freeing their poster boy. No problem there, it's their First Amendment right.

They had every right to be there, just like I would have every right to be there and hold a sign asking motorists to honk if they wanted protesters to walk in front of a bus, use deodorant or stick their signs where the seat belt digs into when you're making out in the back seat.

I understand the freedoms we have to protest things we don't like or don't agree with or think are unjust. What I don't understand is that three police officers had to stand there and protect the Mumia posse as they chanted for the freedom of a man who was tried and convicted of killing police officer Daniel Faulkner.

Talk about slap-in-the-face kind of work.

Morello's former band, Rage Against The Machine, along with the Beastie Boys, Sting, Mos Def and other artists have spoken out in Abu-Jamal's defense or raised money for his legal efforts.

As a special addition, Mumia Abu-Jamal will address the audience on his campaign for freedom and justice. An outspoken black journalist imprisoned since 1982 after his conviction for the killing of a white police officer, Mr. Abu-Jamal has continued writing and speaking out on social justice issues. He has always maintained his innocence. Mumia currently serves as a Jailhouse Lawyer National Vice President for the National Lawyers Guild. He was awarded an honorary citizenship from Paris in 2003 and organizations including the NAACP, Amnesty International, and the California Labor Federation have called for a new trial in his case.

Robert R. Bryan will be introduced by Robert Meeropol, son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Mr. Meeropol is the Executive Director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children, an organization that has provided support for Mumia's children. Mr. Meeropol's memoir An Execution in the Family was published on the 50th anniversary of his parents' executions. Previously, he and his brother co-authored We Are Your Sons: The Legacy of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg. Mr. Meeropol's introduction will outline a persuasive case linking the tragic execution of his parents and the McCarthy era with Mumia's imprisonment.

Maureen Faulkner, who turns 50 this year, has lived half her life since her husband, Daniel, a Philadelphia police officer, was shot dead in December 1981.

Sometimes a song can do it, sometimes news about the appeal efforts of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former radio journalist convicted of the killing.

Others times, she breaks down crying for no reason at all.

"When someone you loved so dearly is murdered so brutally, it stays with you forever," she said yesterday. "You can never get over it."

Faulkner, a graduate of Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls, moved to California after Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death in 1982 for her husband's killing. She had been married only a year.

She began lobbying for Abu-Jamal's death warrant to be signed in the mid-1990s after his social commentaries were published in a book titled Live From Death Row.

Faulkner remains committed to seeing him put to death.

"I sat through the trial, and I was there for the testimony from the eyewitnesses who talked about Mumia bending down and shooting Danny in the head," she said. "As much as his supporters try to twist the truth of what happened, the fact is that he murdered Danny."

Faulkner has not been back to the Philadelphia area a little more than four years ago, when she attended the unveiling of a memorial plaque at 13th and Locust Streets, the intersection where her 25-year-old husband was shot.

She has no plans to stop by the site, but will visit his grave at Glenwood Memorial Cemetery in Broomall.

“These weeks have been very emotional for me because people have been bringing up Danny’s case out hear in California,” she told me. “Last week I was driving home from work and a talk radio station was discussing Williams and Abu-Jamal, and there was Mike Farrell, saying many of the same things he has said in Danny’s case. I just pulled over and started crying. It’s been 24-years, and I am a strong woman, but it was emotional to hear it once again.”

“I feel as though justice was done to this man who has never actually said he murdered these individuals, he denied it, he never apologized and it’s a sad thing for the families, but at least they have peace,” she said.

She was referring to the sort of peace she still seeks.

The appeals court said Tuesday it will consider Abu-Jamal's claims that prosecutors illegally removed blacks from the jury pool, that a prosecutor gave an improper summation to the jury, and that the judge in a previous appeal was biased.

Cindy Sheehan has every right to be in Crawford and every right to protest the bogus war that snatched the young promising life of her son, Casey. She knows as thousands of other mothers and fathers have come to know that their sons and daughters did not die to bring democracy. Their lives were lost to insure the wealth and maintenance of princes, kings and presidents, of corporate directors of Halliburton, of the rights of the elite, not the working many.