Аннотация

Mumia's case continues to be of interest to the public as many criminal cases, like his, are successfully appealed due to: evidence tampering, biased juries, inept legal representation, DNA testing proving innocence, and other factors. Mumia is the world's most reknown political prisoner. A large committed audience exists, passionately interested in Mumia's case, his writings and work from prison. Destined to become a classic of prison literature.

Аннотация

"Writing from the barren confines of his death row cell, Mumia Abu-Jamal provides a remarkable testament about the Black Panther Party. . . .an amazing book that illuminates the truth of what his membership in the Party was about, and reveals the extreme price extracted from him for having learned, and for now telling the truth."— Kathleen Cleaver , from the Introduction Mumia Abu Jamal, America’s most famous political prisoner, is internationally known for his radio broadcasts and books emerging “Live from Death Row.” In his youth Mumia Abu-Jamal helped found the Philadelphia branch of the Black Panther Party, wrote for the national newspaper, and began his life-long work of exposing the violence of the state as it manifests in entrenched poverty, endemic racism, and unending police brutality. In We Want Freedom , Mumia combines his memories of day-to-day life in the Party with analysis of the history of Black liberation struggles. The result is a vivid and compelling picture of the Black Panther Party and its legacy. Applying his poetic voice and unsparing critical gaze, Mumia examines one of the most revolutionary and most misrepresented groups in the US. As the calls that Black Lives Matter continue to grow louder, Mumia connects the historic dots in this revised/updated edition, observing that the Panthers had legal observers to monitor the police and demanded the “immediate end to police brutality and the murder of Black people.” By focusing on the men and women who were the Party, as much as on the leadership; by locating the Black Panthers in a struggle centuries old—and in the personal memories of a young man—Mumia Abu-Jamal helps us to understand freedom.

Аннотация

– In Dec 2018, Judge Leon Tucker of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas threw out the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s repeated denials of Mumia’s appeals—five appeals over 27 years. Mumia will now be able to argue his innocence, expose the tainted evidence and chronic police and judicial misconduct which, according to Amnesty International, denied Mumia the fair and impartial trial guaranteed to all citizens, despite their race or political orientation. News of Tucker’s decision was reported in A-list papers & media, including NPR, the New York Times, and Washington Post . Democracy Now ! did a feature segment with Johanna Fernandez (editor, Writing on the Wall: Selected Writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal ). Mumia clearly makes national news.  – If an appeal by the Philadelphia PA is not filed within 30 days of Judge Tucker’s ruling, Mumia’s appeal will begin and the path to freedom opens. This process will involve lots of hearings, strong allegations of police misconduct and institutional racism, and can be expected to both populate the news cycle and seriously energize and mobilize national and international response from citizen action groups, social justice movements, and public intellectuals, artists, and academics. – In a surreal turn of events, the very day after Tucker announced his decision, six previously unacknowledged (in judicial databases) boxes of files labeled Mumia were “discovered” in an abandoned furniture closet at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office on 3 South Penn Square. The contents of the boxes have yet to be disclosed.... – Death Blossoms , Mumia’s out of print 2nd book, was written by hand during a window of time in Spring 1996 when Mumia was on Death Row and living under a death warrant, something not known or pointed out in the original edition. Mumia will write about this in his new introduction. The book will also feature an updated foreword by Cornel West. – In a recent email to us Mumia wrote, “There is still, at this late date, a shortage of prison literature, fewer still of Death Row. What of being on Phase II, when the writer literally has a finite date to die? I know of no parallel. [Imagine that] you have less than 3 months until you die at the hands of the State. What does such a man think about? What are his dreams? His hopes? Death Blossoms gives us a rare taste of that surreal reality.” – Finally, we are considering including as an appendix Amnesty International’s 38-page report documenting the racism and official misconduct on display in Mumia’s trial. We feel this may add value to the book and increase its direct relevance to any and all appeal proceedings. Movement supporters and advocates will be motivated for as many people as possible to read the report, this increasing sales potential. Link to the report: www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/001/2000/en/ Mumia, in many ways, continues to be a moral, intellectual, and political mentor of the Black Lives Matter movement and the movement’s involvement in spreading awareness of the book will elevate its profile, relevance, and success. We'll try to book remote events with Mumia over the phone (which has happened before) and events with Johanna Fernandez, who was the editor for a previous book by Mumia we published, Writing on the Wall , and is a key figure in the ongoing movement for his freedom. These events are attended by people who support Mumia publicly and have been rallying for his freedom for years.

Аннотация

Written from the perspective of someone who was shot by police, and who advocates for justice for himself and the police officer killed. Mumia gives a voice to African Americans whose lives have been taken by police activity. Mumia names our current political moment in order to transform it. The national Black Lives Matter movement continues to grow and intensify in response to news of police killings of innocent people of color. Mumia is in many ways the moral, intellectual, and political mentor of this movement and the movement's involvement in spreading awareness of the book will add to its success.Mumia is the world's most renowned political prisoner. A large and committed support base for his freedom, writings, and perspectives continues to grow as a result of his intellectual output and a constant flow of support work, media, and films about him and what he represents as an imprisoned black journalist and intellectual.What makes this book particularly marketable is that it is accessible. Each of the 100 commentaries is short, focused, and well argued.Most of the pieces have never been published in any form. Most were written to be heard as radio commentaries, commencement speeches, or as podcasts.