By JEFF MACKLER The Feb. 12 issue of the popular supermarket magazine stand publication Entertainment Weekly carried a half-page article on January's Rage Against the Machine benefit concert for Mumia Abu-Jamal. The New Jersey event, despite numerous threats to cancel by local and state politicians, and the concerted efforts to discourage attendance orchestrated by the Fraternal Order … Continue reading Build April 24 Marches for MUMIA ABU-JAMAL!
Category: Civil Liberties
Statement by the Socialist Action Political Committee
Solidarity-a loose association of ex-revolutionary socialists, ordinary reformists, and other disparate radicals-has gone way out of its way to defend the capitalist government's attack on Carey and the Teamsters Union. This group is a far more aggressive and shameless defender of government intervention in the Teamsters than are the central leaders of the Teamsters for … Continue reading Statement by the Socialist Action Political Committee
Mumia’s Attorney Reveals New Evidence
By JEFF MACKLER Leonard Weinglass, Mumia-Abu Jamal's chief legal counsel, spoke at a Jan. 23 New York City national leadership conference called to prepare the April 24 mass demonstrations for a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal in Philadelphia, San Francisco, and internationally. Weinglass presented startling new information further demonstrating Jamal's innocence of killing a Philadelphia … Continue reading Mumia’s Attorney Reveals New Evidence
Oakland Schools Hold Mumia Teach-In
By JEFF MACKLER OAKLAND, Calif.-In the midst of a storm of protest by police, public officials, and school board members, thousands of students participated on Jan. 14 in teacher union-sponsored classroom discussions on the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the death penalty. The Oakland Educational Association (OEA), at an electrifying meeting of school site representatives, … Continue reading Oakland Schools Hold Mumia Teach-In
FIGHTBACK: Phila. ‘Killer Cop’ Allowed to go Free
By SYLVIA WEINSTEIN Supporters of 19-year-old Donta Dawson, shot by Philadelphia police officer Christopher DiPasquale, were stunned when a municipal judge freed the cop of all charges on Jan. 6. The night he was killed, police found Dawson sitting in his car. As one officer reportedly reached into the car and turned off the ignition, … Continue reading FIGHTBACK: Phila. ‘Killer Cop’ Allowed to go Free
FIGHTBACK: Shoot to Kill
By SYLVIA WEINSTEIN On Dec. 29, Tyisha Miller was massacred in her locked car in Riverside, Calif. Here is the story from The New York Times: "Shortly before 2 a.m. on Monday, authorities received a 911 call saying that a woman in a car at a gas station in Riverside was asleep or unconscious with … Continue reading FIGHTBACK: Shoot to Kill
Rage Leader Zack de la Rocha Speaks on Mumia
Following are excerpts from a statement to the media by Zack de la Rocha, of Rage Against the Machine. Working to ensure the legal rights that all of us presume to enjoy certainly has turned out to be controversial! Let me say straight up that tonight's benefit is not to support cop killers, or any … Continue reading Rage Leader Zack de la Rocha Speaks on Mumia
Rage Against the Machine Mumia Concert
Some 20,000 enthusiastic youth attended the Jan. 28 Rage Against the Machine benefit concert in New Jersey's state-run Continental Airlines arena located in the Meadowlands area close to New York City. Organized to raise funds for the legal defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the concert provoked a firestorm of protest from outraged police organizations led by … Continue reading Rage Against the Machine Mumia Concert
Former Death Row Prisoners
Mumia's struggle has resonated in every quarter of U.S. society. A dramatic letter calling for his freedom was signed by 15 innocent people who had lived on death row for periods ranging from two to 12 years. They had been convicted and freed when the racist and classist frame-up against them was finally brought to … Continue reading Former Death Row Prisoners
ABC Television Documentary on Mumia: ‘Objective Journalism’ or Hit Piece?
By JEFF MACKLER At a Dec. 12 conference in Philadelphia, defense attorney Leonard Weinglass responded in detail to the Dec. 9, ABC-TV "20/20" broadcast in which host Sam Donaldson, in the name of "objective" journalism, championed the efforts of the Fraternal Order of Police and other lying state officials who seek to murder Mumia Abu-Jamal. … Continue reading ABC Television Documentary on Mumia: ‘Objective Journalism’ or Hit Piece?
Homeless Die on the Streets of San Francisco
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER SAN FRANCISCO-On the night before Christmas the newspapers reported that yet another homeless person had been found dead in the streets. The body of a 47-year-old man was discovered on a parkbench in Chinatown. The coroner was unable to say as yet whether the man had died of exposure to the cold. … Continue reading Homeless Die on the Streets of San Francisco
Mumia Abu-Jamal: The Struggle for His Freedom Enters a Critical Stage
By JEFF MACKLER The struggle to win a new trial and freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal has entered a critical stage. Mumia, a noted Black journalist and innocent political prisoner, has been on Pennsylvania's death row for 17 years after being convicted in a frame-up trial of killing a Philadelphia police officer. Key organizers of Jamal's … Continue reading Mumia Abu-Jamal: The Struggle for His Freedom Enters a Critical Stage
Who’s a Hate Group?
By SYLVIA WEINSTEIN The Southern Poverty Law Center, a liberal civil rights group in Birmingham, Ala., has listed the Nation of Islam (NOI) as a hate group along with 474 others in this country. The SPLC, which began its "hate lists" in 1981, has been a respected group that provided a useful service in revealing … Continue reading Who’s a Hate Group?
The KGO-TV Report: A Case Study in Irresponsible Journalism
By C. CLARK KISSINGER and LEONARD WEINGLASS Television news programs can provide us with valuable exposés and special reports that bring insight to the public. But with that special capability also comes the potential for abuse and deliberate misinformation. This paper will detail just such an abuse by KGO-TV, the ABC affiliate in the San … Continue reading The KGO-TV Report: A Case Study in Irresponsible Journalism
New York Times Ad and ABC-TV Attack Mumia Abu-Jamal
By JEFF MACKLER An $85,000 full-page unsigned ad calling for the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal appeared on the back page of the Sunday, June 14, 1998, New York Times, "Week in Review" section. Paid for by "Justice For P/O Daniel Faulkner, Inc.(Faulkner is the Philadelphia police officer Mumia Abu-Jamal is falsely accused of murdering), the … Continue reading New York Times Ad and ABC-TV Attack Mumia Abu-Jamal