Pennsylvania Governor signs bill aimed at silencing Mumia Abu-Jamal

When you have a voice that travels around the world people will do all they can to stop you from speaking.  Some people don’t take it kindly when a convicted murder delivers a commencement speech.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has signed a new law to silence Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1981 shooting of a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania police officer. Once known as the voice from death row, Abu-Jamal’s sentence was commuted to life without parole in 2013.

The new law, signed on Tuesday, allows victims of violent crimes to sue the offender for “conduct which perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime on the victim.”

The law was fast-tracked after Abu-Jamal delivered a commencement address at Goddard College in Vermont. Abu-Jamal obtained a bachelor degree from Goddard while behind bars in 1996.  The law allows victims and prosecutors to sue felons in prison or after they have completed their sentence for conduct that the law says “perpetuates the continuing effect of the crime on the victim”.

Corbett said the law is intended to mute the “obscene celebrity” status of convicts like Abu-Jamal, the Associated Press reported. Corbett signed the bill within footsteps of where Daniel Faulkner was killed. Faulkner is the officer Abu-Jamal was convicted of murdering.

“The law was inspired by the excesses and pious hypocrisy of one particular killer,” Corbett said.

Corbett may find it difficult to curb Abu-Jamal’s celebrity status.  The administration and student body at Goddard College embraced his speech for reasons some can’t understand.  They believe in his innocence.  They are moved by his message behind prison walls.  They are inspired by his humility.

None of that will go away.

“Freedom was taken away when he murdered a police officer in the line of duty,” Maureen Faulkner, the widow of Daniel Faulkner, told Fox News. “It seems like our justice system allows murderers to continue to have a voice over the public airwaves and at college commencement. It’s despicable,”

Is that true? Can one forfeit their Constitutional right to freedom of speech by virtue of being incarcerated?  Is that stated in the Constitution, or do we allow for a provision that grants people the right to punish people for garnering support and popularity?

“Essentially, any action by an inmate or former offender that could cause ‘mental anguish’ could be banned by a judge,” Reggie Shuford, Pennsylvania ALCU director, said in a statement to the Associated Press.  “That can’t pass constitutional muster under the First Amendment.”

Administrators at Goddard College aren’t happy that a law was passed due to their acceptance of Abu-Jamal.

“In essence this law is suggesting that people are not capable of making choices about what speech they will listen to and how they will react to that speech,” Samantha Kolber, a spokesperson for Goddard College, told the Patriot-News of Central PA .”That we wonder how libertarians and free-speech conservatives feel about this action, and we also speculate about how far this diminishment of free-speech rights will go.”

Prison Radio has vowed to continue to broadcast Abu-Jamal’s words. 

“Broadcasting Mumia Abu-Jamal's voice is the best antidote to the Right Wing Attack on the First Amendment,”said Noelle Hanrahan, producer of Prison Radio. (Link to interview with Hanrahan: http://www.prisonradio.org/media/audio/mumia/fsrn-interview-519-noelle-hanrahan-10-14-2014

Hanrahan said Prison Radio has dozens of notable people ready to stand in for and read Abu-Jamal’s work if the District Attorney or Attorney General sues Abu-Jamal

Abu-Jamal has recorded over 3,000 essays, published seven books with two more to be released in 2015. He has three major broadcast and theatrical movies in which he is the subject. His work has been translated in nine languages.  Mumia: Long Distance Revolutionary is currently airing on the STARZ Network.

I doubt if the threat of a lawsuit will stop Mumia Abu-Jamal.  Listen to what he has to say.

http://www.prisonradio.org/media/audio/mumia/mumia-abu-jamals-comment-58-re-pa-state-senate-attack-his-1st-amendment-rights

The Eulogy of a black man's dream

The film Mumia - Long Distance Revolutionary will be shown at the Hayti Heritage Center on Thursday, June 27 at 5:30 pm.  The short film The Manfacturing of Guilt will be shown at 7:45 pm.  Join The Rev-elution, Rachel Wolkenstein (a member of Mumia's defense team and legal consultant for The Manufacturing of Guilt), Jamal Hart (Mumia's son), Keith Cook (Mumia's brother) and local activist for a discusion following both films.

A donation of $5 will go toward supporting the work at the Hayti Heritage Center.

This essay reflects on the underlying emotions associated with the incarceration of Mumia Abu-Jamal

I stepped on the bus draped in black.  I was wearing my death clothes.

Three deaths in one week – two men who mentored me into manhood and a cousin who was more like a sister.  My head remained bowed to hide the tears as bus 9B left the downtown terminal.  The sense of doom filled the air as I struggled to find room for my legs in a seat intended for someone much shorter.

My black Perry Ellis suit, black English Landry shirt and black Kenneth Cole shoes stood in contrast of the attire of the others on the bus.  Hidden beneath my garments was the soul of a hurting man.  The cloud over my head served as a warning that a thunderstorm of tears could come at any moment – like a flashflood.

The bus turned right onto Pettigrew Street. 400 yards later we stopped at that intersection – the one that exposes the best of Durham and the worst of Durham. I gazed at the Durham Performing Arts Center.  Thoughts of past dates flickered in my mind like a movie trailer. I remembered dancing with the group Brick and feeling something deep when Chaka Khan took off her shoes.

A quick moment away from the pending inner rain was shaken by the building across the street.  It reminded me of dismay.  It forced me to contemplate the deep misery begging to break free. The image of black faces hardened by disappointment took center stage.

The county jail.

Thoughts of mentors now dead.  Thoughts of close calls avoided for reasons I will never understand. Thoughts of old games played while pretending to be tough.  Thoughts of black men playing games in a world consumed with making the jail their home.

Could have been me.

Deeper thoughts now.  I wonder how many don’t belong there.  How may didn’t commit the crimes? How many are assumed guilty until proven innocent?

Welcome to the black man’s world.

The jail is the abode for those presumed guilty despite the evidence. The proof of guilt is race.  All of them are that way.  All of them.  Put him away.

The sound of steel bars slamming in my face.  Guilty.  Guilty of being a black man in America.

No, that can’t be true.  What about the American Dream?  What about the lessons I learned from my mentors?  Was it for nothing?  What happens when a black man fights for freedom in a way that counters the interest of the protectors of the white American Dream?

Are you discounted for sharing frustration?  Are you censured for refusing to walk the line of mainline suitability? What happens to those who decry injustice and demand to be heard? What profit is there for those pleading for space in a room controlled by a divergent view?

What happens when you scream for justice?

Do they lock you up? Do they deny you work until you assimilate within a larger culture that defines merit by class?

What happens if you scream?

My mentors taught me to survive based on the assumption that education would level the playing field. They weren’t prepared for this.  They underestimated the hostility among some that keeps a foot on black men’s necks. Too many can’t feel the rage that traps black men in a cycle leading to escalating dysfunction.

They say black men are making excuses. It’s their fault.

I call it death.  What else could it be? Black men watch as others pass them by. They watch as others reap benefits denied them for reasons hard to understand.  They fight to be seen and heard.  They play the game until they discover a set of different rules.

Go to jail.  That’s where you belong.

Madness everywhere you look. Don’t speak. Fit in. Pretend you are just like me. Don’t complain. It’s your fault.  No one is to blame but you.

Pray more. Go to church.  Strip yourself of all that pride.  Get over the truth of a racist history.  Others have made it.  Why can’t you?

The bus turns left onto Roxboro Street. Glasses in my hand in wait of the tears. 

“Mumia Abu-Jamal, they locked you up for telling the truth,” whispers. “They fight against your freedom to deny efforts to keep us back.”

Eyes closed harder now. Head hurting to fight the pain.

“Release us from the pain associated with proving we belong,” more whispers. “Create a place that grants us the freedom to be.”

The jail is behind me now.  We turned right onto Dowd Street, one of Durham’s inner city havens of blues.  Black men crammed the bus headed to the recycling of pain.  Another day of disappointment.  No plan of escape.

Trapped.

We lay to rest the lives of those who believed in better days. They leave behind countless failures.  Their work is left to those who made it to the river.

They’re still waiting for the parting of the river to pave way for the crossing to the other side.

Rest in peace dreams.

Welcome to the nightmare.

"Manufacturing of Guilt", a short film that proves the innocence of Mumia Abu Jamal, to be shown at the Hayti Heritage Center

The case has been made for the innocence of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Despite the mound of evidence that proves a severe miscarriage of justice, Mumia remains in prison.

Filmmaker Stephen Vittoria has written and directed a short film that shows how the case against Mumia was manufactured by the Philadelphia Police and District Attorney. Manufacturing of Guilt will be shown at the Hayti Heritage Center on Thursday, June 27 at 7:45 p.m.

The showing of Manufacturing of Guilt will follow Mumia – Long Distance Revolutionary, another film written and directed by Vittoria. Mumia – Long Distance Revolutionary will be shown at 5:30 p.m. It returns to Durham after a successful run at the Carolina Theatre.  For more on Long Distance Revolutionary, visit these postings.

http://rev-elution.blogspot.com/2013/05/mumia-long-distance-revolutionary-to.html

http://rev-elution.blogspot.com/2013/05/mumia-long-distance-revoluntionary-why.html

http://rev-elution.blogspot.com/2013/05/protesters-claim-shauille-shaq-oneal.html

http://rev-elution.blogspot.com/2013/06/mumia-word-i-write.html

A panel discussion will follow the showing of Manufacturing Guilt. Rachel Wolkenstein, a former member of Mumia’s defense team and longtime advocate for his release, will share more regarding efforts to release Mumia.  Wolkenstein worked closely with Vittoria on Manufacturing of Guilt as the legal consultant.

Jamal Hart, Mumia’s son, and Keith Cook, Mumia’s brother will be present to provide insight on the case and Mumia.

Manufacturing of Guilt was produced after the completion of Mumia –Long Distance Revolutionary to address viewers questions regarding Mumia’ arrest, trial and conviction.  Mumia is serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia officer Daniel Faulkner. His original sentence of death was commuted to life imprisonment in 2012.

The Hayti Heritage Center is at 804 Old Fayetteville Street in Durham.  Admission is $5, and all proceeds go toward supporting the Hayti Heritage Center (http://www.hayti.org/)

"Mumia - Long Distance Revolutionary" to examine the life behind the long run

Many consider Mumia Abu-Jamal a political prisoner.  They contend it isn’t the death of a police officer that keeps him in prison.  His voice hasn’t been silenced since the night he was arrested while moonlighting as a taxi driver to make money to add to what he made as a journalist.

He didn’t stop writing.  He continues to lead and inspire others to liberate the masses.  Abu-Jamal says he has been “punished for communicating.”

Mumia- Long Distance Revolutionary documents Abu-Jamal’s childhood, his work as a journalist with the Black Panther Party Newspaper, the FBI’s COINTELPRO program, and the reason behind him being forced to moonlight as a taxi cab driver the night he was arrested for killing Daniel Faulkner, an officer with the Philadelphia police department.

The film will be shown at the Carolina Theatre in Durham on June 3 & 4. There will be two showings on Monday (7:00 pm & 9:20pm), and one showing on Tuesday (7:00 pm). A panel discussion follows the June 4 show with a special introduction of the new short film Manufacturing Guilt, about Abu-Jamal’s innocence.

Jamal Hart, Abu-Jamal’s son, will participate on the panel. 

“I became a priority adverse target to further punish my father,” Hart says. Mumia – Long Distance Revolutionary has helped Hart deal with some of that hurt.

“It’s like being brought back in time – a glimpse of the past,” Hart says. “Seeing an active journalist doing what he loves. My beloved father being the voice of the voiceless.”

Keith Cook, Abu-Jamal’s brother, will also be on the panel.  Cook, who lives in Hillsborough, NC, says the film has made him much more knowledgeable of the details of his brother’s case.

“If you grew up in Philadelphia, very rarely did the press say anything positive about Mumia. They portrayed him and convinced a large portion of the city that he was guilty of a crime that he did not do,” Cooks says. “This film has been good for me and Mumia and all the people around the world who have been struggling hard to get positive pictures and words out about Mumia and his case.”

Rachel Wolkenstein will also be on the panel. She is an attorney, political activist and spokesperson in the fight to free Mumia Abu-Jamal since 1987.

“Long Distance Revolutionary, is a powerful explication of and testament to the character of this man--innocent of everything except being an uncompromising voice for justice against the forces of race and class oppression,” Wolkenstein says.

Noelle Hanrahan will also serve on the panel.  Hanrahan began recording Abu-Jamal’s voice in prison when she recorded him on death row at Huntingdon State Prison in July of 1992. These recording sessions lead to her recording the controversial censored series on National Public Radio as well as Abu-Jamal’s first bestseller “Live From Death Row.”

Stephen Vittoria directed and produced Mumia – Long Distance Revolutionary.  Vittoria says his first goal was to tell a good and strong story that is well-researched.

“Mumia Abu-Jamal's life is a remarkable story, one of courage, compassion, and love, oftentimes under harsh an inhuman conditions,” Vittoria says. “In fact, the so-called public narrative of Mumia's life told by the lap dogs in the mainstream media and their corrupt masters, the power-brokers pulling the strings, has been a combination of myths, innuendo, and outright lies.”

Vittoria says he has been surprised that Abu-Jamal’s lifelong struggle against racism and class oppression has not been fueled by the politics of rage but rather by love.

“I've told many people that this film, for me, is the film of a lifetime,” Vittoria says. “If I never make another film after this one, that's okay. This film captures the essence of its subject, Mumia, as well as my essence as a filmmaker - both creatively and politically.”

Vittoria says the response to the film has been one of the best parts.

“The audiences are passionate, inspired, and very vocal with their embrace of the film - and that's because Mumia's spirit is one that inspires people everywhere: his struggle, his steadfastness, and his uncompromising approach to telling the truth,” Vittoria says

Cook says he’s optimistic that his brother will be released.

“I go bed sometimes thinking about what I can do next or what are the next steps,” Cook says. “And I am concentrating on having him free in my lifetime.”

It’s a long run to freedom.  It’s even longer when you’re a revolutionary.

Mumia Abu-Jamal keeps running the long distance to freedom.