Mumia Abu Jamal Essay -- essays research papers

America, the land of the free, the land of the just. It is here, where paople from all over the world can come for refuge from tyranny. Here, people are not judged by their color, but by who they are. Too bad it isn't true, for what you are about to read will contradict everything that America is supposed to be. Mumia Abu Jamal, a former Philadelphia journalist, was put through an unfair and biased trial, then convicted of murdering a Philadelphia cop in 1982, and has been on death row since. And here is his story. "My name is Mumia Abu-Jamal ... I've been on death row since July of 1982 - in fact, I've been on several death rows in Pennsylvania, in the United States of America. Despite my penal status I'm a writer, a journalist, a columnist, and a professional revolutionary." -- Mumia Abu-Jamal (Wideman 107) Born 24 April 1954 Wesley Cook, Mumia Abu-Jamal, author, journalist and inmate of death row, is one of America's most powerful outspoken voices against injustice. Seen by the State as a dangerous revolutionary who must be silenced, he has been incarcerated for the last seventeen years. (West 2) Mumia Abu-Jamal was born in Philadelphia where he grew up. The name Mumia was given in High School, when he took an African name for his Swahili studies. The Arabic, Abu-Jamal, meaning Father of Jamal, came later. (West 5) Mumia's first introduction to politics was in his teens when he and a few friends attended a George Wallace presidential rally. They shouted slogans and raised their fists in a black power salute. To their relief they were thrown out, but their relief was short lived when they were set upon outside by a gang of white thugs. Rescue seemed at hand when the police were spotted, but their 'rescuers' joined in the assault, kicking and beating. Mumia was kicked in the face. (West 13) Mumia became a founding member of the Black Panther Party in Philadelphia and Minister of Information (fall 1968). Mumia filed reports from New York and other cities, but was mainly based in Philadelphia. For a time he worked in Oakland, California, on the staff of the party's newspaper. The Black Panthers were to give Mumia a good grounding in radical politics and it was where he cut his teeth as a journalist. When the Panthers began to tear themselves apart, Mumia left. (West 34) Mumia Abu-Jamal: "The prospe... ...p; West, Cornel. Death Blossoms : Reflections from a Prisoner of Consience. New York: Plough Pub House Publishing, 1997 "Mobilazation to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal." The Crime Scene. Website. Online. Internet. Available: www: http://www.freemumia.org/mumia_files/scene "Mobilazation to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal." The Trial. Website. Online. Internet. Available: www: http://www.freemumia.org/mumia_files/trial "Mobilazation to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal." The FOP and Their Lies. Online. Internet. Available: www: http://www.freemumia.org/mumia_files/fop "Mobilazation to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal." The Witnesses. Online. Internet. Available: www: http://www.freemumia.org/mumia_files/witnesses "Mobilazation to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal." Judge Sabo. Online. Internet. Available: www: http://www.freemumia.org/mumia_files/sabo "Mobilazation to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal." Support for Mumia. Online. Internet. Available: www: http://www.freemumia.org/mumia_files/support