Chronicle Online 3/29: Struggle for Abu-Jamal continues in wake of nat’l Death Row spat

Struggle for Abu-Jamal continues in wake of nat’l Death Row spat

By Jotham Sederstrom
Staff Writer

Rows of tables promoting organizations like Amnesty International and the International Communist League lined the entrance of Harold Washington College as hundreds gathered at a conference aimed at stopping the execution of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.

A full day of lectures and workshops were presented on March 20 to a crowd of more than 200 social activists organizing a bus trip to Philadelphia on April 24.

Philadelphia, where Abu-Jamal was arrested for allegedly murdering a police officer in 1981, will be the site of Millions for Mumia, a mass-demonstration designed to put pressure on Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Ridge.

“When we fight for Mumia and when we spread the word about Mumia,” said Joan Parkin, an activist involved with the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, “we hope to put a spotlight on Death Rows all across this country.”

Chants of, “They say Death Row, we say hell no,” reverberated through the room, which was covered wall-to-wall with pictures of Abu-Jamal. A group of activists opposed to the death penalty—including Jeb Stone an attorney who represented Rolando Cruz, Bob Zellner of the Civil Rights Coordinating Committee, and John Gilliam Price, whose brother was recently executed in Maryland—spoke to the energetic audience.

According to Stone, there are approximately 3,385 prisoners on Death Row today, and if the pollsters are correct, 36 million Americans oppose the death penalty, or roughly 15 percent of the country.

While the other 85 percent have been silent regarding his case, a group named after the police officer who died, Daniel Faulkner, has fervently argued that Abu-Jamal’s situation has been grossly misunderstood. Refuting everything from where he was apprehended to his journalism award, which they say doesn’t exist, the group says that the case is the most publicized yet the least understood in the world.

According to the group’s website, www.justice4danielfaulkner.com/myths.html, opponents of the death penalty clcent Death Row inmates have been released since 1973. But in 39 cases reviewed, 29 of them offer no evidence of innocence.

Similar conferences have been held across the country to gain support for April’s demonstration, but Chicago was chosen, among other reasons, because it has lead the way in freeing prisoners from Death Row. Among others, Darby Tillis, Perry Cob, Rolando Cruz, and Manuel Salazar, have all been released from Illinois’ Death Row.

Philadelphia, on the other hand, has taken a more conservative stance. While 10 percent of the city is black, according to Clark Kissinger of Refuse and Resist, they make up 62 percent of the city’s prison population. In addition, 83 percent of the inmates on Death Row in Philadelphia are black.

“Mumia is both the exception and the rule,” said Kissinger. “He is the exception because they went after him because of his political activities. But he is also the rule because he is so archetypical of what happens to young men of color.”

As a journalist and earlier, as a member of the Black Panthers, Abu-Jamal, who has become known as “the voice for the voiceless,” often covered stories on police brutality cases and other controversial issues. Since his conviction in 1982, Abu-Jamal has become a figurehead for opponents of the death penalty around the world. (Yahoo listed 1835 websites for him.)

“Not just in the case of Mumia, but in the case of every social issue, we are not going to stand divided. We are a group that will stand together,” said Pam Africa, a MOVE activist who has fought for years to save Abu-Jamal.

For more information about Abu-Jamal and the Millions for Mumia march in April, call (312) 683-5194.