Life Hanging by a Thread – actions for Mumia in Germany, December 2009
Around the sad and outrageous anniversary marking 28 years behind steelglass and concrete people all over Germany to the streets for Mumia. The encouraging news is that hundreds and thousands of people are showing up for Mumia's support now after years of a low activities.
Demonstrations with huge transparents took place in Stuttgart, Oldenburg, Kiel, Muenchen, Nuernberg, Hamburg, Heidelberg and Berlin.
During the weeks and months before new and old groups against the death penalty and for Mumia's freedom in many towns had organized evening events with speakers who know the case well, most of them with screeings of "In Prison My Whole Life" the 2007 documentary by British filmmaker Marc Evans. People discussed the planned actions for Mumia in case the death penalty should be re-installed. Three days after the announcement there will be a national day of action in many towns – mobilizing to a national demonstration in Berlin.
The action in Heidelberg on December 12th was a little different from all other demonstrations. We had planned to stage a scene for a photo with our town's most famous brands – the castle and the old bridge. Millions of tourists, most of them Americans, are visiting and photographing it every year.
The theme was „A Life Hanging by a Thread – Against the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal" – and so we covered the bridge towers and the handrail with crime scene tape, decorated a big part of the balustrade with our huge transparent, and hung a life size doll in an orange jumpsuit down the bridge – by a thread.
After a while we saved the death row candidate by pulling him up again – and then took the 20 meter long transparent to a spontaneous demontration through Europe's longes pedestrian mile, Heidelberg's main road, 2 kilometers long and full of shoppers and visitors.
Although just about 85 people we made it to a spectacular pic – not only for all tourists and other passengers on Saturday but into our daily paper on Monday!
We are especially proud of the fact that a lot of different groups took part in the action – from Amnesty Interntional Students to the Red Help.
We will keep working together, going for a city-council-statement in Heidelberg and for a big demonstration on January 30th.
Heidelberger Buendnis für Mumia
Also see: indymedia Germany: http://de.indymedia.org/2009/12/268610.shtml
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