Phase III of the Civil Rights Campaign has begun!

(This is the new layout of our petition. Please keep collecting signatures and explain the campaign and why we need to challenge the legal process that Mumia went through in the courts)

JOIN the Center for Constitutional Rights, Cornel West, Ruby Dee, Angela Davis, Dick Gregory, Congressman Charles Rangel, Cynthia McKinney, Noam Chomsky, Julian Bond, & 40,000 others!

UPDATE ON CAMPAIGN FOR A CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION
(Scroll down for info on what to do and how to do it!)

Keep those letters coming, and continue to call the DoJ every Thursday.

About 75 people from New York City managed to get down to 33rd and 8th Avenue at 5 AM (!!!) on April 26, and many had to skip work at this difficult economic moment to get on that bus. Others came from Albany, Pittsburg, and even France (Mireille Fanon Mendes-France (daughter of Frantz Fanon). Philly folks stopped in Maryland to pick up as many people as they could when the NY bus broke down. We waited for the others to arrive a few hours late, and then marched together with great spirit to the DoJ, where strong statements were made by participants when we got there. (See the video footage of all of this.)

Those who couldn't come contributed in other ways: gave money to subsidize people who could not afford to pay, did outreach work, prepared our breakfast/lunch food, or designed banners for us. People showed their love for Mumia and their commitment to the struggle to free him in whatever way they could. Our movement is strong, very dedicated, and truly inspiring.

Ona Move! A luta continua!

Suzanne Ross, for the Campaign for a Civil Rights Investigation of the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Pam Africa, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal


WHAT TO DO:

VIEW AND SIGN THE PETITION

KEEP THE LETTERS COMING!
(To sign the online version (older) you can do so here

CALL THE DEPT. OF JUSTICE EVERY THURSDAY
(Click Herefor information on how)

DONATE TO THE STRUGGLE FOR MUMIA'S FREEDOM

SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN FOR A CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION OF THE CASE OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL!

To: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Department of Justice

I write to you with a sense of grave concern and outrage about the U.S. Supreme Court's denial of a hearing to Mumia Abu-Jamal on the issue of racial bias in jury selection, that is, the "Batson issue". Inasmuch as there is no other court to which Abu-Jamal can appeal for justice, I turn to you for remedy of a 27-year history of gross violations of U.S. constitutional law and international standards of justice as documented by Amnesty International and many other legal groups around the world.

I call on you and the Justice Department to immediately commence a civil rights investigation to examine the many examples of egregious and racist prosecutorial and judicial misconduct dating back to the original trial in 1982 and continuing through to the current inaction of the U.S. Supreme Court. The statute of limitations should not be a factor in this case as there is very strong evidence of an ongoing conspiracy to deny Abu-Jamal his constitutional rights.

I am aware of the many differences that exist between the case of former Senator Ted Stevens and Mumia Abu-Jamal. Still, I note with great interest the actions you have taken with regard to Senator Stevens' conviction to assure that he not be denied his constitutional rights. You were specifically outraged by the fact that the prosecution withheld information critical to the defense's argument for acquittal, a violation clearly committed by the prosecution in Abu-Jamal's case. Mumia Abu-Jamal, though not a U.S. senator of great wealth and power, is a Black man revered around the world for his courage, clarity, and commitment and deserves no less than Senator Stevens.

NAME _______________________________________

CITY/STATE__________________________________

E-MAIL or ADDRESS ___________________________

Please return to: Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition
PO Box 16, College Station,
New York, NY 10030.

www.freemumia.com
Hotline: 212-330-8029.

TO SIGN THE ONLINE VERSION (older) YOU CAN DO SO HERE:
http://www.iacenter.org/mumiapetition/

REMEMBER TO CALL THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT HOTLINE EVERY THURSDAY (CLICK HERE FOR ALL INFO & DEMAND A CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION FOR MUMIA.

Pam Africa in Newark, NJ Teach-In May 27

National Million Woman Movement & Black Women's Defense League of Newark Presents 
A Political Prisoners and Social Justice Teach-in

Mumia Abu Jamal
The MOVE 9
Dr. Mutulu Shakur
Imam Jamil Al-Amin
Sundiata Acoli
The Cuban 5
Leonard Peltier  

These are just a few of the Black (African) Political Prisoners and Freedom and Justice allies who are presently incarcerated in the United States because of their political views, resistance actions, and/or affiliations. Conscious thinking and responsible citizenry entails responsible actions. It is therefore up to the masses to assure that such citizenry and are exercised and upheld accordingly.

The Struggle Continues to bring about greater attention to the vicious attack on the movement.

This "TEACH IN" session will include a Special film showing of the new dynamite documentary on "MOVE", covering facts and clear details as to what really lead up to and happened at the Aug 8th 1978 confrontation thus providing greater insight into who was responsible for the death of a police officer.

The film also covers key elements of the May 13, 1985 bombing of the MOVE Headquarters that resulted in the murder of 11 MOVE Family members and the total destruction of an entire Black community where approx.60 homes went up in flames, and the continued fight today to Free The MOVE 9 and Mumia Abu Jamal. 

This session will of course also provide: Information and Updates on Political Prisoners, dialog on the Prison Industrialized Complex and information of Justice/Freedom Campaigns such as on the cases of the Scott Sisters and April Griffin, and how interested persons can (and must) Support / Get Involved.

Thursday, May 27, 2010
6:00 - 9:00 PM

The Nabiru Gift Shop
143 Halsey Street, Newark, NJ
(between Raymond Blvd and Academy St,)
Admission Is Free
(But LOVE DONATIONS ARE APPRECIATED)

Special Guest Speaker
Sis. Pam Africa

For more information
e-mail: nationalmwm@aol.com
or call: Sis Munirah at 973-818-4460

Justice Department pushed to probe case of death row inmate Mumia Abu Jamal

Busload of supporters arriving from New York City at Mumia Abu Jamal rally, April 26. Photo: Askia Muhammad (insert) Mumia Abu Jamal

By Askia Muhammad -Senior Correspondent- | Last updated: May 14, 2010 - 2:34:51 PM

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - For the second time in just five months, 150 supporters of Mumia Abu Jamal marched to the U.S. Justice Department to demand both a civil rights investigation and a meeting with the department's Civil Rights Division Director Thomas E. Perez.

The April 26 march and rally at New York Ave. Presbyterian Church—where President Abraham Lincoln often worshiped—was held just two days after Mr. Abu Jamal observed his 56th birthday, still confined on Pennsylvania's death row, where he has been held for more than 25 years.

In 1982 Mr. Abu Jamal was convicted of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, in a trial which Amnesty International, the NAACP, and dozens of human rights organizations and observers around the world have condemned as patently unjust.

“We know—we heard all the talk about what was going on—about the racist judge, the (incompetent defense) attorney who did not know what he was doing, we know about that,” said the Rev. Patsy Jenkins from the prison ministry at New York's historic Riverside Church April 26.

“We knew it was a conspiracy-they've been doing it for years and years. It's time for us to get up and mobilize. So many people do not know about Mumia Abu Jamal. This man, who has been a voice for the voiceless, an activist, a socially responsible person who's concerned about his people and righteousness, has been locked up in solitary confinement in a cement box for almost 30 years for something he did not do,” the Rev. Jenkins continued. “That's why we are here today.”

Organizers of the Campaign for a Civil Rights Investigation of the Case of Mumia Abu Jamal presented the attorney general's office with the second installment of petitions, now totaling 40,000 supporting their demands.

Mr. Abu Jamal's supporters insist there has been “a conspiracy to silence Abu Jamal's voice and ultimately to execute him, despite extensive evidence of his innocence and the fact that he never had a fair trial or appeals process,” the committee said in a statement.

Advocates cite an ongoing conspiracy in the case, which began long before the December 1981 incident with Officer Faulkner. It dates back to 1968 when, at age 14, Mr. Abu Jamal was a founder of the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. More than 800 pages of files and surveillance records were accumulated prior to 1978, even though there was no evidence of Mr. Abu Jamal being involved in any criminal activities.

Led by the FBI, White law enforcement authorities all over the country—and in Philadelphia—implemented COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program). They routinely set out to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of Black nationalist hate-type organizations and groupings, their leadership, spokesmen, membership, and supporters, and to counter their propensity for violence and civil disorder,” FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover wrote in 1967. His purpose was to “prevent the rise of a Black Messiah.”

As a teenager in the 1960s and 1970s, Mr. Abu Jamal might have fit that description. “Mumia Abu Jamal—as Black Panther—showed the same level of writing skills and articulation skills that he shows now,” Dr. Todd S. Burroughs, assistant professor of media studies at Morgan State University told The Final Call. “And I say that as someone who's looked pretty carefully at his Black Panther writings and at some of the statements he made as a Black Panther.

“Mumia represented the Philadelphia chapter at the memorial service of Fred Hampton—as you know, last December that was the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Fred Hampton, the Chicago Black Panther, by the Chicago police.

“So, he showed the same skills at 14, 15, 16, that he now shows at 56,” Dr. Burroughs continued. “So, he was followed very closely by the FBI. The FBI actually made clippings of every article that mentioned him, and every article that he wrote under his byline for the Black Panther newspaper,” he said.

The campaign to have the Department of Justice conduct a full civil rights investigation continues to gather support around the world, including: Noam Chomsky, Cornel West, Ruby Dee, Angela Davis, Alice Walker, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, and Henry “Skip” Gates.

Prominent international labor groups and leaders, representatives of major religious denominations, as well as respected non-government organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights, have all lent their support to the call for a full civil rights investigation of Mr. Abu Jamal's case.

“This campaign is one of direct action. It is not a one-shot demonstration or about waiting for Eric Holder or Thomas Perez to grant us what is just,” Pam Africa, convener of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal said in a statement. “We will be out there relentlessly fighting for what the Department of Justice is mandated to do: guarantee the civil rights of every individual, not just wealthy and powerful senators such as Ted Stevens (R-Alaska),” she said.

http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_6966.shtml

ONA MOVE with Fred Hampton, Jr, Ramona Africa and Linn Washington

From: icffmaj@aol.com

This is the streaming video from the May 12, 2010 MOVE event at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, featuring Sis. Ramona, Linn Washington, Chairman Fred Hampton, Jr.,
and MOVE children rapping:

The forgotten MOVE victims

From Broad Street Review

Fire on Osage Avenue, May 1985: Sorrow for Wilson Goode, justice for nine others.






A tale of two bullets, and one blaze: Justice in Dallas, justice for MOVE
Robert Zaller

Once upon a time there were two magic bullets. One of them, it is said, killed a president. Fired from an antiquated Italian carbine of World War II vintage, it supposedly penetrated the neck of John F. Kennedy to the right of the spine, exiting below the Adam’s apple and proceeding, like a heat-seeking missile, to enter beneath and behind the right armpit of his traveling companion, Texas Governor John Connally, shattering four inches of rib before exiting below the latter’s right nipple, passing through his right wrist and lodging two inches deep in his left thigh, whence it would be recovered, according to legend, in virtually pristine condition.

The legend’s author, Arlen Specter, is still, 46 years later, holding and seeking public office. A wondrous world we live in.

The second bullet possessed no less magical properties. It was the one that killed police officer James Ramp in the shootout at the MOVE compound in West Philadelphia on August 8, 1978. Apparently it was fired from nine guns at once, because nine individuals were found guilty of firing by Common Pleas Judge Edwin Malmed, who sentenced all nine of them to prison terms of 30 to 100 years each.

Actually, the bullet was originally attributed to no fewer than 12 guns, but the murder charges were dropped against two MOVE members after they agreed to disavow their affiliation with MOVE, and a third at first charged couldn’t be conclusively identified as a MOVE member.

Judge Malmed’s rationale

Of course, the fatal bullet could have come from hundreds of guns, since that many armed police had converged on the compound and no single source or trajectory for the bullet was ever established.

When asked on a radio interview about condemning and sentencing nine people for a crime that couldn’t be forensically imputed to any one of them, and of which eight at least were by the laws of physics necessarily innocent, Judge Malmed replied, “They called themselves a family. I sentenced them as a family.”

The Nazis used to go in for that kind of thing. Kill one of theirs, they’d take revenge on ten of yours, or a hundred.

Actually, the Nazis were fairer. The odds seem better than even that Officer Ramp was killed by friendly fire, given the number of guns in play.

No matter. If you belonged to MOVE that day, you were guilty of murder. But just as magically, if you renounced MOVE, your guilt was removed.

The MOVE Nine were sentenced for one crime, and one alone:  For calling themselves a family.

Thirty-one years have gone by since the MOVE Nine were sentenced. Eight have served their minimum sentence; one, Merle Austin Africa, died in prison in 2000. The eight survivors remain imprisoned.

Thirty-one years down. Only 69 to go.

Still in court

This week marked the 25th anniversary of the infamous bombing of the MOVE house on Osage Avenue that left 11 dead, five of them children, and burned two city blocks. MOVE survivors and their attorney, Leon Williams, appeared in court to file civil criminal complaints against former mayor Wilson Goode and ten other officials. It isn’t the first time they’ve done it, and it very likely won’t be the last.

The current district attorney, Seth Williams, thinks that justice can still get two bites at the apple in the case of William Barnes, who after spending nearly a lifetime in prison is being retried because a cop he shot in 1966 died in 2007. But Williams has shown no interest to date in what happened on Osage Avenue in 1985, for which only MOVE survivors were prosecuted.

When civilians shoot cops in Philadelphia, time is never served.  When state agents kill citizens, no harm and no foul.

Ramona Africa, one of the two Osage Avenue survivors, addressed the issue of trauma at the May 12 MOVE press conference at the Friends’ Center on Cherry Street. “People ask me if I have nightmares,” she said.  “I don’t have nightmares. . . . Have any of you looked at Wilson Goode lately?”

Goode gets religion

Mayor Goode, also reflecting on the bombing’s anniversary, told the Philadelphia Inquirer, “I view it as an aberration in my life. I don’t view it as part of a continuum in my life… You don’t let enemies or anyone define you by it.”

Mayor Goode is said to have gotten religion after leaving office, something probably every departing Philadelphia mayor should consider. He earned a degree in divinity and for a while pastored souls.  Apparently, no one ever tended to his. The first thing a Christian is called upon to do is repent.

MOVE cannot be separated from the race war of the 1960s, when entire cities burned, nor from the repressive regime of Mayor Frank Rizzo in the 1970s. If MOVE offered provocation, it never resorted to violence except in self-defense.

The math is still clear: one police officer killed, nine life sentences; 11 men, women, and children killed, no indictment ever issued.

Ramona Africa up close

I’ve come to know Ramona Africa fairly well. She is an impressive, self-possessed and remarkably eloquent woman.  She speaks with quiet force, and without rancor. Over the years she has become a kind of civic icon, an image of a city in quest of justice, of its own lost soul.

Ramona says she isn’t interested in revenge. There was sorrow in her voice when she spoke of Wilson Goode, sorrow not merely about him but for him, the man who by his own admission has never spoken of Osage Avenue with his wife and his now-grown children (one of whom is himself a City Councilman).

Justice isn’t about retribution. It’s about setting to rights. In the case of the MOVE Nine, it is about setting free, at long last.

Justice may wait. It sometimes sleeps. In Philadelphia, it often seems to be in a coma. But it always comes in the end. In the meantime, we all suffer from its absence. 

Pam Africa in Newark Teach-In

National Million Woman Movement & Back Women's Defense League of Newark Presents
A Political Prisoners and Social Justice "TEACH IN"
Mumia Abu Jamal, The MOVE 9, Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Imam Jamil Al-Amin, Sundiata Acoli, The Cuban 5, and Leonard Peltier

These are just a few of the Black (African) Political Prisoners and Freedom and Justice allies who are presently incarcerated in the United States because of their political views, resistance actions, and/or affiliations. Conscious thinking and responsible citizenry entails responsible actions. It is therefore up to the masses to assure that such citizenry and are exercised and upheld accordingly.

This "TEACH IN" session will include a Special film showing of the new dynamite documentary on  "MOVE", covering facts and clear details as to what really lead up to and happened at the Aug 8th 1978 confrontation thus providing greater insight into who was responsible for the death of a police officer.

The film also covers key elements of the May 13, 1985 bombing of the MOVE Headquarters that resulted in the murder of 11 MOVE Family members and the total destruction of an entire Black community where approx.60 homes went up in flames, and the continued fight today to Free The MOVE 9 and Mumia Abu Jamal. 

This session will of course also provide: Information and Updates on Political Prisoners, dialog on the Prison Industrialized Complex and information of Justice/Freedom Campaigns such as on the cases of the Scott Sisters and April Griffin, and how interested persons can (and must) Support / Get Involved.

Thursday, May 27, 2010     6-9 PM       
The Nabiru Gift Shop
located at 143 Halsey Street, Newark, NJ
(between Raymond Blvd and Academy St)

Admission Is Free
(But LOVE DONATIONS ARE APPRECIATED)

Special Guest Speaker
Sis. Pam Africa

For more information:
e-mail: nationalmwm@aol.com
or call:
Sis Munirah at 973-818-4460

Message to Mumia from German Comrades

Gucci Mane Release Celebrated, Mumia Abu Jamal Still Forgotten

http://www.rollingout.com/newsapolitics/news/9408-gucci-mane-release-celebrated-mumia-abu-jamal-still-forgotte.html

in solidarity,

--
Berliner Bündnis Freiheit für Mumia Abu-Jamal!

im HdD
Greifswalderstr.4
10405 Berlin

www.mumia-hoerbuch.de

GRATIS für alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT!
Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome

Rachel Maddow show on the bombing of MOVE

From the Free Mumia Coalition NYC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#37141942

The segment shows a piece, possibly from the 'MOVE' film, which includes (essentially cameo appearances of) Ramona and Bird Africa, as the only Survivors. 

The overall 'Maddow' segment is somewhat obfuscating and brief, but does includes commentary about the 61 homes/families that were also destroyed, and that to this day, they have yet to receive (any) meaningful compensation.

it's a beginning/breakthrough ....

It might encourage more of this kind of real coverage to contact Maddow to commend her for this coverage.  (she surely got plenty of right-wing response.)

Our input is a way to promote mainstream media to acknowledge our real world and that there is great thirst for real news.

-------------------------

A e-mail will be sent to Maddow:

"Rachel Maddow's coverage of the 25th Anniversary of the MOVE Bombing in 1985: this wa so very much appreciated - by those of us Freedom and Justice-Committed. Maddow's coverage was an important mainstrem-media (MSM) tiny opening to exposing the general populace to one of the most outrageous examples -- of the police-state fascism that has obscenely taken hold in the u.s. The scores and hundreds of political prisoners  who have been wrongly incarcerated for decades on trumped-up charges, and the incalculable pain incurred by their famiies and friends -- Mumia Abu Jamal, being one of the most prominent, are further evidence of this raging, out-of-control racist police-state; also the milliions of Africanamericans, Latinos and Indigenous Peoples and Other People-Of-Color whose lives have beem destroyed by the RACIST, discriminatorially-adjudicated "anti-drug" and "3-strikes" laws."

The clip below entitled "Do you Remember the MOVE Bombing?," - by the Rachel Maddow show producer, also highlighted the MOVE Murders:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/

25 Years... All Roads Lead to Philly

Philly Inquirer Multi-Media piece: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/93137669.html


PLEASE SUPPORT EVENTS TOMORROW!

From: Sis. Ramona (onamovellja@aol.com)

ONA MOVE, EVERYBODY!  This note is to remind and inform folks that attorneys Leon Williams and Michael Coard will be filing private criminal murder complaints with the clerk of common pleas court against officials responsible for the murder of innocent MOVE people.  This will be done at 9:00am on the morning of Wednesday May 12, 2010.  MOVE is encouraging all of our supporters and all those concerned with justice, even if you are not a MOVE supporter, to join us outside the Criminal Justice Center while the complaints are being filed.  It is extremely important that people demonstrate their opposition to police terrorism and murder, no matter who it's directed at.  Hope to see you there, pass the word---Ramona

I want you to know that our May 12th  program at The African-American Museum in Philadelphia to mark 25 years since the bombing and murder of our MOVE family will be streamed over the internet at www.ustream.tv/user/moveorg  The program starts at 6:pm EST so please join us via the internet and let me know your reaction at the email address above.---Ramona


IT'S TIME TO STOP POLICE TERRORISM!!!!!

This year marks 25 Years since the bombing of our Family! 

At 9:00am MOVE is delivering MURDER charges to The Courts on May 12th, Charging officials with the Vicious Murder of 11 Innocent MOVE family members! 

There will be a 10:00 am press conference at The AFSC, located at 15th & Cherry Sts., about the Murder Complaints.

Immediately following the press conference, everyone will participate in a Honk Against Police Terror @ City Hall from 3pm to 5pm.

Following that is a Rally Demonstration March from City Hall to the
African-American Museum for a 6:00 pm program , located at:
7th & Arch Sts., which includes the screening of 2 Films On MOVE.  Joining the program will be Journalist Linn Washington and Freedom Fighter Fred Hampton Jr.

On Sunday, May 16th, at 2:00pm there will be a Children's Play performed by the MOVE children at The Rotunda, located at 40th & Walnut Sts., directly behind the Bridge Movie Theatre. 

For more INFO please contact:

MOVE
P.O. BOX 19709
PHILA., PA. 19143
onamovellja@aol.com
215 387-4107
------------

(NOTE: Sorry i'm late seeing this, but please call and see what might be available)

From: NYC

JOIN US THIS WEDNESDAY, MAY 12TH, AS WE GO DOWN TO PHILADELPHIA TO COMMEMORATE THE US GOVERNMENT "ASSAULT TO KILL" ON THE MOVE ORGANIZATION ON MAY 13, 1985. WE WILL JOIN MOVE IN FILING MURDER CHARGES AGAINST THOSE RESPONSIBLE, IN HOLDING A PRESS CONFERENCE, A HONK FOR MOVE RALLY, AND AN EVENING PROGRAM WITH CHAIRMAN FRED HAMPTON, JR. OF POC AND NOTED JOURNALIST LINN WASHINGTON.

TO TRAVEL DOWN TO PHILLY WITH THE FREE MUMIA COALITION, CALL 212 330-8029, LEAVE YOUR PHONE NUMBER AND A MESSAGE BY MONDAY NIGHT AT THE LATEST. WE ARE LEAVING ON A 6;30 MEGA BUS, BUT YOU MUST HAVE A PAID TICKET TO GET ON.

THE FREE MUMIA ABU-JAMAL COALITION

25 Years After the MOVE Bombing: Philly May 12

More Video Coverage of April 26 Activities Focused on the Department of Justice

From Free Mumia Coalition NYC
info@freemumia.com

Below, you will find the link to some wonderful footage of our April 26th activities as part of the Campaign for a Civil Rights Investigation of Mumia' Case. It turns out that there was certainly more video coverage, some relatively mainstream, than we had realized.  Be sure not only to see the Glenn Ford interview but also, on the sidebar, the link that takes you to the video with Immortal Technique.  Ona Move!!

Dear all,

we just came upon this great TV report on Mumia and the Holder Petition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ljw4Z35IeM



Maybe you like to share it with others in the solidarity movement.

Greetings from
Berliner Bündnis Freiheit für Mumia Abu-Jamal!

im HdD
Greifswalderstr.4
10405 Berlin

www.mumia-hoerbuch.de

GRATIS für alle GMX-Mitglieder: Die maxdome Movie-FLAT!
Jetzt freischalten unter http://portal.gmx.net/de/go/maxdome

Video of April 26 Demo!!

VIEW VIDEO FOOTAGE FROM APRIL 26 IN WASHINGTON DC AT:

http://freemumia.com/april26.html