So, yeah...then there's Mumia.
And I'm supposed to have my head in the books.
And it's 1:32 a.m. but I felt this was really important.
I often mentally wax poetic and then keep my thoughts o'the day as my own, today is different. It dawned on me as I was reading Con Law (I should so not go off in thought during study time!) that the President of these United States could pardon Mumia. I wonder if that ever goes through his mind...
(www.blackpast.org)
Mumia Abu-Jamal and his
Abu-Jamal's first encounter with the police came when he was 14. He was beaten by a white Philadelphia police officer for disrupting a “George Wallace for President” rally in 1968. Eventually he dropped out of high school and joined the Philadelphia chapter of the Black Panther Party. Jamal was appointed BPP’s “Lieutenant of Information,” putting him in charge of the organization’s media relations and placing him on the radar for surveillance by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He eventually earned his graduate equivalency high school degree (GED) and briefly attended Goddard College in Vermont.
In 1975 Abu-Jamal began working for a series of radio stations, using his commentary on issues of the day to advocate for social change. Due to his growing popularity he was elected president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. Despite his popularity, Abu-Jamal was forced to take a second job as a taxi driver to supplement his income.
Abu-Jamal became nationally prominent, however, when he was arrested for the murder of Philadelphia policeman Daniel Faulkner. On December 9, 1981, Faulkner was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop involving Jamal’s brother, William Cook. During the scuffle between Faulkner and Cook, Abu-Jamal also was shot and taken to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital. He was treated and then arrested and charged with first-degree murder. In June 1982, Abu-Jamal was tried. Despite conflicting testimony from key witnesses, Abu-Jamal was found guilty and sentenced to death. In 1994, Abu-Jamal returned to radio once again as a commentator for Prison Radio and for National Public Radio. His NPR commentaries were compiled in 1995 as part ofLive from Death Row, which resulted in Abu-Jamal’s punishment of solitary confinement for engaging in entrepreneurship from prison.
I'm upset that after the intro he is reffered to as Abu-Jamal and not (Prince) Mumia, which is his first name. The injustice is everywhere. I hope it does occur to the President. I hope he is powerful enough to make that move because you know some people want to keep there.. Prayers for him and his family..
ReplyDeleteHe IS powerful enough to pardon Mumia, as is constitutionally given by the law of this land: The United States Constitution. Not one branch of the government can remove THAT power. My hope is that he has the political STRENGTH to make that decision. We all know that he KNOWS the struggle and he knows MUMIA's story all too well. How would any person of color, aware and in college at any juncture, NOT know? Will he be strong enough? Idk, his behavior doesn't give me any concrete evidence, however, I am still a person filled with hope!
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