Mumia Abu-Jamal to receive Sacco & Vanzetti award (From a Church...)

[BayCityProgressive]

http://www.workers.org/2007/us/mumia-award-0329/

The Community Church of Boston will present the 30th annual Sacco and Vanzetti Social Justice Award to death-row political prisoner and renowned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal on March 25.

The award will honor Abu-Jamal for the work he has accomplished, despite government repression.

The event, co-sponsored by South End Press and Jericho-Boston, will take place from noon to 3 p.m. in the Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street in Copley Square. It will celebrate Abu-Jamal, the struggle to free all political prisoners, and the legacy of Sacco and Vanzetti.


more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumia_Abu_Jamal
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How do others feel about this story? I am definately in agreement with MOST that this is not more important than the Iraq war or other injustices, but I do think his trial was highly suspicious and at the least he SHOULD be granted a new and fair trial in a different area of the ocuntry. His case reminds me of Leonard Peltier...

[BayCityProgressive]

1. International response

A broad international movement supports Mumia Abu-Jamal.

In October 2003, Mumia Abu-Jamal was awarded the status of honorary citizen of Paris in a ceremony attended by former Black Panther Angela Davis. The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, said in a press release that the award was meant to be a reminder of the continuing fight against the death penalty, which was abolished in France in 1981. The proposal to make Abu-Jamal an honorary citizen was approved by the city's council in 2001. In 2006, a street was named after Abu-Jamal by the administration of the city of Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, provoking some uproar in the U.S.<16>

Additionally, all of the following maintain that the original trial was not conducted in a fair and impartial manner, and demand either a new trial or Mumia Abu-Jamal's immediate release: organizations including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the NAACP, A prominent group of U.K. Lawyers <17>; and the National Lawyers Guild; the Japanese Diet and the European Parliament; as well as several national U.S. trade union federations (ILWU, AFSCME, SEIU, the national postal union) and the 1.8 million member California Labor Federation AFL-CIO; bands Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, Anti-Flag, Propagandhi, Bad Religion; celebrities such as Jello Biafra, Danny Glover, Snoop Dogg, Ossie Davis, Susan Sarandon, and Ed Asner; world leaders like Nelson Mandela, Danielle Mitterrand (former First Lady of France), and Fidel Castro; the Episcopal Church of the United States of America; and City Governments such as those of San Francisco, Santa Cruz, California, and Detroit.

It is however important to note that not all of these organizations maintain Mumia Abu-Jamal's innocence, only that his trial was not a fair one. As Amnesty International stated in its report on the issue: "Given the contradictory and incomplete evidence in the trial transcript, cannot take a position on Abu-Jamal's guilt or innocence."<8>

[youngdem]

2. Where is a good site to get the straight dope on this?

I have never known what the story was enough to really grok it. Anyone?

[BayCityProgressive]

4. Check the Wikipedia link in my original post.

[GoneOffShore]

3. ,,

:eyes:

[BayCityProgressive]

5. LOL so I assume you believe he had a fair trial?

I am not judging one way or the other..or trying to be sarcastic...I just truly want to know what other progressives think . I believe many Panthers, including Assata Shakur, who fled to Cuba, were set up. Angela Davis was in prison for quite some time before finally being released.

[BayCityProgressive]

6. I am not saying he is guilty or innocent

there is no way any of us could know that..however considering FBI involvement at the time and many other factors...I believe it is possible he could be sitting in prison for nothing and if so, that is saddening to me.

[GoneOffShore]

7. Daniel Faulkner is dead, Mumia is alive

And has never denied shooting Faulkner.

That says something about this case that a good many of Mumia's supporters refuse to address.

I think Mumia, because of his charisma and polemic writing skills, has become a darling of the far left (The totalitarian far left, just to clarify). Even if he were to get another trial, and be found guilty again, they would still shout that he was railroaded.

[GoneOffShore]

8. Crickets. n/t