From: "Marpessa Kupendua" Save Address - Subject: [Y4M] !*Free Mumia News (7/21/00) Attacks on Activists Increase! Stand Firm! Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 19:54:20 -0400 To subscribe/unsubscribe Free Mumia News, please do so automatically at www.afrikan.net/email.html =====================================> From: Home Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2000 9:07 PM International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal, Virginia PLEASE ACT ON THIS!!! On July 18th the Virginia chapter of ICFFMAJ was having a demo for Mumia on an interstate overpass in Norfolk, VA. This demo was inspired by a successful anti-abortion protest at the same location. The anti-abortion demonstrators received absolutely no harassment by the police and were allowed to demonstrate for over 3 hours. When we tried to demonstrate we were called down over a loudspeaker by a state police officer within 10 minutes. We motioned for the officer to come to our location so that we could find out why we were not allowed to protest, but he drove away. Next we called the police department to find out if there was a law prohibiting us from protesting. After being sent back and forth between local and state police, we found out from Sgt. Frasier that there is a state law (33.1-370) prohibiting "Signs to be displayed on the interstate" that are not sanctioned. We were notified by Dave Thacker from the Chief Office that it is not to be enforced by Norfolk officers. The state police can enforce the law, but they do not have to. This means that the state police can legally allow some people free speech and refuse it to others. We are not saying that we want this law enforced for everyone. We are saying that we demand that everyone be given the free speech that we are supposedly entitled to! This is very similar to the way this system is handling the Republican and Democratic Conventions in Philadelphia and California. They are legally making it so that people can only demonstrate in small corners of the city where they are not heard. The police are also escorting these politicians through the city so that they can make it through without seeing any protests. This is to "protect" those officials so they can speak about whatever they want. At the same time, they push aside those not in the political parties into cornered-off sections of the city where these government representatives, who are supposed to serve and represent "the people," don't even get to hear what citizens outraged at the job they are doing have to say. They are protecting the freedom for these officials while taking away freedom from the very people these cops SAY they are protecting. The only police escort we are willingly afforded is when we are escorted from the police car to jail. All of these issues are connected and we must speak out to protect all freedom! Please call state police Sgt. Frasier at (757) 455-3980 and tell him to respect the city of Norfolk's wish not to enforce this law. Your freedom is at stake here too! For more information on the City of Norfolk's stance on enforcement of the law, call the Chief Office (757) 644-3277 =======================================> 1) FREE MUMIA; RALLY AGAINST STATE-SANCTIONED VIOLENCE The recent state murder (in the form of execution by lethal injection) of Shaka Sankofa in Texas, despite proof of his innocence, is but one example of state-sanctioned violence in this country. Here at home, police recently gunned down Barbara Schneider in her own home for the "crime" of being mentally ill. The police beatings of suspects recently captured on video tape in both Philadelphia and Lawrenceville, GA show that this form of state-sponsored violence is truly a national epidemic. Border Patrol killings and beatings of undocumented people are at an all-time high. Many other atrocities are committed daily under the color of law and by the military at home and abroad. It is time to connect these attacks and to understand the attempt to permanently silence Mumia within this context. The Twin Cities Coalition to Defend Mumia Abu-Jamal has for a demonstration to address these issues together and build a movement against the rise of state sponsored violence. If you are a member of a progressive organization which has not yet endorsed this demonstration, ask your organization to endorse this action, mobilize its members, and possibly send a speaker or message of support. Call the number below. RALLY AGAINST STATE-SANCTIONED VIOLENCE *NO to executions! *NO to police brutality! *NO to war and genocide--at home and abroad! Saturday, July 29, 1:00 P.M. Leonard Peltier Park (Green space next to Walker Library, Hennepin Avenue & Lagoon, Uptown, Minneapolis) For more info, call 651-649-4579 Endorsed by: Twin Cities Coalition to Defend Mumia Abu-Jamal (TCCDMAJ); Women Against Military Madness (WAMM); Twin Cities Refuse & Resist!; League for the Revolutionary Party; Minnesota Alliance for the Indigenous Zapatistas (MAIZ); Puerto Rican Coalition in Minnesota; Communist Party USA; Veterans for Peace; Minnesota Chapter, National Lawyers Guild; CISPES Anti-War Committee; Sara Olson Defense Committee; Nukewatch --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) Protests for Mumia at Republican & Democratic Conventions Plans for protests at the Democratic and Republican conventions are really heating up. Plans are in place to bring to the forefront issues that both parties would prefer to ignore. The Republican convention is not only being held in Philly but Governor Tom Ridge, who has twice signed death warrants on Mumia, is the odds-on favorite to become running mate to Texas governor G.W. Bush, the killingest governor in the country. And the Democrats don't have much to brag about either. They appointed Philly mayor Ed Rendell, who was a prosecutor against Mumia and who played a key role in the 1985 MOVE bombing, to Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Gore, himself, has come out firmly in support of the death penalty. So both parties should come in for a drubbing during their respective conventions. People from the Twin Cities are planning to be part of protest action at both conventions, which we heartily encourage. Ben Grosscup is organizing people to go to the RNC from Minnesota. To contact him call 218-724-2054 or mailto:Benmalone@aol.com . In specific relation to the defense of Mumia Abu-Jamal, at least three coordinated protests are already planned. They include: July 30, Philadelphia. There will be a Mumia contingent at the large "Unity 2000" protest being held in conjunction with the Republican National Convention. See: http://www.mumia2000.org/actions/index.html August 1, Philadelphia. A Day of Resistance to the Death Penalty and the Execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal. For information on public protest events or to sign this call contact: Pennsylvania Abolitionists, 215-724-6120 or mailto:PAUADP@aol.com August 13, Los Angeles at the site of the Democratic Party Convention. Mass demonstration for Mumia Abu-Jamal. For details see: http://www.mumia2000.org/actions/LA.html PHILLY FREEDOM SUMMER Youth are coming together July 24 through August 5 in Philly for the 6th annual Philly Freedom Summer sponsored by Refuse and Resist! Every year, young activists from around the country come together to work on a project toward securing justice for Mumia. This year, the project will involve preparing for and participating in actions that inject Mumia into the RNC protests (see above). Philly Freedom Summer is run by the young people involved and is a great learning experience for young activists, where they work with others on a team and learn valuable organizing skills. If you are interested in attending, please let us know right away. Housing is provided in Philly but you need to be able to provide for your own food and living expenses while there. The Coalition may be able to assist with transportation costs to get to Philly. For more info, leave a message on our hotline at 651-649-4579 or contact the organizers directly: Refuse & Resist! Youth Network 212-965-9030 or mailto:refuse@calyx.com . Twin Cities Coalition to Defend Mumia Abu-Jamal Organizing meetings: Every Wednesday at 7:00 P.M. Arise Bookstore (address below) 24-hour Hotline: 651-649-4579 Web: http://www1.minn.net/~meis TCCDMAJ c/o Arise! Bookstore 2441 Lyndale Ave. S. Minneapolis, Mn. 55405 =================================> From: C. Clark Kissinger Sent: Tuesday, July 18, 2000 1:08 PM We just received word that Kim Lamberty's hearing before Judge Rapoport on Wednesday has been indefinitely postponed, and she has been assigned a new probation officer in Philadelphia (she lives in Washington, DC). ==============================> From: Greg Butterfield Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 5:08 PM Get on the Bus to LA! March for Mumia in LA Sunday Aug. 13 at the Democratic National Convention Buses Departing from 2 Bay Area Locations or organize one for your area or group! Order your tickets now: $40 each or $30 students or fixed income Bay Area Departures: meet 11:30 pm, Sat. Aug. 12, Buses depart midnight and leave LA at 6pm on Sunday after the protest San Francisco departure: IAC offices, 2489 Mission Street, @ 21st Street near 24th St. BART Oakland departure: MacArthur BART Station, MacArthur Blvd. @ M.L.K. Blvd. Organize a bus for your area or group! If you are in another location or would like to have a bus for your group, call us and we can help. Let us know the details and we'll publicize it. For bus reservations call (415) 821-6545 or send checks to International Action Center, 2489 Mission Street #24, San Francisco, CA 94110 or come by the office. * * * * * Dear Friends, We stand at a critical crossroads in the fight to save the life of Mumia Abu-Jamal and bring an end to the racist, anti-poor death penalty. In the next five weeks, there will be two mass demonstrations for which we need to mobilize in full force: at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia on August 1, and the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 13. The International Action Center/Millions for Mumia is playing a key role in organizing for these crucial activities. We urgently need your participation and financial support to make the August actions as successful as possible! Please take a few moments to read this letter. On the West Coast, the focus will be on the Los Angeles march and rally, which will take place on Sunday, August 13, the day before the Democratic convention opens. It will be the first of many activities that are scheduled for that week. August 13th will be the main protest supporting a new trial for Mumia and opposing the racist and anti-poor death penalty. While the Republican Bush has executed more than 135 people during his reign as governor of Texas, the Democrat Gore is also a staunch proponent of the death penalty. And presiding over the LA convention will be Ed Rendell, the Democratic Party's national chairman, who was the District Attorney in Philadelphia when Mumia was railroaded onto death row in 1982. As you probably know, the IAC/Millions for Mumia has been going all-out in recent months on these issues. On May 7, we held A Day for Mumia at Madison Square Garden in New York attended by more than 6,000 people; the sold-out event has helped to bring Mumia's case into broader public view. IAC organizer Gloria La Riva spoke about Mumia to over a million Cubans at the May 1st march in Havana, and a campaign has been launched by Cuba to defend Mumia and fight against his execution. There was also a national TV roundtable in Cuba about the cases of Mumia and Shaka Sankofa, in which IAC organizers Gloria Rubac, Gloria La Riva and Monica Moorehead, as well as Pam Africa, Leonard Weinglass and others, participated. On April 15, we held a march against the Prison-Industrial Complex and for Mumia in Washington, D.C., as part of actions against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which the police broke up, arresting 678 people. Between June 16-22, the IAC organized several protests against the execution of Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham) and our New York and San Francisco offices became mobilizing centers against this atrocity. Over 500,000 people visited the IAC website within a matter of days. IAC press releases were used by many activists around the country. The IAC sent activists to Houston and Huntsville, Texas, with thousands of signs and flyers in support of the activists there and to protest against this terrible execution. In New York the IAC organized 1,000 people to protest at the New York Republican Headquarters. In Palo Alto and Los Angeles, IAC activists infiltrated $1,000-per-person Bush fundraisers, raising signs and voices demanding that the execution be stopped, while hundreds more protested outside. These actions received worldwide media coverage, including CNN, ABC, CBS, the New York and L.A Times. More than 50 IAC activists were arrested participating in civil disobedience actions against the execution. Now is the time to intensify the campaign against the death penalty and to demand a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. In recent weeks, there has been more attention and opposition to the death penalty than has been seen in many decades. The Illinois moratorium, the Columbia University study showing that 68% of all death sentences were reversed between 1973-95, and the fierce though tragically unsuccessful struggle to save Shaka Sankofa, have contributed to a major shift in public opinion on the death penalty. In Mumia's case, a federal judge, Stephen Yohn, is currently reviewing Mumia Abu-Jamal's case. Now could be the turning point.Thousands must go to Philadelphia and Los Angeles to support Mumia Abu-Jamaland demand an end to the death penalty. Madison Square Garden, Washington and the struggle to save the life of Shaka Sankofa have seriously depleted the IAC/Millions for Mumia resources. Now, we need to print hundreds of thousands of flyers and posters, send out mass mailings, pay phone bills, and still keep paying our rent. We have organizers -- young and not-so-young -- who are willing to go to Los Angeles and Philadelphia to build the mobilization there. But all this costs money, money we don't presently have. Many of you have contributed in the past. Now we make an urgent appeal TO YOU to send as generous a donation as possible! We can MAKE THE DIFFERENCE with your support. Thanks and we hope to see you in Philadelphia or Los Angeles, Pam Africa Martin Espada Geronimo ji Jaga Ramsey Clark Bishop Thomas Gumbleton Gloria La Riva Monica Moorehead John Parker Luis Talamantez Rev. Lucius Walker Jr. Preston Wood ================================> From: Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 11:24 PM In an historic move, the California Labor Federation - AFL-CIO voted, without dissent, to demand Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal and to support the 'Labor for Mumia' Campaign. At it's Convention in Anaheim, CA on July 18, 2000, California's 'House of Labor' opened the door for the Labor Movement nationally to champion Mumia's case. As noted in the final section of the resolution, reproduced below, the California Labor Federation "forwards this resolution and encourages its adoption by the national Executive Council of the AFL-CIO." In a flyer prepared for the Convention, 'Labor for Mumia' points out, "Among various initiatives, we are launching a mass letter-writing campaign. We will be circulating letters for union members to sign, protesting the planned execution and the continuing denial of Mumia's Constitutional and Civil Rights. We must demand that the Justice Department launch an investigation. 29 separate Constitutional violations have been documented. It shouldn't take 18 years to discover just one, which is sufficient grounds to throw the case out. Refusal to investigate this matter amounts to complicity. The Labor movement cannot afford to sit back or look the other way." "The Labor Movement must continue to champion the struggle against injustice. As we have in the past, we must stand shoulder to shoulder with the African American community in combating racial injustice. This is true even when that injustice is handed down by a white man in a black robe, shrouded by the aura of the criminal justice system." "Please add your name to the campaign. Secure the endorsement of your Union, Council or affiliated organization. Organize a Mumia Awareness Committee in your local. Help us reach out to the ranks of labor to win this struggle for freedom, justice and equality." The resolution was introduced by Walter Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer of the San Francisco Labor Council, who had been one of six honorees the previous evening at the Federations' Banquet. Our literature table was quite busy with delegates stopping by to learn more about the case, and to volunteer their assistance. Many delegates wanting further information picked up the Amnesty International report or a copy of Mumia's latest book. The next meeting of 'Labor for Mumia' in the San Francisco Bay Area will occur this coming Tuesday, July 25 at 7PM in the East Bay. The location hasn't been confirmed, so drop an e-mail for location info. Check out the WebSite at http://www.aspenlinx.com/labor to sign-up and lend a hand. You can also check out a picture of Walter at our literature table, hard at work campaigning for justice. In Solidarity, Randy Christensen Labor for Mumia ___________________________________________________________________ California Labor Honors Mumia & Supports 'Labor for Mumia' Campaign ___________________________________________________________________ Resolution for Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal WHEREAS, Mumia Abu-Jamal is an outstanding African-American journalist and member of the National Writers Union-UAW who campaigned against police abuses and who, with no previous criminal record, has been on Pennsylvania's death row since 1981, convicted of shooting a police officer in a trial in which there was compelling evidence of his innocence and of gross misconduct on the part of the police, prosecutor and judge; and WHEREAS, his execution was stopped only by massive international protests, yet he still faces imminent execution if Federal District Court Justice William Yohn refuses to hear evidence on 29 charges of Constitutional violations, even while new witnesses have come forward and new evidence announced by Rubin Hurricane Carter clearly shows perjury and prosecutorial subornation of perjury; and WHEREAS, despite his life and death need to put his case before the public, Mumia Abu-Jamal showed courageous solidarity with locked out NABET/CWA workers by his refusal to be interviewed by a scab ABC television crew, helping to bring national attention to NABET's just struggle and has also championed the ILWU's bold efforts in solidarity with the Liverpool dockers in regard to the Neptune Jade scab ship ; and WHEREAS, Mumia Abu-Jamal's struggle for a new trial is supported by a broad range of Labor Organizations which stand up for social justice, city governments, organizations such as the NAACP, Amnesty International, American Friends Service Committee and the European Parliament, and by such well known figures as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King III, Alice Walker, Paul Newman, Maya Angelou, Ossie Davis and many others who seek justice and human rights; and WHEREAS ever increasing numbers of people are being freed from death row because of new evidence of innocence that has brought about public (including political) questioning of the fairness of the death penalty; and WHEREAS, should he be executed without a new trial, it would be an affront to all who believe in fairness, and it would be an irreversible, tragic miscarriage of justice and a disgrace to the United States of America as a whole; now THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this Twenty-third Biennial Convention of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO commends Mumia Abu-Jamal for his principled and courageous acts of union solidarity and we continue to take our place alongside those labor organizations who stand up against racism and injustice, demanding justice and a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we call upon Justice Yohn to hear Mumia Abu-Jamal's new evidence and witnesses, and if he refuses, we call upon the President of the United States to intercede and order a new trial; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we support the LABOR FOR MUMIA Campaign urging the entire Organized Labor Movement to educate and organize our members and to bring Organized Labor's Power to bear to assure Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal; and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the California Labor Federation adopts this resolution at it's Convention on July 17-19, 2000, and forwards this resolution and encourages its adoption by the national Executive Council of the AFL-CIO. Adopted - California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO July 18, 2000 - Anaheim, California ==================================> International Concerned Family & Friends of MAJ P.O. Box 19709, Philadelphia, PA 19143 Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6160/ E-mail - icffmaj@aol.com Stop the execution! New trial for Mumia! Youth & Students for Mumia http://www.mumia2000.org