May 12 March for Mumia Abu-Jamal

On May 12, 2001, there will be a march to free Mumia Abu-Jamal in San Francisco. We assemble at Dolores Park at 18th and Dolores at 10:30 a.m. and march to the Civic Center at Polk and Grove for a rally at 1 p.m. Mumia Abu-Jamal is a world-renowned award-winning journalist framed on a charge of killing a cop in 1981 and currently sits on Pennsylvania's death row.

His case has become a major issue in the growing anti-death penalty movement in this country, the only major industrialized country that regularly promotes the death penalty, a vicious torture weapon of the ruling class against the workingclass, and especially against the non-white workingclass in this racist society. Mumia's case was a political frame-up as Mumia had been an outstanding journalist exposing the police brutality in Philadelphia and had been active with the Black Panther Party at the age of 15. For 19 years he has sat on death row, locked in a cell 23 hours per day, denied contact visits with his family, had his confidential legal mail illegally opened by prison authorities, and put into punitive detention for writing his book, "Live from Death Row."

It is urgent that everyone attend this march and rally as Mumia now has very few options and only mass pressure will save his life.

Mumia's political perspective remains clear and concise, as the many columns he writes for various newspapers demonstrate. He has also written many books exposing the prison and judicial system for being no different from Nazi Germany. For some of his articles, see: http://www.freemumia.org/articles.html

His sense of labor solidarity also remains strong. When asked to speak to ABC-TV regarding his case at the time their workers were on strike, he refused to do so, stating that he would not cross a picketline.

As to the forces on the wrong side, the hypocritical Democratic Party, which always needs and receives black votes to win but never delivers the goods and services to the workingclass black community or any other workingclass community, stands out as one of the worst opponents of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Its current national chair, Ed Rendell, was the district attorney who framed Mumia Abu-Jamal.

The one party that is always actively part of organizing the California demonstrations for Mumia is Peace & Freedom Party, a socialist workingclass party on whose ticket many Black Panthers ran for office. If you wish to be a member of such a party that always opposes the death penalty and defends outstanding workingclass leaders like Mumia Abu-Jamal, just check "Other" on your voter registration form and write in Peace & Freedom Party. For more information, see http://www.peaceandfreedom.org