MLK III supports Mumia and The MOVE 9 political prisoners

MLK III supports Mumia and The MOVE 9 political prisoners
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In the latter (censored) part of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's life, he specifically argued that: “The evils of capitalism and militarism are as great as the evils of racism.” At the time of his assassination he was attempting “to bring the social change movements through from their early and now inadequate protest phase to a stage of massive, active, nonviolent resistance to the evils of…a system where some people live in superfluous, inordinate wealth while others live in abject, deadening poverty.” King was very openly questioning the effectiveness of past tactics for Black liberation. Shortly before his assassination, he declared: “For years I labored with the idea of reforming the existing institutions…, a little change here, a little change there. Now I feel quite differently. I think you’ve got to have a reconstruction of the whole society.”
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What happened to him when he took this principled stand? The US president and the political establishment condemned him, and they were joined by The NAACP and Urban League "civil rights groups". Yet, these same folks today have twisted his message, and claim to have been his ally! What a disgrace!
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However, King's son has continued the radical tradition, offering public support to political prisoners like Mumia and The MOVE 9. Along with King III's statements check out the recent documentary on MOVE (narrated by Howard Zinn) and the Dec. 6 Today Show on Mumia:
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MOVE COMMEMORATION RALLY
STATEMENT BY MARTIN LUTHER KING, III
May 8, 1999
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"Freedom only comes through persistent agitation, through persistent rising up against the system of evil."
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Those words were true when first spoken by my father, Martin Luther king Jr., and they are true today. They were true in 1965 when massive protest force passage of the Voting Rights Act and they are true today as we struggle to protect erosion of those rights. They were true, and indeed served as a foundation, for many SCLC and other civil rights campaigns for human dignity, justice and equity and they are true today as we persist in fighting the evil systems that continue to engulf us.
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The words spoken by my father were true in the early seventies when the MOVE organization was founded to stop industry from poisoning the air,water, soil and put an end to enslavement of life. They are true today as MOVE and others struggle to free those who have been unjustly incarcerated for holding steadfast to their beliefs.
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My father's words that, "Freedom only comes through persistent agitation, through persistent rising up", were true in 1982 when Mumia Abu Jamal was unjustly convicted for the death of a Philadelphia policeman because he dared to use national air-waves to agitate for the rights of MOVE and for racial and economic justice. They are true today as we continue to fight for his freedom.
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The words my father spoke were true when SCLC stood up for the rights of such political prisoners as Angela Davis, JoAnn Little, Ben Chavis, Nelson Mandela, and Mumia Abu-Jamal. They are true today as SCLC stands in solidarity with MOVE in commemorating the abhorrent 1985 bombing of the MOVE organization and fights for the release of nine MOVE members who remain unjustly incarcerated on 30-100 year sentences.
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We live in a society shrouded in hypocrisy, a nation that expects its children to abhor violence but takes every opportunity to promote the "might is right" philosophy. We preach and advocate and even legislate peaceful conflict resolution and the right to peaceful protest but in our national policy, our military policy, our police militarization policy and more, we practice, promote, and commend violence and adherence to the dictates of the privileged few. Martin Luther King Jr was prophetic and profound when he said, nearly 35 years ago, "I can never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in ghettos, without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today... my own government".
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While we promote the notion throughout the world that America's system of justice in colorblind, we live with the reality that racism is inherent in every single facet of our criminal justice system. From excessive and abusive police force, unwarranted stops and arrest, selective arrests, selective and unjustified prosecutions, all white or majority white juries, biased judges, children being treated as adults, mandatory minimum sentencing, to discriminatory application of the death penalty - the Black community bears the brunt of this system in far, far greater population than our percentages in the population.
Enough is enough.
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From the aerial bombing of MOVE to the unjust incarceration of MOVE members, Mumia Abu-Jamal and countless others; to the unjustified and unpunished killings and beatings of people of color; to the "blue mentality" pervading police forces across the country that rewards brutal behavior; to the increasing incidents of police abuse and harassment of even white Americans, we understand the need to continue and remain steadfast in our struggle for freedom. Martin Luther King, Jr.'journey began in Montgomery with civil rights and ended in Memphis with human rights. SCLC's current support of human rights around the world is consistent with our support of the rights of MOVE.
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Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Remarks by Martin Luther King III, President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference International Committee to Save the Life of Mumia Abu-Jamal, January 12, 2000
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Conscience compels me to unite with Nelson Mandela, Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbelton, elected representatives of the European Parliament, the Congressional Black Caucus, Amnesty International, Harry Belafonte, Paul Newman, Ossie Davis, Danny Glover, Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu, and millions of others around the globe to fight for the life of our brother in "the struggle," Mumia Abu-Jamal.
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SCLC's commitment to justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal, dates back over a decade. We thank God for the energy of Ralph Schoenman, our board member Dick Gregory, and others, who have made today's international witness a reality.
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First of all, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference we are unequivocally opposed to capital punishment. The conductors of the evil system of injustice made Abu-Jamal a political prisoner and now they have planned his execution. As "consciousness-raising members" of the global society, we cannot afford to sit back and let an innocent man die.
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The world must know that the judge purposely withheld "crucial evidence" from Abu-Jamal's case. Experts say this evidence alone could have brought an acquittal. We can no longer afford to allow bias in the criminal justice system to continue.
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We must stand by Abu-Jamal's side just as we stood by the sides of Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Ben Chavis, and Joann Little.
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I do not believe it is incidental that I find myself protesting for the life of this innocent man, one month after my family and I received the verdict from a multicultural jury that said my father's assassination was part of a conspiracy. Martin Luther King, Jr. was brutally murdered because he spoke out against social injustices.
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Today, almost thirty-three years after he was killed, we must unite together in the name of justice to stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a young man who was respected in the community for reporting stories about economic and social injustices.
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My family was able to find out who killed my father because my brother, Dexter never gave up. He persevered in his search for the truth and our family let our faith sustain us until we found out who killed my father.
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We must come together as a family in the spirit of my father who said, "the arc of the universe is long but is bent towards justice," and never give up until we save the life of our brother, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
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Americans should know that the world is watching to see if she will do the right thing. Under the system of government dictated by our Constitution, the judicial system is the final repository of public power. It should be held inviolate from racism and other prejudices, which plague our society. We demand that all those with the power to intervene do so now in the name of justice"-do so now in the name of all that America holds, claims to hold, true and fair"-do so now in the name of humanity"-do so now, in the name of all those who have already died to force America to live up to its motto of liberty and justice for all"