Mumia Abu-Jamal Supporters Rise Up with March, Rally and Ritual in Oakland

Photos by: David Rowland, ProBonoPhoto.org. Please credit the photographer.

Mumia Abu-Jamal has been called "the world's best-known death row inmate." He was convicted of killing a white Philadelphia police officer in 1981 and sentenced to death. It was only after many appeals that his death penalty sentence was overturned by a Federal court and it was not until 2012 that he was released from death row and entered the general prison population.

At events on April 24th, activists recalled the history of the Black Panthers, in which Mumia was active. They marched, rallied, and gathered in front of significant locations. In mid-afternoon, a Holy Ground Ceremony with High Priestess Luisah Teish and Fredrika Newton, Huey Newton's widow, was held at Center and Huey Newton Streets.

Protesters said that in Mumia's case witness tampering and police corruption led to his conviction and the only cure for Mumia, who recently suffered from COVID and has heart problems, is freedom.

On April 20, a group of UN human rights experts expressed serious concerns over his treatment and wellbeing saying he has reportedly been shackled to his hospital bed, denied visits from his family and access to lawyers. They called on authorities to urgently address racial discrimination as well as the medical treatment of prisoners in Pennsylvania, particularly in the case of older prisoners like Mumia who have been disproportionately affected by COVID.