Steven Bingham: Good evening. So, I’m also here just to greet you, just for a couple of minutes, but I wanted to very quickly draw a connection between George Jackson and Mumia that some of you may not have thought about. Mumia, aside from everything else you’ve learned about him, was an organizer, and still is, inside the prison. And he was honored by the Guild [National Lawyers Guild] for many, many years as the Vice President, Jailhouse Lawyer. And one of his skills was lawyering for other people, not just thinking about his own situation. And as many of you know, that came to real fruition when, through his efforts and others, 4,800 prisoners in Pennsylvania were finally given expensive medication for hepatitis, which is- (applause)- which is now a movement sweeping the country.
Well, what many of you may not know is that George Jackson also was an organizer. I refer to him sometimes as a Rosa Parks of the California prison system, because he was — he integrated the TV room where all the Blacks had to sit in the back, and had eight guards taken out. And the reason I met him was because he wanted to bring a civil lawsuit against the administration for the conditions under which the people were being held inmates at San Quentin; a lawsuit which eventually was done successfully. So, both of them share that in common that they are inside the most unbelievable conditions, and yet they think not just about themselves, but they think about their fellow inmates. And in the case of Mumia, he thinks about people far outside the prison as well. So, I’m proud to be here as a past president of the Guild Chapter and listen to the incredible speeches we’re going to hear in a few minutes. Thank you.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
