Sonali Kolhatkar: In a follow-up to our story this May about the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal being heard by the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, we present an interview today with the man himself. Abu-Jamal has been in prison for over two decades for the murder of Daniel Faulkner, a white police officer in Philadelphia. He enjoys widespread support among grassroots groups in the U.S. and internationally. He’s written several books, including Live from Death Row, Death Blossoms, and We Want Freedom. Abu-Jamal also regularly records radio commentaries through Prison Radio, which you hear often on Uprising and other Pacifica programs. I recently had the opportunity to present him with a series of questions through radio producer Noel Hanrahan, who runs Prison Radio. Mumia recorded his answers to my questions via telephone from prison. Here is an edited version of our conversation.
Sonali Kolhatkar: I’d like to start by asking you to reflect briefly on one aspect of your achievements in prison, specifically the radio commentaries. What impact has writing and recording the commentaries had on your life?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: It has allowed me to respond to the events in our lives and to become a voice of affirmation that is missing in the mass corporate press. It has affirmed me both politically and professionally as one who speaks truth to power.
Sonali Kolhatkar: You recently recorded a lengthy commentary about rap for the recent U.S. Social Forum. What is your opinion of hip hop as a means of social expression for youth? And do you think that seasoned activists appreciate enough the importance of hip hop?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Hip hop is a powerful form of social expression for youth, but one wonders what’s being expressed? While youth may be masters of the art form, they aren’t masters of content. Thus, this form has been in many ways hijacked to serve corporate interests above communal interests. I don’t think seasoned activists – I guess that’s polite for geezers like me – really appreciate hip hop’s importance, which is interesting, ‘cuz capitalism has latched onto it to sell everything from cars to swimming pools. It’s the soundtrack for millions of young folks. Years ago, the Black Panther Party used some of its more talented members to form bands to try to put out the message. While they didn’t threaten the careers of the Temptations or Aretha Franklin, they did touch folks in ways that newspapers didn’t. Movement folks need to scoop up or even train younger folks to use their skills for movement purposes.
Sonali Kolhatkar: Recently, you filed a commentary about women’s tennis based on Venus Williams’ Wimbledon win. It stood out from your usual political commentaries on foreign and domestic policy. Are you a tennis fan? And what motivated you to write it?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: I am a tennis fan. Well, a women’s tennis fan. This is my second piece on Venus Williams. What she did was truly remarkable, not just in the world of tennis, but in the world of sports. I recently did a piece on Barry Bonds, and while I’m hardly a baseball fan, sports is a central issue in the lives and fantasies of millions. It shouldn’t be ignored by political folks. Our social and political lives are usually deeply linked to the sports world.
Sonali Kolhatkar: How is your role as a journalist influenced by your status as an imprisoned person?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: This is one hell of a beat, and it’s one that most media seriously ignores. Over 2 million folks in prison, and media studiously ignores it. Why? Most folks know what they think they know about prisons from shows like Oz. Most prisoners look at those shows, and almost die, laughing.
Sonali Kolhatkar: The corporate media has been mostly silent on your case, especially recently, regarding this latest hearing. When they do cover it, they commonly refer to you “convicted cop killer.” Yet your support internationally continues to burgeon. Do you attribute this to the power of independent media?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: I think indie media is obviously important, but also, since the war, millions of folks have learned in ways that are undeniable that the corporate media doesn’t tell the truth, even when it comes to the most important issues facing a nation: war and peace. Now, if that’s the case, when it comes to war, what about everyday issues of social justice?
Sonali Kolhatkar: Regarding the various books that you’ve published over the years, what role has book writing played in your ability to express yourself to the outside world? And are you working on any new books?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Books are flights of freedom, and perhaps one of the last free media around. I’m writing about jailhouse lawyers, truly an unknown breed, who’ve helped many folks find freedom or a touch of civil rights.
Sonali Kolhatkar: You have faced the death penalty for many years, and in the U.S., there has been a sort of love-hate relationship with this method of punishment. Despite some recent high-profile executions, like that of Tookie Williams, there seems to be a waning of support for the death penalty, particularly with some states considering banning it. Are you optimistic that Americans may be starting to reject the death penalty?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: For many folks, there’s a great deal of ambivalence on the death penalty, and I think the events in Illinois a few years ago, and other cases—
Facility recording: This call is from the State Correctional Institution at Green.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: — like the Duke rape case, causes folks to question the state [8B] because it’s time, it’s the right thing to do. Public support is always important.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: I thank you for your time and your interest, and I thank those listeners who are my supporters for their loving support. On the move. Long live John Africa.
Sonali Kolhatkar: And that is a conversation that I had with Mumia Abu-Jamal. I recently presented him with a series of questions through producer Noel Hanrahan, who runs Prison Radio. Mumia recorded his answers to my questions via telephone, and we just heard an edited version of our Q and A. By the way, Mumia’s radio commentaries are available online at prisonradio.org.
Sonali Kolhatkar: I want to turn next to the comments made by folks who attended his hearing at the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Hans Bennett is a journalist based in Philadelphia. He’s also the co-founder of Journalists for Mumia. He attended the May 18 Third Circuit Court of Appeals hearing of Mumia’s case, and the hearing was attended by many high-profile supporters of Mumia Abu-Jamal. In the moments after the hearing ended, Hans Bennett interviewed Ward Churchill, Ramona Africa, and visiting German parliamentarian Volker Ratzman.
Hans Bennett: So, we just got out of the court room. What are your reflections from what we just saw?
Ward Churchill: Well, it’s clearly established that there is a pattern, or reasonably there was a pattern, of racial discrimination in jury selection in his case, and that’s sufficient to remand for a trial, and there’s nothing radical about what’s being pursued here. Mumia Abu-Jamal, as a human being—and we need go no further than that—is fully entitled to a trial by jury of peers, availing himself of due process, has not had that thus far. Okay. Take it back, give him the trial. If he’s convicted, then he goes to prison, alright. But he hasn’t had that, and he’s already been to prison. So, there it is. If you believe in justice at all, that there is a scintilla of justice in this system rather than it works in a mechanistic fashion to rationalize certain results, if you believe in justice, then you got to be supporting that. I’m very hopeful of it. I think the judges got that. If they actually adhere to the threshold that’s established in law, that there just has to be a substantive appearance of the discrimination, then you take it back and you afford the man due process, and you try him, on the facts, and allow a jury of peers, not tainted by prosecutorial manipulation, [to] determine the right and the wrong of it. That’s it. I think we’re there.
Hans Bennett: So, I’m here with Ramona Africa. We just got out of the courtroom, and what do you, what do you think about what we saw there today?
Ramona Africa: Well, in terms of the courtroom, if you ask me, it was pretty uneventful, because those judges know all the legal arguments, and there was nothing earth-shattering or new coming from either side, really. But the bottom line is, they know Mumia’s innocent, and the evidence that they have, the information that they hold, is more than enough to, you know, justify releasing Mumia. What I’m impressed with is the people that have come here and supported Mumia, making a clear showing that people are still watching, still on the case, that Mumia’s support has not dwindled, and to me that’s important, because people came from France, from Germany, from all over this country, and that’s the kind of thing that puts pressure on these officials when they see that people are watching, especially other countries. So, that to me is the most important thing. All that legal mumbo jumbo in the courtroom, you know, you just have to wait and see how the judges rule, because they can sit there and look very attentive and appear to be leaning toward the defense and all of that, but it doesn’t mean anything. They come back with a decision completely opposite, you know, so we just have to wait and see what they do, but to me the most impressive part of today is these people that have come from all over for Mumia.
Hans Bennett: Okay. Thanks, Ramona.
Volker Ratzman: My name is Volker Ratzman. I’m a defense lawyer from Berlin, and I’m member of the State Parliament of Berlin for the Green Party. I’m the chairman of the Green Caucus in the Parliament.
Hans Bennett: We just got out of the courtroom. What are your thoughts on what we saw inside there?
Volker Ratzman: For a German defense lawyer, it’s always ridiculous that a court is dealing about the life of a man. So, you know, in Germany, death penalty is forbidden, and it was the U.S. that forced Germany in 1945 to abolish death penalty, so for us it’s not bearable that the state who behaves themselves as the watch state for human rights goes to death penalty in the courtroom in the name of law, and for this is always a very, very strange feeling for us. I think my feeling was that, the court really had questioned the District Attorney very, very hard, and I hope, I really hope that they will give a new trial to Mumia, that he can come free soon.
Hans Bennett: Thank you.
Sonali Kolhatkar: And that was the voice of German parliamentarian Volker Ratzman. Before him we heard Ramona Africa, and before that, Ward Churchill speaking to journalist Hans Bennett, who is the co-founder of Journalists for Mumia.
These commentaries are produced by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
