Intro: On air, online, and in the community, 900AM WURD Philadelphia. This is the Radio Courtroom with attorney Michael Coard.
Michael Coard: Today is the first Wednesday of the month, and you know what that means. Today, Wednesday, August 7, 2013, we have the father, the husband, the author, the journalist, the philosopher, the permanent revolutionary and temporary prison inmate, host of the Radio Prison, a monthly segment of my radio courtroom show. Mumia Abu-Jamal, how are you today?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Fine and fair to middling.
Michael Coard: You know, it’s really funny because I see people on the street and I ask them, “Hey, how are you doing today?” And you know, you get the common response. But when I say that to you, it’s kind of different because I really want to know how you’re doing today. So, it’s great to hear you respond the way you did. And in terms of you responding with me, I’m turning the microphone over to you. I want you to do all the talking about anything you want, but since we’re here on August 7, 2013, I want to go back 35 years and a day to August 8, 1978, and talk about that day. Talk about the MOVE 9. Talk about what’s going on today. In fact, today, Wednesday, August 7, 2013, Ramona Africa is sponsoring an event called Free the MOVE 9 at the Rotunda. I’m going to talk more about the details.
Facility Annoucement: This call is from the state correctional institution at Mahanoy and is subject to monitoring and recording.
Michael Coard: I’m going to talk more about the details later, but join us today at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street at 6 p.m. That’s today. When, 6 p.m. at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street. For more information, call 215-386-1165. Mumia, take us back to August 8, 1978, and talk to us about the battle to free the MOVE 9.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: When I think of August 8, 1978, I actually think of a phrase from the attack on Pearl Harbor, because this was the attack on the MOVE organization by the Philadelphia Police Department. And Philadelphia Police had staged hundreds of cops around their home in Powhatan Village. And I think of that date as a day that shall live in infamy. When you think about Ramona, who herself did 11 years in hell, or in prison, up in Muncie, for daring to survive the attack on MOVE on May 13, 1985; and the fact that she’s still out there trying to gain freedom for her brothers and sisters is one hell of a salute to a soldier, to a revolutionary fighting for her brothers and sisters of August 8, 1978. It is a day that shall live in infamy, or it should be. The real sad truth is that 35 years later, if you talk to young people, even in their 30s and certainly in their 20s, it’s more likely than not that they don’t know what you’re talking about.
Michael Coard: Great point.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Because they didn’t experience, of course, but they have no memory of it, of course, and they haven’t been taught about it. It’s been, in many ways, some of Philadelphia’s vanished history, disappeared history, but it should not be forgotten. That’s why I say it’s a day that should live in infamy. On that day, when the Philadelphia police waged war with the MOVE organization, using all kinds of automatic weapons, they did something that you, as a lawyer, probably have never seen in any other case in the history of Philadelphia, and perhaps Pennsylvania, and indeed national law. Well, first of all, they destroyed the crime scene.
Michael Coard: Yes, yes.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: By nightfall.
Michael Coard: Yes.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: That is unthinkable, right?
Michael Coard: Absolutely.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: For forensic reasons, they destroyed it before nightfall. They charged and convicted nine people: Delbert Africa, Chucky Africa, Janine Africa, Janet Africa, Eddie Africa, Mike Africa, Phil Africa, Merle Africa, and Debbie Africa–fFive brothers and four sisters, and sentenced them to 30 to 100 years for third-degree homicide. Now, putting aside the fact that they are innocent of that charge, even if they were guilty, 30 to 100 years? I mean, you know that there is no other case in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania with that kind of sentence.
Michael Coard: None.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: It has been 35 years, and those brothers and sisters who survived are still in prison and still being given the political shaft by the system. You know the women, they didn’t even have weapons charges, right? So, under law, how could they get the same sentence when they didn’t have the same charges? They have been model prisoners, you know, helping younger sisters up there in Muncie and Cambridge Springs, and they even have received a jail vote for their parole. Well, guess what happens when they go up there? The same old thing. So, politics hasn’t changed in 35 years, and it is a travesty that these brothers and sisters are still in prison. I said that they were innocent. Why would I say that? You know, a lot of people say that. I remember shortly after August 8, 1978, perhaps less than a week, and the trial judge, the “honorable” Edward Malmed, right, was doing a talk show on my old radio station, WWDB, and I called in. I didn’t say who I was, anything. I just called in on a regular phone line. The host picked up the phone and I asked the question and I said, “Who killed the officer who was killed on that day?” This judge said on radio–on radio, “I haven’t the faintest idea”.
Michael Coard: Is that a quote?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: That is a quote. That is what he said. It, it so stunned me that I don’t even think I had a follow up question. Kind of looked at the phone. Damn! You know, they were charged as MOVE members. They were convicted as MOVE members, and they remain in these hellholes because they are MOVE members. And I mean that’s, again, you can say, well, that’s hyperbole or rhetoric, but I can prove it to you. People don’t know that it wasn’t just nine people that were arrested after the police assaulted that house and the people came out. There were about 11 or 12 people, and the other additional people renounced their membership and MOVE, and they were let go. Some weren’t even charged with anything. When have you heard that before?
Michael Coard: Wow!
Mumia Abu-Jamal: I bet you’ll say never.
Michael Coard: Never, ever.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: That’s a fact. And so, you know, when we talk about the police assault on MOVE on August 8, 1978, it should be a day that shall live in infamy. And if we build a movement, we can remember them and also reward them by working for their freedom. You know, until that becomes a reality.
Michael Coard: Now, Mumia, you say working for their freedom. What does that mean? What does that mean to the man on the street, the woman on the street, the boy and the girl on the street? Apart from attending the Free the MOVE 9 event taking place tonight, Wednesday, August 7, 2013, at 6 p.m. at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street. What can the average person do to help free the MOVE 9?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Well, I would urge them to attend that event where they will meet and hopefully listen to, closely, Ramona Africa, herself a veteran of the May 13, 1985, bombing of MOVE’s home in Southwest Philly. But what it means in practical terms is to support their petition for parole. These people have passed their minimum. Okay, I think it was, and I’m sure you’ll agree as a lawyer who studied the law and practiced the law for quite a few years, I think 30 to 100 years was at the very least an illegal sentence.
Michael Coard: Yes, sir.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: But assuming even that to be so, they have now been in prison for 35 years as of today, August 7, 2013. So, they passed their minimums. They are model prisoners. Anybody else, if it was not the political hand of the local Philadelphia Police Department, they’d have been out and gone. They would have been freed, but for they are members of the MOVE Organization, that they believe in the teachings of the MOVE Organization and John Africa. But you know, I know what people have read in the paper, especially people of your age and my age. But to know them is to admire them and love them.
Michael Coard: Yes, sir.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: And they’re good people. I mean, I say that with no hesitation. They are good, decent people and anyone who knows them will say as much but, again, we’re dealing with politics, and you know, the power of politics to influence law. Need I say more?
Michael Coard: Speaking of politics, and certainly speaking of law, let me play the devil’s advocate, and I literally mean the devil’s advocate. Well, if these folks are up for parole; if these MOVE 9 members are up for parole, and of course we’re including Merle because we want her name cleared as well. What do you say, Mumia, to those who say, “Well, in order to get parole, you know the rules. You got to come in and show some remorse. You got to say, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again, and let me go'”. What’s your response to that, Mumia?
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Well, you know, I have talked to several MOVE members who’ve talked about you know what their parole situation was, and you know there are people who said, “Well, will you leave your children?” And you know, like leave Philadelphia, leave your children. And one brother said, you know, “What kind of man would leave his children? You’re asking me to leave my children? That’s, that’s just crazy”. And again, none of the women were charged with weapons charges.
Michael Coard: Great point.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: So, you know, what are they supposed to say? You know, “We won’t—
Facility Announcement: This call is from the state correctional institution at Mahanoy and is subject to monitoring and recording.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: “We won’t do it again,” when they did nothing? They had no weapons. They had no weapons. “We won’t allow you to shoot at us anymore.” Y’know, also, remember this, I mean, there was a case that came out of Washington D.C. about fifteen years ago. And of course, there’s been recent cases to that effect. There is a right to, y’know, be armed in America.
Michael Coard: No doubt.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: It is a robust right.
Michael Coard: Yes.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: A personal right.
Michael Coard: Yes.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: It is in fact, a constitutional right, the Second Amendment, right? But, you and I know that when it comes to Black people, they’re like, “NI$$r , please”.
Michael Coard: Yes, yes.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: In real historical terms, the modern so-called arms movement began with the formation of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California, in October 1966, and shortly thereafter. After they were patrolling the streets and protecting the community, well, there was a movement in the State House of California to change the law, but the party had a demonstration right there on the floor of the Capitol building in Sacramento.
Michael Coard: Yes.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: And shortly thereafter, that law was changed.
Michael Coard: Yes.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: And it was changed because, you know, when you talk about Second Amendment rights, no one really thinks about the right of Black people to defend themselves. That was never in the law. That was one of the reasons why they waged the war of repression against Black people for over a century, certainly in the South, but in other parts of this country, you know. And one last thing: no one ever says that, that Trayvon Martin had the right to stand his ground. Why not? So, you know we live in this world, and yes, it’s enough for me to say that they’re good people. But you know, and yes, you can play the devil’s advocate. But I assure you, the devil needs no advocate [inaudible] Philadelphia court.
Michael Coard: Well said, Mumia, and I really appreciate how you laid out that argument regarding the whole parole issue. In fact, I’m—
Facility Announcement: 50 seconds remaining.
Michael Coard: I’m going to use that in connection with application parole for some of my clients. In that last few seconds Mumia, talk a little bit about Delbert Africa and the brutal beating he sustained on videotape, and how the cops got away with attempted murder in that.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: Let me say this: I watched that trial. I covered that trial. It was the most remarkable trial I’ve seen in many a day, because there was a videotape and it was shown to the courtroom, and it was a Black reporter working for a local TV station.
Facility Announcement: You have 30 seconds remaining.
Mumia Abu-Jamal: She got up and said, “I don’t care what the videotape says. I saw a bayonet in Dell’s [inaudible], so ignore the videotape.” The judge threw out the charges [against the police] and he gave what’s called a directed verdict of acquittal, so it can never be appealed. And it’s, it’s you know again, new law when it comes to the MOVE organization.
Michael Coard: Well said, Mumia Abu-Jamal. Thank you very much. That was the end of a very short conversation, and it’s always short when we talk to Mumia Abu-Jamal. We want it to last longer, but we’ll take what we can get. Thank you, brother Mumia Abu-Jamal. Today, Wednesday, August 7, 2013, and please don’t forget, join Ramona Africa and the rest of us today in our efforts to free the MOVE Nine today at 6 p.m. Wednesday, August seven, 2013, at the Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street. For more information, call Ramona Africa 215-386-1165, 215-386-1165 and free Mumia Abu-Jamal
Outro: and the Radio Prison. That’s right, Mumia Abu-Jamal on the first Wednesday of each month on the radio courtroom with attorney Michael Coard on air online and in the community 900AM WURD Philadelphia.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
