A young mother, her infant dozing in the back seat, drives a car down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, where she meets a forest of barricades. And seconds later, over half a dozen cops, pistols drawn, shouting and pointing guns at her. Perhaps she panics, and follows her instincts. She puts the car in reverse, rolls back a few feet, and tries to drive away. In seconds, the vehicle is Swiss-cheesed with bullets, and a young woman is dead. Miraculously, the child is unharmed.
Before the smoke cleared, news accounts tell of an exchange of gunfire and a shootout in DC. In fact, the 30-four year old woman was unarmed. Miriam Carey of Connecticut, who reportedly suffered from postpartum depression, was killed by DC police. Media reports are often unreliable shortly after such events, given confusion, and more often, the one-sided reports provided by police. Later, media accounts painted the woman as psychotic. Assuming she was, is mental illness treated by semiautomatic gunfire? Some cure.
Modern American life is stressful, especially given the financial and social pressures faced by millions. Capitalism, as in the ruthlessness of dog-eat-dog, exacerbates that stress. Perhaps these stresses overwhelmed a young mother who couldn’t get a grip, perhaps. But the cops didn’t solve these problems. They merely created another one for a child who is now motherless, and a family without a sister, a daughter, or a loved one. From in prison nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.
