Prison Radio
Mumia Abu-Jamal

On a MOVE. Before you begin, let me ask the question: have you ever looked at children at play? First, you observe their total concentration with an intensity that is all-consuming. Second, you notice their boundless energy as they run, run, run, wrapped in a cocoon of play. What that teaches us is that young people are bundles of energy, both physical and mental. Why is this important to us?

Because our studies reveal that youth are natural conductors of revolutionary energy. Indeed, their very beings are suffused in a revolutionary process of transformation as they change from childhood to adulthood. Revolution bubbles in the very bones of the young, and as they change, they spark change in their environments. Indeed, they give life force to social change.

In science, when molecules speed up movement, this process changes energy into heat. Similarly, when social movements agitate in static societies, they radiate excitement. They bring heat. Heat is the element that creates the conditions for change, for when we cook, we change raw materials into food we can digest. When we work out and exercise, we turn fat into muscle and yes, when we have sex, we bring forth new life. That’s cooking, ain’t it? I think so. Right?

When we struggle, we cook up social change. If we do it hard enough, hot enough, we make revolution. Total social change can be born. The youth make revolution. They always have and always will.

Before I depart, a few words from the great black revolutionary Dr. Frantz Fanon who worked himself to death on behalf of the Algerian Revolution. Now, because I don’t have the texts before me, I must try to recount it from memory. He said, “Every generation must, out of relative obscurity, find their destiny and fulfill it or betray it.” Dr. Frantz Fanon. So think about that. On a MOVE. Long live John Africa. The youth make the revolution.

From imprisoned nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.

These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio.