Securing Freedom and Protecting Mumia

Greetings!

“Tell Mumia we love him!” We hear this sentiment expressed by people all over the world.

Our challenge over the past months has been to put our revolutionary love — for Mumia, for justice, for the human rights of all prisoners, into action.

It has been a dramatic summer on many fronts. From genocide in the Middle East to increasing repression at home. Solidarity is the antidote. From Martinique to the gates of Mahanoy it is proved again and again, that when people come together, we change the world.

Protecting Mumia’s Vision

Many of you know that Mumia Abu-Jamal has been struggling with diminishing eyesight. For eight long months, since January 2025, he was forced to cultivate his inner vision and prophetic insight, while experiencing outer blindness.

Mumia’s eyesight dramatically worsened in the winter. In February he reported his condition to chronic care clinics and at multiple appointments on site at the prison which promised relief. He filed grievances and sent notes to doctors at SCI Mahanoy. His PhD advisor wrote to the prison superintendent asking for accommodations so that he could continue working. He demanded ADA accomodations. He received promises in reply, and no action.

Courageous demonstrators confront prison officials at SCI Mahanoy, Aug. 30th

Noel Hanrahan, Esq. of Prison Radio helps prepare grievances, retrieving and reviewing medical records and demanding appropriate diagnosis of his conditions and care. After months of legal and political pressure from people around the world and a demonstration by organizers outside SCI Mahanoy Mumia is able to see, after having the simple post-cataracts surgery on September 2nd, 2025, that he could have received in January 2025. Yet, he is not out of danger for blindness based on a number of conditions.

The Campaign to Prevent Blindness is Not Over

Our outside expert ophthalmologist has confirmed that without further treatment for diabetic retinopathy, Mumia could still experience permanent vision loss. Mumia does not have diabetes but in 2015 he had a steroid induced diabetic crisis. Steroids used to treat his severe eczema associated with his active Hep C caused him to go into renal failure when the prison failed to test his already noted high blood sugar for two months. This was a temporary diabetic incident. Mumia was cured of Hep C after the Abolitionist Law Center filed a lawsuit on Mumia Abu-Jamal’s behalf and secured a preliminary injunction ordering care. This was the first such court order in the country for treatment of prisoners with the fast-acting anti-viral cure for Hep C.

Activism Works

The Phone-in Zap Campaign, the demonstration at the gates of SCI Mahanoy, and the legal work to hold the prison system accountable contributed to the restoration of his eyesight. However, continued pressure is necessary! Get involved because freedom is truly the only cure. In prison, health issues compound because care is scarce and medical needs are buried under bureaucracy and administrative neglect. This most recent challenge underscores the medical abuse and elder abuse that so many unprotected and vulnerable people in prison experience at the hands of the prison system.

Though Mumia’s outer sight is endangered, his insight remains as clear as ever. He tells us,

“What we need is a new medical model because what we have is really in the service of capital, not in the service of the health needs of prisoners. And as long as capital rules then people will suffer and profits will be made — vast profits.”

Since 1992, Prison Radio has been on the forefront of responding to every medical challenge Mumia has experienced. We know that fighting for Mumia’s eyesight means we are fighting for the right to healthcare for all imprisoned people. For example, the court case initiated for Mumia’s right to receive Hep C treatment resulted in the potential for all prisoners to receive the lifesaving medication. A win for Mumia is a win for all. We call this the “Mumia Effect.”

International Solidarity Is Key

In addition to confronting a hostile prison health care system, we have also been building bridges abroad. This year we went to Martinique, Ireland, England, Switzerland, Germany, and France in order to strategize and plan with our international partners. In Geneva we attended and networked at the United Nations’ Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement, building international connections. Mumia was invited by Mireille Fanon Mendès-France and the Fanon Foundation to co-chair the 100th anniversary events throughout 2025. In July we traveled to Martinique to attend the ‘Fanon at 100’ conference put on by the Caribbean Philosophical Association. As some of you know Mumia Abu-Jamal is completing his doctoral dissertation on the revolutionary thinker, Frantz Fanon an Afro-Martinican psychiatrist and philosopher.

This is the path we are on. Freedom is in our future. Join us, jump on board, give us another push, be an inspiration, donate time money and prayers. It is going to take it all to bring this freedom train home!

Thank you for your company!

With Love, not Phear

Jennifer Black, Director of Political Education

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PO Box 411074, San Francisco, CA 94141

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