: >From: "C. Clark Kissinger" <cck1@earthlink.net>
: >
: >The Battle for Mumia and the Attack on the Black Community
: >Analysis: Racist Agendas in the Attack on the Black United Fund
: >Revolutionary Worker #1014, July 18, 1999
: >
: >This May the Philadelphia power structure launched a massive attack on a
: >major Black charity. The city government abruptly cut off participation of
: >the Black United Fund of Pennsylvania (BUF/PA) in the Combined
: >Campaign--where voluntary payroll deductions of city workers go to certain
: >charities. This exclusion endangered the survival of BUF/PA and threatened
: >many associated charities serving the African-American community.
: >The cause of the attack? The BUF/PA provides "fiscal sponsorship of
: >donor-advised funds" for the legal defense fund of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the
: >International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia (ICF&F). This means that
: >people who donate to Mumia's defense or to ICF&F can write a check to BUF/PA
: >and BUF/PA will cash the check and monitor how it is spent. BUF/PA does this
: >for a fee and provides the same service to many other groups. But this was
: >too much for Philadelphia's power elite. In the words of Philadelphia Mayor
: >Ed Rendell (who was the District Attorney when Mumia Abu-Jamal was
: >convicted): "You can be a mail drop for Mumia or you can participate in the
: >Combined Campaign. You don't get both."
: >The message couldn't be clearer to the Black United Fund of PA: "Do what we
: >say, now--or die."
: >The openly high-handed white supremacist character of the whole thing is
: >shocking. But it is in step with the history of brutal attacks on Black
: >people in Philadelphia. This is the city which bombed the MOVE house in
: >1985, killing 11 Black people and incinerating an entire Black neighborhood;
: >the city that elevated an openly racist cop, Frank Rizzo, to mayor; the city
: >infamous for its midnight raids on the Black Panthers in the '60s; the city
: >whose current DA was called the "Queen of Death" by the New York Times for
: >filling the state's death row with people of color. Now this same power
: >structure is at it again, dictating to a Black charity what perfectly legal
: >things it may and may not do in the Black community.
: >BUF/PA has fought back. They've appealed the city decision, restated their
: >commitment to the fiscal sponsorship, and rallied support. Thomas Paine
: >Cronin, president of AFSCME D.C. Council 47, spoke at a press conference
: >called in support of BUF/PA: "I think once you begin to cut off segments of
: >the Combined Campaign such as the Black United Fund, or threaten them, that
: >is a significant threat to the entire community.... Let's rip off the veil
: >of racism here because it's a thin veil of racism."
: >State Representative James Roebuck, president of the Pennsylvania State
: >Legislative Black Caucus added: "If we allow this to happen to this
: >organization, then every organization in turn is placed in jeopardy.... I
: >stand firm with my colleagues in saying that this should not, this cannot
: >happen."
: >Behind the Attack on BUF/PA
: >The attack on BUF/PA fits a pattern. Let's say the rock group Rage Against
: >the Machine does a benefit concert for Mumia's legal defense, or teachers in
: >Oakland plan lessons on his case, or students at Evergreen State University
: >ask him to address (by tape) their graduation ceremonies. Immediately they
: >find themselves besieged by a deafening media din distorting their positions
: >and forcing them to justify themselves.
: >The attack on BUF/PA went a few steps further still. For one thing, BUF/PA
: >has not taken a position on Mumia's case; they provide a routine, but
: >essential, service that enables Mumia to pursue his legal case and ICF&F to
: >carry out educational activities and mobilization in his behalf. For
: >another, the city has used its considerable financial and political leverage
: >to put the very survival of the BUF/PA in doubt. The power structure clearly
: >intends to exact a high price from anyone who dares to step out for Mumia,
: >and, in keeping with all of American history, a higher price still from
: >Black organizations and individuals.
: >Those who come under attack for stepping out must be backed up, and the
: >attacks upon them turned into boomerangs. We cannot fail to do that and
: >still hope to win.
: >The attack on BUF/PA makes clear the high stakes involved in stepping out
: >for Mumia.
: >But there are still higher stakes for not stepping out.
: >The Agendas Behind Executing Mumia:
: >Silence a Critic, Destroy a Symbol
: >Why are the powers-that-be putting so much into carrying through the
: >execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal? Why are they attempting to silence any who
: >dare question it? Why, in the particular case of BUF, are they attempting to
: >destroy an organization that enables those struggling against this railroad
: >to function?
: >Several related agendas drive the offensive to kill Mumia Abu-Jamal, and the
: >first concerns their hatred for Mumia and what he has come to represent.
: >Mumia is a living link between the spirit of the 1960s and the youth of the
: >'90s. Youth of different classes and all nationalities increasingly see and
: >cherish Mumia as someone who questioned, exposed and resisted the status
: >quo, someone who never gave up or turned back or lost faith, even in the
: >face of death. No wonder students want him to give their commencement
: >address! Older folks see that too, and when they hear about how his case
: >went down, it smells like all the other railroads they remember from "back
: >in the Day."
: >Moreover, Mumia is not just a living reminder of the corruption and racism
: >of the judicial system, he is one of its most articulate and courageous
: >critics! For millions worldwide, Mumia's case represents the barbarism of a
: >country that dares to style itself the "champion of human rights."
: >Finally, for the poor and oppressed, Mumia is a revolutionary who has never
: >given up. He rarely focuses on his own case or his 18 cruel years on death
: >row; much more often, he exposes or comments on the many other injustices
: >that show, from different angles, the utter corruption and worthlessness of
: >the status quo. He upholds the right of the people to fundamentally overturn
: >this system and to put a more just system in its place. For all this, he is
: >precious to those on the bottom, someone who must be defended.
: >Simply put, this is intolerable to those who rule America. At a time of
: >rising inequality and brutality, at a time of renewed stirrings of
: >resistance, they intend to literally bury Mumia and everything he represents
: >in a coffin.
: >The White Supremacy Agenda
: >At the same time, Mumia's case connects to a larger agenda directed against
: >the African-American people.
: >During the last 20 years this government has locked up in prison what seems
: >like an entire generation of young Black men, as well as increasing numbers
: >of women. It has instituted (and justified) "racially profiled" traffic
: >stops from the major highways and city streets to every lonely country
: >road--stops which almost always mean abuse and often end in police murders.
: >We've witnessed the wholesale reversal of the anti-discrimination reforms of
: >the 1960s and '70s, and the simultaneous insertion of former welfare
: >recipients (who are disproportionately people of color) into the low-wage
: >dead-end jobs fueling America's "recovery." And we are forced to hear the
: >soundtrack for it every day in the crude stereotypes and straight-up
: >ignorance pervading everything from the TV news and radio talk shows and top
: >movies to the bestseller lists and political campaigns.
: >This agenda obviously goes way beyond Mumia. As we've documented and
: >analyzed elsewhere, this all-round resurgent racism has been driven by deep
: >changes in the U.S. and global economy. Severe political and social
: >dislocations have resulted from these changes--with a potential for great
: >upheaval. As one part of their answer to this, the power structure have
: >buttressed their institutions of white supremacy and refitted them for the
: >new millennium.
: >Over the years the case of Mumia has developed into a flashpoint, an extreme
: >concentration of what tens of millions people of color face every day
: >because of this agenda (and the underlying societal relations this agenda
: >reinforces.)
: >The Divide-and-Conquer Agenda
: >There is yet one more agenda at work here. The white power structure in this
: >country has historically attempted to isolate Black revolutionaries and
: >radicals like Mumia from those political forces in the Black community who
: >are not revolutionary. They tried to do this with the Black Panther Party;
: >with Malcolm X; with Paul Robeson and W.E.B. Dubois; and with countless
: >others. With Mumia, they've tried to do this by portraying it as a "simple
: >case of a cop-killer and a widow's search for justice"--acting as if the
: >specific racial politics that saturate Mumia's railroad and sentencing don't
: >even exist, and covering over or denying the links to bigger social
: >questions. And they've increasingly backed this up with threats and
: >reprisals, a la the attack on BUF/PA.
: >Sometimes the power structure will give "advice" to Black political forces
: >that they should stay away from Mumia's case so that "whites won't be
: >alienated from the `just demands' of the Black masses." And they'll demand
: >that other political and cultural figures either denounce the radicals or,
: >at minimum, distance themselves from them. In the case of BUF/PA, the
: >politicians and editorial writers lathered their attack with crocodile tears
: >for "worthy Black charities" and promises of restoring the money--if only
: >BUF/PA would drop Mumia. Both Philadelphia daily papers have gone so far as
: >to claim that attention to Mumia's case was somehow hurting the other people
: >on death row--as if these papers have ever done anything to expose
: >Philadelphia's atrocious record for putting people of color onto death row.
: >There is a name for this tactic: divide-and-conquer.
: >But when has this sort of distancing or division ever led to anything
: >positive for the masses of Black people? Think again about the deportation
: >of Marcus Garvey, the exile of Dubois, the silencing of Robeson, the purging
: >of Black radicals and communists from the trade unions and civil rights
: >organizations in the '40s and '50s, the persecution of Robert F. Williams,
: >the censorship of SNCC at the 1963 March on Washington and 1964 Democratic
: >convention*, the hounding and assassination of Malcolm X, and the ferocious
: >assault against the Black Panther Party. Think--again--about the bombing of
: >the MOVE house in 1985, with its murder of 11 innocent people and the
: >subsequent incineration of an entire Black neighborhood. Has any of this
: >ever somehow helped the masses, or strengthened the struggle? Indeed, just
: >the opposite was the case. To the extent the divide-and-conquer tactics
: >surrounding these outrages succeeded, they weakened the ability of the Black
: >people to mount a united fight against oppression.
: >The Stakes for Black People
: >There are important stakes in Mumia's case for every single person in the
: >world who's concerned with justice--and everyone who wants to end the
: >discrimination and oppression of Black people.
: >What would it mean for the entire Black community in the U.S. if the
: >government were to succeed in executing Mumia?
: >It would mean that it is legally and morally okay to execute a Black man in
: >America despite the systematic exclusion of Black jurors from his jury and
: >despite the presiding judge's record of sending more people to death row
: >than any judge in the country--all but two of them people of color.
: >It would mean that it is legally and morally okay to execute a Black man in
: >America even though the prosecution used his earlier political statements
: >and associations as arguments for his death. (Meanwhile, the death sentence
: >of a white neo-Nazi has been reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court because his
: >views had been made known to the jury before sentencing.)
: >It would mean that a Black journalist who had exposed police abuse against
: >the Black community, a journalist who had drawn open threats from the racist
: >mayor Frank Rizzo, a journalist who himself had never even been arrested
: >before, can be convicted and executed on the basis of cooked-up confessions
: >and coerced testimony, and that no court will allow a review of the
: >"evidence" against him.
: >It would mean that the 80 people rescued from death row in recent years by
: >new evidence mean nothing, and that the new evidence in the most famous and
: >disputed case of all will not even be given another day in court--even
: >though people around the world are aware of and protesting against the
: >injustice involved.
: >And make no mistake. Today the media does all it can to keep Mumia and his
: >supporters silent--unless it is to misrepresent and slander them. However,
: >if they are able to succeed in executing him, then they will send out the
: >message loud and clear. They will turn his murder by the state into a
: >celebration of their power to take revenge for what they consider the most
: >heinous crime of all: the defiance of the first line of white supremacy--the
: >police force--by a Black man.
: >What effect would such an execution have on the millions of Black children,
: >teenagers, and college students? What message would this send them about
: >their futures and their fates? What would it say to a young person who wants
: >to serve the community, to a student who wants to become a journalist to
: >expose poverty and discrimination, or to an ordinary person who wants to
: >speak out about an abuse?
: >These questions answer themselves: we cannot afford such a message. Nor can
: >we afford to lose someone who's emerged from death row to become a true
: >hero. The execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal MUST be prevented. A different
: >message must be sent.
: >In order to have a hope of preventing this execution, there needs to be
: >massive mobilization and struggle from every corner of the U.S. and far
: >beyond. Everyone who professes to be for justice needs to step out and stand
: >up--to refuse to be intimidated. And a key part of this will be the
: >involvement of an extremely broad spectrum of the Black community at a very
: >deep level.
: >Think about it: the current level of support for Mumia has already forced
: >his would-be killers somewhat onto the defensive. They are lashing out, but
: >this vicious frenzy does not come from a position of calm confidence. As the
: >saying goes: a stuck pig squeals. But we've hardly begun to plumb the wells
: >of potential support and activism, including in the Black community. The
: >people CAN win this--but it's going to take an effort not seen in
: >generations.
: >Black political forces with very different agendas can see a common interest
: >in this one particular demand: Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal--STOP THE
: >EXECUTION. Radicals and liberals, moderates and revolutionaries, people of
: >all religions and no religion, nationalists and communists and those working
: >within the system, can all share the same platform to demand that this
: >travesty of a verdict be thrown out of court. Folks with different agendas
: >and even opposed points of view can work together with mutual respect and
: >good faith. There are too many bitter lessons when it hasn't happened.
: >The good news is that this IS starting to happen. The recent April 24
: >demonstrations in Philadelphia and San Francisco were the biggest yet by
: >far, and had the largest turnout yet from the Black community. Militant
: >nationalists mobilized in force and lent an important edge to the
: >demonstration. There was a high turnout from Philly's Black community, with
: >a flurry of meetings, teach-ins, statements, and other shows of community
: >support that went into the 24th. Prominent artists and activists like Ossie
: >Davis, Dick Gregory, Kathleen Cleaver, Geronimo ji Jaga and many others
: >represented. Black activists and officials from human rights organizations
: >like Amnesty International, Center for Constitutional Rights, the American
: >Friends Service Committee and many others spoke from the platform. And a
: >statement of support from the Congressional Black Caucus added a new, and
: >very necessary, dimension. More recently on the July 4 weekend,
: >Congressional representative Chaka Fattah from Philadelphia, Bennie G.
: >Thompson from Mississippi, and Cynthia A. McKinney from Georgia demanded a
: >new trial for Mumia. And Ron Daniels, the Executive Director of the Center
: >for Constitutional Rights, publicly called on Jesse Jackson to meet with
: >Leonard Weinglass, the lead counsel of Mumia's legal team, and
: >representatives of International Concerned Family and Friends, "to discuss
: >ways and means of intensifying the struggle for a new trial for Mumia."
: >But the breadth and depth of support there is not yet sufficient to win.
: >Much much more is needed. We are going to have to strain every nerve and
: >muscle to prevent Mumia's execution. No political figure or community
: >institution can afford to sit on the sidelines. Everyone must step up their
: >commitment and effort.
: >Victory is never guaranteed; to paraphrase Frederick Douglass, you may not
: >win everything you fight for, but you will most surely fight for everything
: >you win. This battle to win justice for one more Black revolutionary
: >unjustly railroaded--and this time sentenced to death!--demands the most
: >powerful unified fight that can be mounted.
: >Will we inaugurate the 21st century with the execution of a Black
: >revolutionary, convicted in a racist proceeding? Or will we stamp it with a
: >new major victory in the struggle for emancipation? That's the question of
: >the hour. In the words of Ossie Davis, "Every generation should have a moral
: >assignment... and one of ours must be justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal."
: >* These incidents were part of what led to SNCC's decisive break in 1966
: >with any white ruling class control.
: >
: >This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
: ><http://www.mcs.net/~rwor>
: >Write: Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654
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