From: Mark Clement <MClement@bruderhof.com>
Their Press - Their Media
[col. writ. 8/24/99] © 1999 Mumia Aub-Jamal
...[N]o country was ever ruled by so mean a class of tyrants
as, with a few noble exceptions, are the editors of the periodical press in
this country. And as they live and rule only by their servility, and
appealing to their worst, and not the better nature of man, the people who
read them are in the condition of the dog that returns to his vomit. --
Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and other Essays (1849)
The media is the agency through which millions of minds are formed
in our world today. How folks see the world, and how they perceive how
lives are led, is mediated through the lens and the newspapers of capital.
In the past, media was largely the tool of capital. Today, they are
capital; subsidiaries of some of the largest and wealthiest conglomerates of
corporate power in the world. With the powerful concentration of media
corporations taking place today, more and more such entities are coming
under the control of fewer and fewer individuals. The "mass" media is fast
becoming a tool of powerfully amassed capital.
As long ago as 1947, Henry Luce, founder of Time, Life, and Fortune
magazines, commissioned a report on the press, which brought out the
following:
The Press: wields enormous power for its own ends;
propagates its own opinions at the expense of opposing views; allows
advertisers to dictate editorial content; resists social change; prefers the
superficial and sensational; endangers public morals; invades privacy; is
dominated by one socioeconomic class; and interferes with the open
marketplace of ideas [Imprimis (28/7): July 1999, pp. 2,3].
Although the extraordinary findings of the report caused considerable
consternation and disturbance, little has changed in the ensuing five
decades. Indeed, things are far worse now-this is the age of Media power.
It determines what the subject of public debate is in society. It
determines the limits of social discourse. It determines the limits of
social rage.
It sees what it wants to see; it ignores what it wants to ignore. And as a
power unto itself, it guides and corrals social and political activity, by
channeling public attention in ways that the rulers dictate and allow.
This can perhaps best be seen in the most deadly role played by the media:
the demonization game. It utilizes the propaganda tactics of repetition and
volume to determine who is the enemy of the day: Saddam Hussein or Muammar
Khaddafi? Slobadan Milosevich or Farah Muhammad Aidid?
America, a nation born, forged, and reborn in the horrors of war, loves
nothing more than a new enemy (It is fitting to remember that the bloodiest,
deadliest war was the war between the states-the Civil War, with over
600,000 casualties!). It is imperative that a new enemy be found, for the
military-industrial-complex needs such things to insure its continuous
profit from the death business.
This marketing of America's enemies ensures the militarization of America,
the wealthiest nation on Earth, and the continuing repression of much of the
third World under American imperial power. There are forces in America that
truly wept when the Soviets ceased to be a factor in world affairs.
When international enemies cease to serve their function, the media insures
that we have domestic enemies. In the 1960s, it was the Black Panther
Party; in the 1970s it was the Black Liberation Army; in the 1980s it was
MOVE; and in the 1990s it is the poor, the homeless, the maliciously named
"underclass." New enemies, newly minted others upon whom the guns, and
weapons of the rulers can be mobilized and readied.
In such a social construct, there is no "us"; there is no "we"; there are
only THEM. Who does the pointing, the subtle targeting, the social
distinction-making? That is the role of the media, who do not actually
mediate between free so-called "citizens", but mediates on behalf of the
wealthy; those who own the media, and those who consume their products. In
such a media-generated consumer culture, everything-everything-is just
another commodity. A thing to be packaged, to be sold, and to serve their
interest.
What is urgently needed is a new People's Media; a Labor-oriented,
human-centered, popular media, that examines and projects from the position
of the many, not the few. That day is not here. But it must be coming.
©1999 maj
============================>
From: Kcamm23063@aol.com
Greetings Brothers and Sisters:
I am not saying this to offend anyone, I am saying it out of sheer
desperation. The "Free Mumia" movement is not only about Mumia Abu Jamal,
it is also about the unjust legal system in this country and trickery in the
media, as well as all other political prisoners. I was not going to say
this, but I feel I must. Across this country, and around the world, there
are more non-Black folks out there in the forefront than Blacks concerning
this matter. This is also noticeable in other issues concerning justice
for Africans worldwide. I know all of you care about issues that concern us,
but no one is going to hear you if you are not up front. Mumia will stand a
better chance of getting a federal trial if Africans worldwide take a
stance and show their faces. Please, I implore you to get your schools,
churches, youth groups, and any other organization, as well as individuals,
involved.
Be advised that September 19 through 26 is Free Mumia Week! However, you
don't have to wait until that time, if you are African, Free Mumia Week
should be everyday.
Karen
============================>
From: mumia911@mumia911.org
htpp://www.mumia.org
For immediate release:
VISUAL ARTISTS IN NEW YORK CITY JOIN IN "MUMIA 911"
CULTURAL MOBILIZATION
THE NATIONAL DAY OF ART TO STOP THE EXECUTION OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
SEPTEMBER 11, 1999
On September 11, 1999, visual artists will join artists from every arena of
the arts in an unusual and historic effort to use their art to voice
opposition to the execution of award-winning journalist and political
dissident, Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Mumia’s case will go into the federal courts by October 31, 1999, and he
could face execution within the next year. The movement to stop Mumia’s
execution and win him a new, fair trial is growing internationally. Artists
have been at the forefront of attempts to counteract a rash of misinformation
on the case. On September 11, artists will stage concerts, art exhibits,
theater events, festivals, radio and TV appearances.
Fifteen galleries from New York City are showing a diverse group of artists
for Mumia 911. From the established to the experimental, the New York art
scene is opening its doors to stop this execution. At a time in the art world
when it is hard to locate or define a center or direction and the
multicultural
trends of the 80s have been called into question, these exhibits may stand as
a harbinger of things to come. These shows indicate that many artists care
deeply about the society around them, they yearn for a more just world, and
will create a culture of resistance to help realize their vision.
The Mumia 911 exhibits bring some of this country’s most renowned artists
together with representatives of the cutting edge of the New York art scene.
While a number of participating artists have long been associated with
politically charged work, others are contributing whose work might not be
labeled "political" but who feel a need to use their art to say "no" to this
execution. A compelling mix in dangerous times.
Galleries participating include: George Adams, Martinez Gallery, P.P.O.W.,
Rush Arts, Art in General, White Columns, Taller Boricua, Gallery 1199,
Printed
Matter, Brecht Forum, Bronx River Art Center & Gallery, ABC No Rio, Smack
Melon,
Bullet Space and Printed Matter. Artists include Leon Golub, Fred Wilson,
Carrie
Mae Weems, Coco 144, Laurie Simmons, Laurie Anderson, Renée Cox, Kiki Smith,
Juan Sanchez, Benny Andrews, Bill Viola, Betye Saar and dozens more.
Hundreds of artists have signed the "Call for the Day of Art" including
musicians Jackson Browne, The Roots, Rage Against the Machine, Chuck D, Pete
Seeger, and Everlast. Writers such as Adrienne Rich, Alice Walker, Sonia
Sanchez,
and Ntozake Shange have signed the Call. Theater and film artists include
Ossie
Davis, Edward Asner, Susan Sarandon, Peter Sellars, and Danny Hoch.
Over 80 arts events are planned nationwide for the "Day of Art" on September
11. Some highlights: NYC will host two hip-hop shows, Gil Scott-Heron will
play the Knitting Factory and several other clubs will hold Mumia 911
concerts.
A major spoken word event will take place at Nuyorican Poets Cafe featuring
Jessica Care More, Sarah Jones, Sharrif Simmons and many more. An all-day
festival entitled "Artspeaks" will take place in Los Angeles, featuring
Ozomatli, Blackalicious, Jurassic 5, Cut Chemist, Oscar Browne Jr., and more.
A reading of Mumia’s works will be held with Edward Asner, Susan Anspach, Ed
Begley Jr., John Randolph, Haskell Wexler, Henry Gibson, Max Gail and many
more. There will be a free concert in San Francisco featuring Michael Franti
with members of Spearhead, Digital Underground and The Coup.
Additional events are planned for Chicago, Minneapolis, New Mexico, North
Carolina, Virginia, Maine, New Hampshire, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin and many
other cities.
Contact: Jessica Blank, 212 766 1356
=========================================>
SOLIDARITY IN MALTA
From: "moviment graffitti" <movgraff@hotmail.com>
Moviment Graffitti and YMCA (Valletta - Malta) shall be organizing a 3 day
solidarity campaign for Abu Mumia Jamal, between September 24th and 26th, at
the YMCA premises in Valetta.
The activities shall include: Arts festival (theatre, music, poetry,
etc...), a Music Party, and a Flier Campaign. All proceeds shall be donated
towards your Mumia solidarity campaign.
!hasta la victoria siempre!
Michael Briguglio
General Secretary
Moviment Graffitti
============================>
SAMPLE LETTER TO F.O.P. BOYCOTT TURNED "HONOR ROLL"
Dear Mr. Gallegos and all members of the Fraternal Order of Police,
Please honor me by placing my name on your HONOR ROLL - the list of those
people you intend to boycott because they believe in FREEDOM and JUSTICE and
support Mumia Abu-Jamal. This will be one of the highest honors ever
bestowed upon me and one which I will be proud of and will share with my
friends, along with the suggestion that they also request this honor.
I believe in Mumia Abu-Jamal's innocence and that he never received a fair
trial - a right guaranteed by the United States Constitution. His trial was
a travesty of justice and a mockery of the Constitution. If you truly want
justice for Danny Faulkner I do not believe that you will find it by having
Mumia executed - if you truly want justice for Danny Faulkner join us in
calling for a new and fair trial. If you are so sure that Mumia is guilty
then why are you afraid of giving him a new trial? What are you trying to
hide?
Sincerely,
Name .........................
Address .......................
The FOP e-mail address is: natlfop@wizard.net
=========================>
From: "Raphael Cohen" <rcohen6@po-box.mcgill.ca>
To: <natlfop@wizard.net>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 1999 14:29:33 -0400
Mr. Richardson,
In your recent letter to Fred and Debbie Anderson, owners and operators of
Magic Crafts, you touched upon several issues regarding the case of Mumia
Abu-Jamal that I feel deserve some reviewing.
First off, you seemed to suggest Mr. and Mrs. Anderson's lack of full
knowledge regarding the case by rather presumptuously asking if they were
aware of Mr. Abu-Jamal's so-called "hearings" for a new trial in 1995, 1996,
and 1997. You questioned whether they, in their capacities, had informed
others of this fact.
Mr. Richardson, in your own capacity, did you bother informing this couple
that, under Pennsylvania law, the original trial judge must hear all post
conviction motions? Did you bother mentioning that, as such, the Honorable
Albert Sabo, the same man who has put more people on Death Row than any
other sitting judge in America, and the same judge who has admitted to being
a member of the Fraternal Order of Police for several years, was thus put to
the task of "reviewing" Mr. Abu-Jamal's motions for a new trial?
Furthermore, did you, Mr. Richardson, bother mentioning that six former
Philadelphia prosecutors have sworn in court documents that no accused
individual could receive a fair trial in Judge Sabo's courtroom?
All of these questions lead me into my next basic point regarding your
letter to the revolutionary Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. In that flawed and
intensely disturbing piece of writing, you claim that the Fraternal Order of
Police believes "very strongly that he [Mumia Abu-Jamal] did receive a fair
trial in 1982," and that there is no real reason to grant him another. If
the above mentioned inclinations of Judge Sabo are not enough, what about
the fact that eleven preemptory challenges were used to knock almost all
blacks off the jury in the original trial? Not even the illusion of a "jury
of one's peers" was present. And what about the fact that Mr. Abu-Jamal's
original lawyer, Mr. Anthony Jackson, interviewed not a single witness in
preparation for the 1982 trial? What about the fact that Mr. Jackson has
since come forward claiming that he did not properly prepare for the case?
What about the fact that the defense investigator quit before the trial even
began, because the measly funds allocated by the court were already
exhausted? What about the fact that neither a ballistics expert nor a
pathologist was hired because of these insufficient funds? What about the
fact that Mr. Abu-Jamal was not only stripped of his constitutional right to
defend himself, but was also barred from having John Africa in the courtroom
to assist in his defense?
Are these reasons not enough to suggest the necessity of a new trial, or
must I bring forth the obvious evidence of December 9, 1981, to further
prove this point? I think I'll leave that to Mr. Leonard Weinglass, Mumia
Abu-Jamal's competent and compassionate attorney, for he is far better
schooled in trekking through your politricks so as to pave the path to truth
in a legally-oriented language. I am but a college student, you see, and
though I've studied this case for several years, I am not a lawyer. Even if
I was, though, would you not still turn your head in the opposite direction?
A third point I wish to address is your claim that "Mr. Abu-Jamal's
journalistic career ended in 1978, when he was fired from a black-oriented
radio station for preaching radical politics and revolution through
violence." Evidently, you've not done your homework very well. Mr.
Abu-Jamal's journalistic career is still alive and well, flourishing in
fact, despite the prison bars he finds himself behind. His weekly columns
can be found at www.mumia.org -- that can be your first stop on the road to
enlightenment. Also, Mr. Abu-Jamal did not, nor does he, preach revolution
through violence. He discusses revolution through righteousness, both in
spirit and action. May I ask you what is so "radical" about that? I
presume this term was chosen only only because such positive values and
ideals are foreign to you. Please do not assume, however, that this is
equally true for the thousands, if not millions, who support this man. Such
an assumption would be a shortsighted one.
Finally, I would like to ask how you can possibly claim that the media is on
Mr. Abu-Jamal's side. While, as you note, "the amount of disinformation" is
indeed considerable, it certainly is not in favor of Mr. Abu-Jamal. I need
only point to ABC News's recent "20/20" piece, aired on national television
last December, and Vanity Fair magazine's recent article, put forth last
month, as evidence of all the warped and one-sided bullshit organizations
such as your's are putting forth via the mass media. Working alongside the
big business elites who own and operate mass media, YOU are the ones
attempting to spread lies across the conscience of this continent. Well,
let me be crystal clear in saying that these games will not slow us down one
bit. If anything, your organization's lack of honesty, and initiation of
more and more anti-Mumia programs, will only add fuel to our already blazing
fire. Mr Richardson, please understand that the truth must prevail.
Feel free to share this letter with your colleagues. I myself am attaching
a copy to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, so as to show my solidarity, and compliment
them on their courage.
If you wish to contact me, please do so at rcohen6@po-box.mcgill.ca
That's McGill, as in the university, not the racist prosecutor of the same
name who helped put Mr. Abu-Jamal on Death Row almost twenty years ago.
Let's try not to confuse the two.
On the move, and long live Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Sincerely,
Raphael Cohen
=====================>
From: "Anna Weekes" <samwu@wn.apc.org>
from this week's Green Left Weekly newspaper....
Song for Mumia
By Peter Hicks and Geoff Francis
The African-American journalist, broadcaster and political activist Mumia
Abu-Jamal is on death row in the US after being framed for the murder of a
Philadelphia policeman. This song, which we wrote for the September 11
international day of action for justice for Mumia, has its own tune but also
fits well to the tune of Woody Guthrie's song “Sacco and Vanzetti”.
Mumia Abu-Jamal Was Framed
There's a man on death row in the frame,
Mumia is his chosen name,
If you want to know what he's in there for
It's 'cos there ain't no justice in the law.
They say he gunned a policeman down,
Right there in Philadelphia town.
A fair trial would have cleared his name,
But fairness never was their game.
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed,
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed,
It's clearer than the dawn that turns the night time into day,
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed.
Corruption and brutality,
He'd laid it bare for all to see,
And so the cops went after him,
And made up more tales than the brothers Grimm.
With intimidation, threats and bribes,
Mumia's face was in their sights
I guess you might believe them right
If night was day and day was night.
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed ...
What about four pairs of eyes
Whose recollections turned to lies?
What about the mystery man,
With the smoking gun seen in his hand?
What about that racist judge
And the jury rigged to bay for blood?
And what about the evidence
That was not allowed for the defence?
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed ...
What about the three now dead
Who faked the words Mumia said?
What about two bullets switched
The ballistic evidence then ditched?
What about those secret files
Where Mumia's good name was reviled?
Just who was behind this plan
To crucify a decent man?
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed ...
Whoever has a need to fight,
Mumia's right there at your side,
Many know him as a friend,
Through his microphone and his fountain pen.
And whenever there's a cause that's fair
Be sure Mumia's always there,
Where people cry for liberty
Mumia's voice will always be.
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed,
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed,
We'll not give up this struggle 'til justice has been paid,
Mumia Abu-Jamal was framed.
For a free MP3 version to download, visit
http://www.trump.net.au/~glazfolk/songs/mumiaf.htm.
For more information, check out http://www.mumia911.org/.
=================================>
IT'S TIME TO PICK UP THE PACE!
International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
P.O. Box 19709 - Philadelphia, PA 19143
Ph: 215-476-8812 / Fax: 215-476-7551
Web: www.mumia.org / E-mail: mumia@webcom.com
MUMIA MUST LIVE!