Free Mumia
Mumia Abu Jamal was a reporter and a social justice activist in the 1960s and a member of the Black Panther Party. He was accused of murdering a police officer and is currently in death row.
Story from Death Row
Part 1
In response to the Free Breakfast program, 16 year old Jamal said, “The Black Panther Party is doing what the churches should be”
Part 2
Listen to the story at 4:00 min. It shows the ironies of what was going on at the time. In response to the Panthers, I think that they were needed at the time; today the Party is a little extreme. MLK Jr. was a great leader but the balance between his pacifism and the Panther's Black Power was much needed in response to the police brutality that continued on for years.
Part 3
This video is my favorite of the three. It explains some of the events that took place in regard to the trial. It is hard to argue that the jury was not racist and it is hard to argue against the eye witness accounts.
After looking a bit at these videos, what do you think? Did you know about Mumia before now? I knew the name and what he represents to black activists today, but did not know much about the story. Did he do it? What would it mean if he was set free? I did a 15 page report on the art of the Black Panthers a few years ago but would like to go back and look at their social programs (that were the "job of the church").
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