Mumia Abu Jamal
...can come for refuge from tyranny. Here, people are not judged by their color, but by who they are. Too
bad it isn't true, for what you are about to read will contradict everything that America is supposed to be.
Mumia Abu Jamal, a former Philadelphia journalist, was put through an unfair and biased trial, then
convicted of murdering a Philadelphia cop in 1982, and has been on death row since. And here is his
story.
"My name is Mumia Abu-Jamal ... I've been on death row since July of 1982 - in fact, I've been
on several death rows in Pennsylvania, in the United States of America. Despite my penal status I'm
a writer, a journalist, a columnist, and a professional revolutionary." -- Mumia Abu-Jamal (Wideman 107)
Born 24 April 1954 Wesley Cook, Mumia Abu-Jamal, author, journalist and inmate of death row, is
one of America's most powerful outspoken voices against injustice. Seen by the State as a dangerous
revolutionary who must be silenced, he has been incarcerated for the last seventeen years. (West 2)
Mumia Abu-Jamal was born in Philadelphia where he grew up. The name Mumia was given in High
School, when he took an African name for his Swahili studies. The Arabic, Abu-Jamal, meaning Father of
Jamal, came later. (West 5)
Mumia's first introduction to politics was in his teens when he and a few friends attended a George
Wallace presidential rally. They shouted slogans and raised their fists in a black power salute. To their relief
they were thrown out, but their relief was short lived when they were set upon outside by a gang of white
thugs. Rescue seemed at hand when the police were spotted, but their 'rescuers' joined in the assault,
kicking and beating. Mumia was kicked in the face. (West 13)
Mumia became a founding member of the Black Panther Party in...
View Full Essay
