National Conference Strategizes to Free Mumia
by Debbie Lang

May 2001
Volume 38, No. 4

"Mumia's been in that cell almost 20 years now. It is time for us to free him. I want to point out that we are not without the evidence, we are not without the support, we are not without anything that we need to free Mumia. We must unite. Those people who believe that the death penalty is wrong must unite with us. People who believe that Mumia deserves a new trial must unite with us. People who know damn well that Mumia deserves to be on the street with us right now, we've gotta take to the streets like we've never taken to them before." This was the message spoken by Pam Africa of International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal at the National Conference: Freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal.

For two days, hundreds gathered at the First Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. for a weekend of events in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Participants in the National Conference: Freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal The Power of the People is Ona Move came from all over the east coast and from Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, France and Germany.

Close to 300 attended a Friday night "Freedom Rally" where dozens of speakers and performers with many different political viewpoints spoke out on Mumia's behalf. The Saturday organizing conference developed an action plan to build the movement to halt the government's plan to murder Mumia and to free him from prison.

In a message to the conference, Mumia pointed to the spirited resistance in Seattle: "What many of you are here for is to learn or teach how to do our work better. We're here to share our views, to find our way figuring out what works. There are many and various strategies to answer that question, but I think one that we must pay strict attention to is the Seattle experience, on the front lines of the popular rebellion against WTO. This anti-globalist fervor shows the common interests of students, of anti-imperialists, of human rights activists and labor. What the movement demonstrated is the power of mass mobilization and the ability of people to derail something that was previously seen and feared as inevitable."

Damu Smith of Greenpeace USA said: "We're here tonight to make clear to the powers that be-those who want to execute our brother, those who want to execute hundreds of others who are living their lives barely on the death rows of America, those who are determined to extinguish the flame of freedom-we tonight must make clear in this house that that absolutely will not and cannot happen as long as we stand together in this movement.

Sam Jordan, the former Director of Amnesty International's Program to Abolish the Death Penalty, emceed the events. He pointed to some of the reasons why people have been released from death row and the importance of this for Mumia's case: "Uncorroborated or falsely reported confessions; the deliberate mishandling, destruction of evidence removed from the crime scene; very active judicial bias in the courtroom; excessive use of preemptory challenges, particularly African-American prospective jurors; prosecutorial misconduct, including withholding evidence that would exculpate, that would free the person charged; the use of snitch testimony; misidentification of persons at the crime scene.... All these factors are present in Mumia's case. Why don't we then help the rest of the country draw the same conclusion, that if there are 95 persons who've been released from death row due to these factors, Mumia should be number 96?"

The breadth, diversity and determination of those who took part in the conference showed the potential for such a movement. There were a number of people at the conference whose main concern is the death penalty: Bill Simons, former President of the D.C. chapter of the American Federation of Teachers, called for a new trial for Mumia; Bill Ryan, Illinois Coalition To Abolish the Death Penalty, spoke in favor of getting rid of the death penalty; and Rachel King from the ACLU pointed to the Department of Justice study showing racial and geographic disparities in the use of the federal death penalty.

Darby Tillis, recently released from death row, brought his powerful experience to the battle: "I spent nine years, one month and 17 days on death row for a crime I did not commit. I was tried five times, supposedly more than anyone in the history of the United States. I was charged with a crime that I didn't commit after refusing $5,000 as a reward to implicate myself and cooperate in a lie. The death penalty is revenge and hate. Killing does not prove killing is wrong. It's racial, it's biased and it's prejudiced. We have to continue to work hard to free Mumia. We must work hard and we must work fast. The death penalty is too final. It's dead wrong."

The conference developed a number of plans to build the movement. Some of the major actions agreed upon for the next period include mobilizing to fill the streets of Philadelphia on "Day X"-the day of Mumia's hearing in federal court; an international day of protest on May 12; a May 11-13 youth encampment at City Hall in Philadelphia; a demonstration and international delegation at the UN on June 23. There are also plans in Europe to mobilize for a meeting in France on June 21-23 during which the European Parliament will discuss calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.

The Refuse & Resist! Youth Network also announced it is organizing its seventh annual Philadelphia Freedom Summer Project in Philadelphia.

Debbie Lang is with Refuse and Resist! in New York.