Another good article, thank you.
This article hits home to a lot of people within my age group who grew up in an activist- like community. I remember going to philly for the free Mumia marches when I was in high school, and college. I even organized a few of them. Back then I believed that what was being done was wrong. I felt that the justice system gave him the finger and that he should be released.
That was then and this is now…
Though I remain an activst, my outlook on life has changed through out the years as my feelings towards many things including the mumia case. The fact is he killed a man cop whateva he killed someone and should be punished. I don’t believe in the deth penalty it cost more money to punish someone with it then keeping them in jail.
In to be very honest his death will be memorable and an ignite for change in the justice system in Philly. In my opinion as long as mumia is alive there will be no change, and the gov’t will not give in to that and admit they were ” being racist” after he dies wheter it be by death penalty or time they are more likely to.

I agreee with highbridNation there is nothing that can be done about Mumia now a lot of people and organizations have realized that thus why they noise has decreased through out the year. Why not do something about the kids being shot with in the streets or how to prevent the next mumia from happening. As a community we are not preemptive we are reactive, only repsonse when something goes wrong.

I don’t think if Mumia is MURDERED it would do a damn thing. 2pac, Biggie and the 9-11 died but what came from any of it? Nothing. 2pac was doing a 90 degree turnabout with his music and movement when he was murdered but I think if he lived and changed his music nobody would care who 2pac was today. People like the bad guy. Biggie was about to go POP so his career was about to change completely. These two people dying did nothing for my community, the kids around my way didn’t think “damn maybe I need to make a change because I don’t want to wild out and end up like them”. And I don’t want to talk about the 9-11 dudes cause we as of yet done anything about that situation.
Tookie Williams was in the same boat as Mumia and they MURDERED him and my community didn’t care. Mumia isn’t known by any youth where I live or do any of them read or watch the news.
Alive Mumia has been a big influence on youth in the prison system and people like me. We need him alive and we need the hiphop artist, ministers and black leaders of today to step up.. This is Barack’s big change to show and prove for me. Is he willing to take that much heat and form an opinion about the situation it would make me happy. I don’t care if he goes either way but I want to see how he can handle the pressure of such a opinionated topic.

Boo Bee, thanks for the love. I hope that you will continue to visit Highbrid Nation. I will agree with your comments that Mumia has a profound impact in jail among the inmates but we as my good friend LYPHE state need to start adopting a more preventive mindset.

We need to start concentrating our focus on keeping the children from becoming inmates, getting them to pay attention to the realities of Mumia, Tookie, Nikki Cruz and the like.

There is something positive that can rise out of all their stories however we do also need to teach responsibility. Responsibility for your actions. Kids in MY community of Bed-Sty brooklyn think they can run up in the liquor store hold it up, get caught and some how blame the system. We can blame society for circumstance not for our actions.

I’m sure Mumia is an excellent man. Never met him personally but I think until we learn to use the voice of the living to affect the living, our children will only be impacted by those that have died.

Peace.

I would like to see Black people recognize, organize, and focus on the issues of concern to our community on a regular basis. If people in general,not just Black people, took the approach of I am a part of a community and as a member I am responsible for myself and others we may actually begin to see change for the better. You wrote, “But in the meantime, as I travel the streets of Bed-Sty, Brooklyn, I see so many troubled and misguided youth destined for a future like Mumia minus the voices asking for his release. I wish that we spoke up for them.” I have the same wish. So many look out for self and are fearful of others. We exist together and should always remember that what happens to one effects all. And love not fear is what allows us to coexist.

I really have no idea whether Mumia Abu-Jamal is guilty or not, but I find it hard to believe the same system which found him guilty is going to find grounds by which to change its mind. He’s not going to be sentenced to death, but he is going to be in prison for life. It’s very sad, considering the level of corruption in the trials will always prevent us from knowing for sure whether he killed Daniel Faulkner.

I recently took a deep look into the Mumia case and posted an essay at my site, and I was left confused by the case and concerned for our society. We are too quick to condemn. We have a system we can’t trust. We have a polarized society regarding power, race, and the law.

But we have also made Mumia into an unwarranted martyr. To do so oversimplifies the situation.