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Mumia Abu-Jamal: doing the movement's work from Death Row by Selma James When Niki Adams (Legal Action for Women London) and I visited Mumia a couple of months ago, we knew him by reputation only: ex-Black Panther who had remained a movement fighter despite having been a political prisoner since 1981. We weren't allowed to bring anything in, no books, videos, photographs, after-shave lotion. A relatively minor but infuriating restriction. There was a glass barrier between us and him, but it couldn't hide a handsome energetic person with a big smile. It was clear even before we talked that he had kept himself together. And we did talk with never a lapse for want of something to say. The three hours we had was much too short. Besides, they give you notice about a half hour before you have to leave him, and you fight the desperation of the impending departure, trying to keep it visit time rather than wasting thirty minutes in a long goodbye. Mumia is full of energy. I can't imagine how he has managed this. First the physical factors. The food is bad, and gets less all the time. He's had some health problems but has used mainly alternative herbs, etc., rather than allowing the state to impose their medicine and drugs on his person. (Mumia hates to talk about his health but he has to. The homeopath from the Global Women's Strike has been working with others on dealing with relatively minor problems.) He is allowed two hours a day out of his cell and into a small area where he can exercise and move. The problem is, he has made himself a 'jailhouse lawyer'. That is, he is one of those inside who study how the law actually works. Other prisoners have only these two hours with him to get his help on their cases. He tries to do both, and has managed to stay fit despite 22 hours in a cell and two hours for what is in essence a legal clinic. If refusing to be defeated by persecution is his full-time job, this is his second. He seemed up to date politically, both about what's in the news and what's happening behind the news. How has he done that? Allowed seven books at a time, he has an ordered archive of excerpts from publications that have passed through his cell. He remains a working but unwaged journalist for the movement - one of the few. That's his third 'career'. We were struck with the way he lets you know about injustices he suffers. Matter of fact, even angry, but not wasting too much energy or emotion on what is not immediately fixable and can distract you from getting on with living your life. For example, we learnt that there are real problems about his family visiting. First, of course, he's a Philadelphian imprisoned five hours from his home city, in the middle of nowhere. There's a grandchild he's never held. We're hoping LAW in the US can be useful on visit problems. He was eager to know what we thought about some things he'd written about women in the Panthers, and listened when we were somewhat critical. The man is open to what others think. I don't know how he manages that openness considering that those of us outside who have far more opportunities to exchange ideas and impressions are likely to be far more rigid, far less flexible. When we finally left at the last possible minute, we were so sorry. There was so much more to say, so much more to learn about him, about all those of us who are truly in the belly of the monster. We made plans to work together so we can learn about the working class inside, where so many of us are, from Iraq to Pennsylvania 23 March 2005 . For Kilombo, journal of the African
Liberation Support Campaign Network
Meet the lead attorney for Mumia Abu-Jamal |