BY JOHN STAGGS AND GLOVA SCOTT
PHILADELPHIA - Students and activists from around the
country marched in Philadelphia on Monday, November 6, to
demand a new trial for Mumia Abu-Jamal. The demonstration
marked a growing identification among young people,
particularly college students in the Northeast, with the
campaign to stop the execution of Abu-Jamal and abolish the
death penalty. For many among the 500 protesters, this was
their first political demonstration.
Abu-Jamal, a broadcast journalist and Black political activist, was convicted of the 1981 killing of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. The judge in that trial, Albert Sabo, was forced to issue a stay of execution on August 7 of this year after a worldwide campaign of pressure to stop Abu-Jamal's killing. Sabo has a reputation as a racist "hanging judge." He has sentenced twice as many people to death as any other judge in the country - 32 inmates, 27 of whom were Black.
Despite compelling evidence from witnesses contradicting cop testimony in the earlier trial, Sabo rejected an appeal for a new trial. Abu-Jamal remains on death row as Sabo's decision is being appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Some of the 50 students who came from Antioch College in Ohio carried a huge, 30-foot-high sail, proclaiming "Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal, Condemned to Death." It was built by Bread and Puppet Theater from Vermont. Several students said the issue of freeing Abu-Jamal and stopping the death penalty was so important it was worth driving all night and missing class to be here. They got organized to come after a couple of meetings initiated by the Third World Alliance on campus with speakers from Abu-Jamal coalitions in Philadelphia and New York.
Three weeks ago Pam Africa, representing the International Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, spoke at a meeting at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Student organizer Cynthia Crob said that the meeting was organized by the Committee of Diverse Interests, 100 Black Men, and the Student Action Union. Crob said that 35 Rutgers students then chartered a bus and came to the march.
Students also came from Rowan College and Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. Marie LaForest from Temple University in Philadelphia said her social studies professor had gotten inspired by the struggle and dismissed his class so that they could attend the march.
The protesters weaved through city streets making stops at Benjamin Franklin High School, offices of city prosecutor and death penalty advocate Lynne Abraham, and the Philadelphia Inquirer building before ending at City Hall.
Many city workers stepped out from office buildings to view the march and express their support.
Evelyn Sanders, who works at Benjamin Franklin High School, took flyers to pass out to fellow workers. "I knew Mumia," she said. "He grew up with my younger brothers and sisters. This is about railroading an innocent man."
Several young workers joined the rally at the high school. "I don't think he got a fair trial," one said. "We want to hear more about the case."
Speaking from a flatbed truck, Pam Africa urged everyone to "keep the pressure on, don't let the stay of execution lull you into inactivity." She announced an economic boycott of Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia's tourist hotels and the convention center. She also urged people to attend a December 9 conference in Philadelphia to discuss strategy to win Abu-Jamal's release.
Other speakers included Mark Taylor, coordinator of the 500-member Academics for Mumia Abu-Jamal, drawn from college faculties from around the country. Marie-Agnes Combesque, a freelance journalist from France announced the publication of a French-language edition of Abu-Jamal's book, Live from Death Row. Combesque participated at a Paris press conference of writers earlier this year to build the international defense campaign on Abu-Jamal's behalf.
Deborah Liatos, Socialist Workers candidate for Mayor of Philadelphia, also spoke pointing to the need to continue broadening the support for Abu-Jamal's case on campuses and in the unions.
Protests took place in other cities, including a teach- in of more than 100 in New York City and a student rally at the Borough of Manhattan Community College there.