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Mumia Abu-Jamal Quotes

Mumia Abu-Jamal is an American activist and journalist, known for his conviction in the murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal became involved in black nationalism in his youth and was a member of the Black Panther Party until October 1970. He left the party and became a radio reporter, eventually becoming president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982. After numerous appeals, his sentence was commuted in 2001 to life imprisonment without parole.

Some activists and human rights groups have criticized the quality of Abu-Jamal's trial; some have claimed that he is innocent, and many opposed his death sentence. The Faulkner family, public authorities, police organizations, and conservative groups have maintained that Abu-Jamal's trial was fair, his guilt undeniable, and his death sentence appropriate. He was described in 2001 as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate" by The New York Times. During his imprisonment Abu-Jamal has published books and commentaries on social and political issues, including Live from Death Row .

✵ 24. April 1954
Mumia Abu-Jamal photo
Mumia Abu-Jamal: 8   quotes 2   likes

Famous Mumia Abu-Jamal Quotes

“The state would rather give me an uzi than a microphone.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal

All Things Censored (2001, Seven Stories Press), p. 21

“The role of television is the illusion of company, noise. I call it the fifth wall and the second window: the window of illusion.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal

"I spend my days preparing for life, not for death" http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2198557,00.html The Guardian, Laura Smith (2007-10-25)

“Once again, my family and I find ourselves being assaulted by the obscenity that is Mumia Abu-Jamal. On Sunday October 5th, my husband's killer will once again air his voice from what masquerades as a prison, and spew his thoughts and ideas at another college commencement. Mumia Abu-Jamal will be heard and honored as a victim and a hero by a pack of adolescent sycophants at Goddard College in Vermont. Despite the fact that 33 years ago, he loaded his gun with special high-velocity ammunition designed to kill in the most devastating fashion, then used that gun to rip my husband's freedom from him--today, Mumia Abu-Jamal will be lauded as a freedom fighter. Undoubtedly the administrators at Goddard who first accepted, then enthusiastically supported Abu-Jamal as their speaker will be moved by his "important message" when, if one distills that message to its basic meaning, it amounts to nothing more than the same worn out hatred for this country and everyone in law enforcement that Mumia Abu-Jamal has harbored his entire life. Many at Goddard College have said that this is a matter of Abu-Jamal's First Amendment right to speak and be heard. What a convenient way to dodge their responsibility to take a moral position on this situation. This is not a matter of First Amendment rights -- it's a matter of right and wrong. Across the country, people have been voicing their disgust with the wrong that the college is about to commit by allowing a convicted cop-killer to speak to them. Is this the message to be heard? How could they allow him to speak when Danny no longer has a voice? It is my opinion that all murderers should forfeit their right to free speech when they take the life of an innocent person. I have repeatedly seen college administrators deny conservative and religious speakers access to their campuses when even the tiniest minority feel their message is in some way offensive. What could be more offensive than having a person who violently took the life of another imparting his "unique perspective" on your students? Let's be honest. The instructors, administrators and graduates at Goddard College embrace having this killer as their commencement speaker not despite the fact that he brutally murdered a cop, but because he brutally murdered a cop. Otherwise, like so many other speakers that have been denied access to college campuses across the country, Goddard's administration would have lived up to their moral responsibility and pulled the plug on this travesty long ago. Shame on Goddard College and all associated with that school for choosing to honor an arrogant remorseless killer as their commencement speaker. Unfortunately, this is something that I am certain they will be proud of for the rest of their lives.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Statement http://6abc.com/news/mumia-abu-jamal-speech-met-with-vigil-for-slain-officer/337357/ by Maureen Faulkner, widow of Daniel Faulkner, upon Abu-Jamal's delivering the Commencement Address at Goddard College in 2014
About

“The media, itself an arm of mega-corporate power, feeds the fear industry, so that people are primed like pumps to support wars on rumor, innuendo, legends, and lies.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal

"A Year In: More Same Than Change" http://prisonradio.org/more_of_same.htm

“I spend my days preparing for life, not preparing for death… They haven't stopped me from doing what I want every day. I believe in life, I believe in freedom, so my mind is not consumed with death. It's with love, life and those things. In many ways, on many days, only my body is here, because I am thinking about what's happening around the world.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal

"I spend my days preparing for life, not for death" The Guardian, Laura Smith (2007-10-25)

“Politics is the art of making the people believe that they are in power, when in fact, they have none.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal

"Is Obama's Victory Ours?" http://www.prisonradio.org/ObamaJuneMumia.htm 06-05-08

“Do you see law and order? There is nothing but disorder, and instead of law there is the illusion of security. It is an illusion because it is built on a long history of injustices: racism, criminality, and the genocide of millions. Many people say it is insane to resist the system, but actually, it is insane not to.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal

Death Blossoms (2004, South End Press; Cambridge MA), p. 11

“At the risk of quoting Mephistopheles I repeat: Welcome to hell. A hell erected and maintained by human-governments, and blessed by black robed judges. A hell that allows you to see your loved ones, but not to touch them. A hell situated in America's boondocks, hundreds of miles away from most families. A white, rural hell, where most of the captives are black and urban. It is an American way of death.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal

All Things Censored (2001, Seven Stories Press), pp. 55-56

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