Mumia Abu-Jamal is an award-winning Pennsylvania journalist who spent many
of his early years in media exposing police violence against minority
communities. In 1982 he was tried, found guilty and sentenced to death for
the shooting of a police officer. Currently, Mumia is on Pennsylvania Death
Row, where he has been for the past twenty-one years. Decades later, Mumia’s
trial is still among the most well-known and controversial death row cases.
Throughout the years, many argue that Mumia is a sentenced murderer who is
not worthy of the accolades he receives. Yet, domestic as well as
international support has argued that Mumia did not receive a fair trial and
evidence points to his innocence.
Mumia's fight for a new trial has won the support of tens of thousands
around the world, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, The
European Parliament, Alice Walker, Sister Helen Prejean, Amnesty
International, and many others. Recently, Mumia was made an honorary citizen
of Paris.
During the last 21 years, while he has been locked up 23 hours a day, Mumia
has penned three books including the acclaimed book of essays, Live From
Death Row. Recently, Mumia has written his first work of history, “Faith of
Our Fathers: An Examination of the Spiritual Life of African and
African-American Peopleâ€. This book searches the diverse spiritual life of
African people, who, dispersed from their motherland, molded a love of
freedom and resistance to racism, into religious practice. As he fights for
his own freedom, Mumia writes about the freedom struggles of millions
throughout history and adds to a rich tradition of Black Liberation
Theology.
You can hear a complete archive of Mumia's essays at www.prisonradio.org
