Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report

Love and Rage Electronic Edition Febr. 03

  


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit

LOVE AND RAGE
Electronic Edition

FEBRUARY/MARCH 1993
Part 3



MUMIA ABU-JAMAL RESPONDS TO HENTOFF

The accompanying article by Mumia Abu-Jamal was written for Lies
of Our Times. We thank them for allowing us to print it before
they went to print. The following is some background to the events
preceding the letter. Also check out the next World War 3 for
further coverage.

OCTOBER 2, 1992: GOVERNOR ROBERT CASEY OF Pennsylvania attempts to
give a forum with Nat Hentoff of the Village Voice, entitled Can a
Liberal Be Pro-Life? Both Casey and Hentoff are males of European
descent and are vocal anti-choice advocates. Casey is trying to
execute Mumia Abu-Jamal as well as many other African prisoners on
death row. The audience was told to submit questions in writing.
The pre-planned die-in was scrapped after Casey claimed he didn't
know anything of Abu-Jamal's case. He was then booed off the stage
and handed thousands of signatures on petitions. [See Love & Rage,
Vol. 3 No. 7.]

OCTOBER 20: Nat Hentoff writes a column entitled The Perennial
Face of Fascism, accusing leftists of being fascists and opposed
to free speech. Hentoff quotes Abu-Jamal as being surprised,
displeased, shocked, and saddened" by the selfish mindlessness of
his anti-free speech supporters.

NOVEMBER 3: Nat Hentoff again slanders activists in a column Who
Owns Free Speech? He uses the International Workers of the World
(IWW) as a model for free speech advocates and insinuates that
leftists are the antithesis.


BY MUMIA ABU-JAMAL

NO ONE WAS MORE SURPRISED THAN I AT THE eruption of protest at New
York City's Cooper Union on October 2, 1992, following
Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey's aborted address on his
pro-life positions.

The subsequent editorials denouncing the protesters for their
affront to the First Amendment have a distinctly hollow sound,
especially to one who has found the First Amendment, as applied,
equally hollow; for although it is undoubted that feelings were
hurt by the protest, none of the people at Cooper Union face death
for their words or past affiliations perhaps the ultimate affront
to the First Amendment.

ABU-JAMAL'S TRIAL

Prosecutor: Mr. Jamal, let me ask you if you can recall saying
something sometime ago and perhaps it might ring a bell as to
whether you are an executioner or endorse such actions.

Black brothers and sisters and organizations which wouldn't commit
themselves before are relating to us Black people that they are
facing we are facing the reality that the Black Panther Party has
been facing which is --

Now listen to this quote. You've often been quoted
as saying this:

Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

Do you remember saying that sir?

Jamal: I remember writing that. That's a quotation from Mao
Tse-Tung.

Q: Do you recall making that quote, Mr. Jamal, to Acel Moore [then
a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer ed]?

A: I recall quoting Mao Tse-Tung to Acel Moore about 12 to 15
years ago.

Q: Do you recall saying All power to the people? Do you recall
that?

A: Yes.

Q: Do you believe that your actions as well as your philosophy are
consistent with the quote Political power grows out of the barrel
of a gun ?

A: I believe that America has proven that quote to be true.

Q: Do you recall saying that The Panther Party is an
uncompromising party, it faces reality ?

A: (nods head affirmatively) Yes.

[Text taken verbatim from testimony, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
vs. Abu-Jamal, pp. 21-22.]

Prosecutor: This is what this is all about, law and order. How do
we avoid it if we don't like it, we don't just accept it, and we
don't try to change it from within, we just rebel against it. And
maybe that was the siege all the way back then with political
power, power growing out of the barrel of a gun. No matter who
said it, when you do say it and when you FEEL it, and particularly
in an area when you're talking about police or cops or shootings
and so forth, even back then, this is not something that happened
overnight. [From argument by the prosecutor to the jury in favor
of the death penalty, verbatim - ibid, p. 68.]


CASEY SHOUTED DOWN

It is all very well to opinionate about free speech, but it ain't
free if it's used to kill you. Seen in this light it can hardly be
said that the Cooper Union protestors were, as their critics
contended, fascists they demonstrated for the fullest expression
of free speech - for the life of one who was, literally, damned
for words uttered over a decade before.


It is both curious and revealing that none (not one) of the free speech
defenders who raged over the desecration of our hallowed First
Amendment at Cooper Union made a peep of protest when Philadelphia
police darkly threatened to put supporters to death on an electric sofa for
daring to exercise their rights of free speech in my defense. Such a threat,
coming from those who bombed MOVE men, women, and babies, an
entire neighborhood, into oblivion with impunity on May 13, 1985,
surely seems a bit closer to the fascistic model than those who spoke out
at Cooper Union, but, to date, no single newspaper of general circulation
condemned the chilling death threats as fascistic.

It is precisely this piecemeal application that allows the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to ignore the full dictates of the First
Amendment when it forbids the freedom of MOVE people who have
been eligible for parole for years, because they refuse to denounce their
religion; MOVE people like Carlos Africa and Consuela Africa, who
could be free *today* -- if they but renounced their religious
convictions.

The First Amendment must become more than the shield of the
powerful and politically entrenched; to use it as the
editorialists suggest is to denigrate and implicitly devalue the
speech, the faith, the alleged guarantees of the powerles s and
politically outcast. It works for all, or for none.

The dry, formulaic parceling of the First Amendment which makes it
a cudgel of the strong and a truncheon against the weak; a
platform for the established and a trapdoor for the poor; loses
any significance when not read in its wholeness, or applied
equally.

I KNOW NOTHING !

It has been written that I was surprised, displeased, shocked, and
saddened, which is true but not for the reasons given. Surprised
at the occurrence of the demonstration. Displeased and shocked at
the governor's statement that he knew nothing of the case (except
what he'd read in the papers!) even though an estimated 40,000
people signed petitions on my behalf and forwarded them to his
office, at least four congresspersons wrote letters to the
governor, international and American PEN wrote letters; an
avalanche of letters from Germany, France, etcand he knew nothing.
Nothing.

SPIRITUAL DESCENDANTS OF WHOM?

Saddened-initially at what was thought to be a lost opportunity,
but what was clearly no opportunity, for after the governor
professed ignorance, that he knew nothing of my case, what would a
bunch of questions have produced? Nothing for he knew nothing. One
critic, First Amendment maven Nat Hentoff [columnist for the
Village Voice], likened the anti- death penalty professors to
fascists, and called them the spiritual descendants of the dreaded
bookburners of nazi infamy.

When the liberal press can depict people who are literally
pro-life as fascists, while people who threaten those people with
death are lauded as defenders of law, then words have lost their
meaning, and political relationships or power vs. powerless have
no relevance.

Until the baby-burners of Osage, the death-threateners of Philly,
the state officers who utilize past political persuasions as
indicators of death sentences are named fascists for their acts,
then the term should be retired from the arena of rhetoric.

-30-


SUPPORT SUNDIATA ACOLI, POLITICAL PRISONER

LEAVENWORTH, KS -- SUNDIATA Acoli, an ex-Black Panther, is coming
up for parole in early 1993 after twenty years of imprisonment.
The parole board plans to keep him locked up for ten more years.

Acoli was captured with Assata Shakur in 1973 after a shoot-out on
the New Jersey Turnpike in which their companion and a State
Trooper were killed. Acoli was tried, convicted, and sentenced to
life imprisonment at Trenton State Prison. There he was confined
for five years in a Management Control Unit (MCU) isolation cell.
While there, he was exposed to tuberculosis. He was then secretly
transferred to the infamous federal penitentiary at Marion, IL,
and was confined to an isolation unit for eight years, although he
had no federal charges or convictions.

Finally, in 1987, he was transferred to the general population at
Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary, Kan.

Because of his outstanding record, the New Jersey Department of
Corrections restored all of the good time he had lost while
confined in Trenton's MCU. This made him immediately eligible for
parole. Yet the New Jersey Board (who still has jurisdiction over
him) plans to hit him with ten more years when he comes up for
parole.

For Acoli, already fifty-six years old and infected with
tuberculosis, ten more years could amount to a death sentence.
Write the Parole Board today and demand that he be released at his
parole hearing.

Send your letters to:

The New Jersey State Parole Board,
CN-862 Trenton, NJ 08625,
tel (609) 292 4257

Also send a copy of the letter to:

The Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign
PO Box 5538,
Manhattanville Station
Harlem, NY 10027

-30-


KENNY TOLIA FREED

[Note: This did not run in the Feb/Mar issue due to editorial and
communication problems. It was scheduled to run on the ABC page.]

U.S. Political Prisoner Kenny Tolia was freed Dec. 8th '92. He
had been falsely inprisoned on riot charges stemming from a police
raid on an anarchist May Day concert in New York City in 1990.

An international campaign was launched for Kenny which resulted in
demonstations from Mexico City to Minsk, and petitions from
Brazil, Scotland, and Poland.

Kenny thanks the international anarchist community for their
support - it made his day.

info. from Bob Mc Glynn / OGB.

-30-


Vacaville Prison Protest:

INTOLERABLE CONDITIONS FOR HIV+ INMATES

VACAVILLE, CA -- MORE THAN one hundred activists staged a die-in
at the gates of the California prison hospital for men in
Vacaville, on December 5, 1992, to protest intolerable conditions
for prisoners with AIDS and HIV. The World Aids Day protest,
called by ACT UP - SF, was in support of prisoners' demands for
improved medical care and an end to discrimination inside the
prison.

Since August more than eight prisoners have died under
questionable circumstances, both in their cells and in the
hospital, prompting prisoners to begin a medication strike and
then a hunger strike to protest these deaths at Vacaville.

The medication strike, which was undertaken by over 150 prisoners,
is one of the most organized expressions of prisoner protests
ever. Prisoners, risking their lives, are refusing their
medications to bring attention to the emergency conditions for
prisoners with AIDS. Vacaville has been without any HIV-AIDS
medical staff since March, when three excellent doctors quit
because the prison interfered with their attempts to treat the
prisoners.
-30-


CAMPAIGN FOR ANARCHIST PRISONERS IN SPAIN

We have begun a campaign to free two anarchist companeros:Pablo
Serrano Serrano and Andres Torrijos Artes. They have been
constantly harassed by the State (Spain). It's not only that their
sentences - eight and eleven years respectively - exceed those of
others, (fascist of course), but that they have had to survive
the aggression they have faced in jail.

Andres Torrijos Artes, who until now had been kept in the Huesca
Prison, has been subject to reprisals and transferred to the
Puerto 1 Prison in Cadiz, supposedly for having organized a
meeting after a prisoner was beaten by the guards. The true
motive is his constant denunciations of the Director and
Administration of the prison. Our companero has been publishing
them in the local press.

As soon as he arrived at Puerto, he started to have problems with
the administration, for instance, they took away his typewriter.
Pablo Serrano Serrano, who has completed a quarter of his
sentence, has a long history of activism, marked by successive
battles and firings ever since his initiation into the world of
labor.

He is also known for his work with the Assembly of the Unemployed,
which carries out more radical actions (such as expropriating food
from supermarkets and eating in the Corona Hotel and leaving the
bill for the Minister of the Economy.

More recently he has moved on to other forms of struggle; accused
of placing bombs in a pub where Yanquis meet, and of the death of
an administration advisor.

Once in jail, Serrano denounced the corruption there, leading to
the retirement of the director of the Torrero jail. He
participated in hunger strikes demanding better conditions. He
was moved to Tenerife, for acting in solidarity with the
hungerstrikers demanding unification of all political prisoners.

YOU CAN:

send telegrams and letters, demanding freedom for Pablo and Anres,
and an end to the repressive measures against them.

Sr. Daniel Samperez (dir. of the Terrero Prison in Zaragoza)
Avenida America, 80 50007 Zaragoza, Espana

Sr. Ricardo Perez Rabinal (Dir. Puerto 1 in Cadiz) Apdo de
Correos 555, 11500 Puerto de Santamaria. Cadiz, Espana.

Organize demonstrations in front of Spanish Consulates around the
world. To coordinate demos in New York or other US cities,
contact Love & Rage / Amor & Rabia. In Mexico contact Amor y
Rabia support groups.

FOR THE FREEDOM OF OUR COMPANEROS AND THE ABOLITION OF ALL
PRISONS.

Received from the C.N.T., Bilbao, Espana via the Anti-Prison
Collective.

-30-


HELP POLITICAL PRISONERS IN NIGERIA

HUNDREDS OF IMPRISONED workers and students -- four
are members of the Nigerian anarchist-revolutionary syndicalist
Awareness League -- are being held under the notorious Security
Detention of Persons Decree. Two Awareness League coordinators,
Samuel Mbah and Ifeanyi Chukwu, have been forced to go
underground.

Demonstrate the week of February 22 - 26 for their release.
Peaceful pickets at Nigerian embassies and consulates are being
called by the US Workers Solidarity Alliance (WSA) and by Neither
East Nor West - NYC (who are coordinating the international campaign).
Petitions are available from WSA, and letters of protest are encouraged.
Send both to the WSA address below. Please also send in photos and
accounts of your actions.

For More Information:

Workers Solidarity Alliance
339 Lafayette St, Rm 202
NY, NY 10012
tel (212) 979 8353

The Awareness League desperately needs financial support -
international Money Orders or UK bank checks:

Awareness League c/o Samuel Mbah
PO Box 28,Agbani, Enugu State,Nigeria

-30-


POLITICAL PRISONERS: CONTACTS FOR ACTIVISTS

To learn more about political prisoners, prisoners of war, and
prisons in North America, write to any or all of the following
groups:

Bulldozer
PO Box 5052 Station A
Toronto, ONT M5W 1W4 CANADA

Through The Walls
472 Albert St
Kingston, ONT K7L 3W3 CANADA

Project 1313
PO Box 1313
Lawrence, KS 66044

Anarchist Black Cross
San Lorenzo PO Box 215
San Lorenzo, CA 94580

Prisoner's Legal News
PO Box 1684
Lake Worth, FL 33460

The ANTI-WARior
48 Shattuck Sq.
Berkeley, CA 94704

Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
PO Box 583
Lawrence, KS 66044

Committee to End The Marion Lockdown
PO Box 578172
Chicago, IL 60657

Friends of Liberty
Box 95686
Seattle, WA 98145-2686

Minneapolis ABC
PO Box 581354
Mpls. MN 55408-1354

-30-

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ _Love & Rage_ is a Revolutionary Anarchist newspaper produced
@ by the Love and Rage Network. The Love and Rage Network is a
@ continental network of groups and individuals in Canada, Mexico,
@ and the United States. Subscriptions to the newspaper cost:
@ $13 for first class (fast, envelope), $9 third class (slow, no
@ envelope), $13 international (outside of United States), free for
@ prisoners, GI's, published bimonthly.
@ Please write to us at POB 3, NY, NY 10012
@ email: lnr%nyxfer@igc.apc.org
@ or: loveandrage@igc.apc.org
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@




← previous
next →
loading
sending ...
New to Neperos ? Sign Up for free
download Neperos from Google Play

Let's discover also

Recent Articles

Recent Comments

Neperos cookies
This website uses cookies to store your preferences and improve the service. Cookies authorization will allow me and / or my partners to process personal data such as browsing behaviour.

By pressing OK you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge the Privacy Policy

By pressing REJECT you will be able to continue to use Neperos (like read articles or write comments) but some important cookies will not be set. This may affect certain features and functions of the platform.
OK
REJECT