May 17 is Free Mumia Time!

Mumia Abu-Jamal’s struggle for freedom finally has another day in court. That day is Thursday, May 17, at 9:30 a.m. in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals at 6th and Market Streets in downtown Philadelphia.

This is a rare event.

It has been almost six years since Mumia’s struggle for freedom has had a day in court. The last one was Aug. 17, 2001. That was only weeks before Bush and the capitalist ruling class here started using 9/11 as an excuse to invade and occupy first Afghanistan and then Iraq, and open up a new phase of U.S. imperialism’s endless war against the people of the world, including those here at home, most notably now the survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The government has always had two plans for Mumia: plan A to execute him and plan B to relegate him to life in prison without parole. The government’s hope was that 9/11 would help them carry out plan B, and maybe even plan A.

The police, the judges, the politicians and the super-rich people whose interests they serve hoped that in a climate of war and repression against immigrants, against youths of color, against women, against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans people, and against civil liberties, people would be too busy fighting an avalanche of attacks to keep the movement to free Mumia alive.

But the world has not forgotten about Mumia. One of the principal reasons that Mumia remains on our mind is that freedom fighters like Pam Africa and Julia Wright from International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia have worked tirelessly with many others to hold together the world movement to free Mumia.

Another reason that Mumia will never be just a memory is Mumia himself. Mumia has never forgotten the world. Even from his tiny death-row prison cell in a remote area near the Pennsylvania/West Virginia border, Mumia Abu-Jamal continues to write and speak on the important issues of the day such as on Don Imus, the Virginia Tech killings, immigrant rights, Katrina, Iraq, Cuba, Africa and Venezuela. His most recent book, “We Want Freedom,” is a loving, passionate tribute to the Black Panther Party, which he joined as a youth in Philadelphia.

It seems that no matter how hard the government tries to murder, demonize or bury Mumia, they cannot silence the “voice of the voiceless.” It’s not necessary to meet Mumia in order to get a sense of his historical significance for either the Black liberation struggle or the ever urgent struggle for a new world free of imperialism.

You can get that from Mumia’s eloquent, informed and stirring words. Having had the opportunity to meet with Mumia from time to time over the last 11 years, as the writers of this article have, only adds greater depth, appreciation and a richer personal dimension to what millions already know—and that is that Mumia Abu-Jamal is dangerous to the system.

He is dangerous because he has all the qualities of a leader who can move people to struggle against the evils inherent within the capitalist system.

Mumia’s case was never about the facts. If it had been, Mumia would have never spent 25 days, much less 25 years, on death row. This case was always about a political frame-up calculated to silence a powerful voice and crush the struggle against police terror.

More than anything else, Mumia’s struggle is against racist police terror in all its forms. It’s a struggle against the police terror that executed Sean Bell in Queens, N.Y., and Kathryn Johnston in Atlanta, as well as the police terror that brutally came down on immigrant workers in New York City and especially in Los Angeles on the May Day just past.

The very idea that Mumia’s May 17 oral hearing might open the door to a new trial has so enraged the police that they are organizing counter-demonstrations against Mumia support events and threatening judges against ruling in favor of a new trial.

If you love freedom and justice, make plans to join the many freedom lovers from everywhere who will be assembling in Philadelphia in front of the federal court on May 17.

That date is just two days from the anniversary of the birthdays of Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh. In Malcolm’s honor, let’s renew our commitment to free Mumia and all political prisoners, including Leonard Peltier, the Cuban Five, MOVE 9, Sundiata Acoli, the Angola 2 and others, by “any means necessary.”

On May 17, the “means” is mass mobilization.

Holmes and Moorehead first interviewed Mumia in March 1996 with the assistance of the late Key Martin, a founder of People’s Video Network. Go to  www.workers.org/2007/us/pvn/ to view segments of that video. Go to www.millions4mumia.org for more background information on Mumia’s case and to download May 17 literature.