PURE statement in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Published May 11, 2007 9:08 PM
Panthers United for Revolutionary Education is a group of
revolutionary prisoners on Texas death row. They composed the following
statement in solidarity with the April 24 rally for Mumia in Philadelphia. Go to
www.workers.org/2007/us/mumia-0510/
Big ups to all attending the April 24 event for Brother Mumia!
Of all the gatherings that PURE has been encouraged to send greetings of
solidarity to, this one ranks the highest. PURE has a true interest in being
here today, an obligation, in fact.
Comrade Mumia is an ex-Black Panther and our organization, Panthers United for
Revolutionary Education, is a product of the Panthers. Thus, it is safe to say
that Mumia is our beginning.
Living as we do under the most austere conditions of prisons, in what is
arguably the most racist and backward state of the union, Texas, we are indeed
amongst the most oppressed and repressed. We are poor. But without you, the
people, we would be powerless. And without our brother, Mumia, we would be
voiceless. So our interest here is clear and direct.
Let us make clear, also, this oh-so-shocking truth: Our brother and comrade
Mumia is in the hands of killers! Killers who prefer to do their dirty deeds in
the dark and are therefore waiting with the patience of a snake for you to grow
tired; tired of turning out; tired of holding vigil; tired of being
inconvenienced by sacrificing so much and just plain ole tired of being
tired.
Yes, it is this day—this night, rather—that they wait and relish.
The night that we’re worn down by attrition, the night that we blow out
the candles to rest our weary minds and bodies.
But we have bad news for those laying in wait. We won’t ever get that
tired! Y’all hear me? I said, WE WON’T EVER GET THAT TIRED! And
those that are waiting will die waiting.
We know we don’t have much time and our statement should be short. But
let us touch briefly on why we must not fall asleep and why Mumia’s life
is in such great danger.
It is often said that Mumia is the most recognized political prisoner in the
United States. We have no interest in arguing semantics, but Mumia is a POW.
This fact must be recognized for a full appreciation of what the brother is
facing.
The U.S. government literally declared war on the Black Panther Party.
Of all the progressive nationalist organizations, civil-rights groups, and
revolutionary formations of the 1960s and 1970s, the Panthers were declared the
number-one threat to the country and were targeted for annihilation.
The assassinations, the frame-ups, the forced exiles, the infiltrations and
agitation that had Panthers turning on Panthers are all recorded in history. To
this day ex-Panthers are still doing prison time, living in exile and being
rounded up. Why? What makes them different from other groups?
The difference is that most liberation organizations of those times were mere
irritations to the state because they only demanded reforms within the
constraints of the capitalist state. But the Panthers attacked the state
itself, subscribing as they did to Marxism as a revolutionary tool and
scientific guide for understanding revolutionary theory and for applying
revolutionary action.
At the time, the government was fighting against communism
everywhere—Asia, Africa, the Soviet Union, in its own backyard of Central
and South America, and in its own midst, the Panthers here at home.
Mumia left the Panthers because of agent provocateurs, but never ceased to
challenge the politics of national oppression, the outgrowth of imperialism, as
well as racism and sexism, the outgrowth of capitalism.
Mumia was then, and is now, a soldier for the people. He is our voice, our
great inspiration.
Our esteemed chairman, Howard Guidry, explains Mumia best: “From the
isolation block of Texas’ most prided plantation and in spite of all of
the artificial forces unleashed to erode and mentally break us, we wish you all
to know that our beloved brotha Mumia’s voice, image and determination
have exemplified the very revolutionary torch that has been passed on from our
predecessors.”
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