WWP'S LARRY HOLMES
'Mumia is key to struggle against racism'
By Greg
Butterfield
New York
Larry Holmes is a national spokesperson for the April 24
Millions for Mumia demonstrations and a member of
Workers World Party's Secretariat. Workers World newspaper
spoke to him about the party's work in support of
political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Workers World: Why has Workers World Party made
the April 24 demonstrations a top priority?
Larry Holmes: For a number of years, WWP has been deeply
committed to the struggle to free Mumia Abu-Jamal. We consider
his case and the outcome of this struggle central to the
struggle against racism and national oppression in the United
States and on a world scale.
There is a reason why Mumia is the most famous prisoner on
death row. He has become a symbol of the worldwide struggle to
end the death penalty in the U.S., an instrument of terror the
capitalist system uses against people of color, the poor and
the working class.
But more than that, he has given a face to the existence and
plight of political prisoners in this country. That has helped
the cases of Leonard Peltier, the 16 Puerto Rican political
prisoners, Mutulu Shakur, the MOVE 9 and many, many others.
As an eloquent revolutionary journalist, Mumia is the
pre-eminent voice exposing conditions for prisoners--not only
on death row, but throughout the whole prison-industrial
complex, which incarcerates almost 2 million people and
provides the only real new openings" for Black and Latino
people between the ages of 16 and 35.
In addition, Mumia is a symbol of opposition to police
brutality. Mumia is on death row largely because, as a
journalist, he was an obstacle to the Philadelphia Police
Department's war against the Black and Latino communities, and
specifically the MOVE organization. It's out of revenge for
Mumia's work that the cops desperately want him murdered by the
state.
When Gov. Tom Ridge signed the first death warrant in the
summer of 1995, our party played an instrumental role in
pulling together the forces behind the Aug. 12 protest, which
to date has been the largest demonstration to free Mumia.
In the wake of the Fall 1998 Pennsylvania Supreme Court
decision denying Mumia a new trial, we shared the assessment of
others who have been among Mumia's most consistent
advocates--that this struggle had moved into a critical
phase.
In our view, the only possible response was to enter into
intense planning with Pam Africa and our comrades in the
International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia, as well
as all the forces in the Mumia movement, for purposes of
intensifying and broadening the struggle.
Ultimately, we felt that what the broad progressive forces
did--or failed to do--in this regard would be a measure of the
health of the movement. Out of this conclusion was born the
April 24 nationwide mobilizations in Philadelphia and San
Francisco.
WW:As a revolutionary Marxist party, how
does WWP view the demand for a new trial for Mumia
Abu-Jamal?
L.H.: We of course believe Mumia was framed. His trial--even
by bourgeois legal standards--was a charade. His right to a new
trial must be fought for and won.
However, from the point of view of class politics, Mumia,
like many other Black revolutionaries and activists, has been
the target of a war--not only against his community, but
against himself. This is a truism that transcends Mumia's case
and extends to every freedom fighter: They have the right to
defend themselves by any means necessary.
There should be no need for a new trial. All that's really
necessary is for an amnesty to be declared for all prisoners of
this war. That would open the dungeons and allow Mumia, Leonard
Peltier and all the others to walk through the gates as free
people.
Of course, not everyone shares these revolutionary
principles. And so we solicit the support of those whose
interest in Mumia is based on opposition to the death penalty
or the recognition that he simply didn't get a fair trial.
It's very significant that many elected officials in New
York have spoken out against the police massacre of Amadou
Diallo. This has been helpful in turning the tide against Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani, who's infamous for his racist, police-state
strategy when it comes to dealing with oppressed
communities.
Mumia's case is about police brutality. But it's more
difficult for elected officials and liberals to embrace. In
Mumia's case, a cop ended up dead. It takes more courage, more
resolute resistance to the police, to rise to Mumia's
defense.
Naturally, the most consistent and loyal defenders of Mumia
come from the ranks of the radicalized youths of all
nationalities, alienated by the system, who have a deep-seated
outrage at racism and repression. They look upon Mumia not only
as a victim but as a revolutionary leader. We share these
sentiments.
So the task is to start with the base of support Mumia has,
and broaden it to those who are reluctant but must nonetheless
be convinced to support his struggle for a new trial.
WW:Is there a basis for uniting the Mumia
solidarity movement with those struggling against the U.S./NATO
war
in Yugoslavia?
L.H.: Yes, and uniting these struggles is essential to
freeing Mumia and educating all nationalities that make up the
working class.
Bombs are raining on Yugoslavia. All signs point to U.S.
imperialism and its European allies expanding the war against
the people of the Balkans through the introduction of ground
troops. The time has come to rally all who can be reached to
the struggle against war and racism.
The war against oppressed nationalities in this country
cannot be separated from the war against Yugoslavia, which is
really a form of international police brutality.
There are many reasons behind the war, including
imperialism's desire to reconquer Eastern Europe as a step
toward colonizing the former Soviet Union. But also, as is the
case in New York and so many other areas, the war's objective
is to create a low-wage work force subservient to world
capitalism. So the war against the people of the Balkans is but
an external expression of the repression faced by millions in
this country.
Our hope for defeating U.S. imperialism's war at home and
abroad is in drawing the links between these struggles and
fighting them jointly. These are two fronts in the same
war.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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