Antioch College
Outpouring of support for Mumia & students
By Greg Butterfield
Students at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, are
gaining support for their fight back against police-sponsored
harassment. The police threats began after the graduating class
chose Mumia Abu-Jamal as one of its two keynote speakers at
commencement.
Abu-Jamal, an African American political prisoner on
Pennsylvania's death row, is scheduled to deliver an
audio-taped speech at the April 29 graduation ceremony. Lesbian
transgender author and activist Leslie Feinberg, a co-founder
of Rainbow Flags for Mumia, is the other keynote speaker.
On April 3 youths held a press conference in front of
Fraternal Order of Police headquarters in Philadelphia. Their
stated goal was "to expose attacks on youth intelligence and
the attempts of Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham
and the FOP to prevent Mumia from communicating the truth to
the youth," according to a statement from International
Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
The group reported, "In a letter to Antioch College
President Robert Devine, Philadelphia First Assistant District
Attorney Arnold H. Gordon tried to undermine the intelligence
of college graduates, calling them 'impressionable' and
questioning their academic community's 'sense of decency.'"
District Attorney Lynne Abraham said the students' choice of
Abu-Jamal as their commencement speaker "should be
condemned."
Since late March FOP members have reportedly flooded Antioch
officials and students with threatening phone calls, faxes and
emails. Cops threatened to protest at the ceremony unless
Abu-Jamal was removed. The harassment campaign received wide,
and mostly supportive, coverage from the Associated Press, FOX
News Channel, the Philadelphia Daily News, and other
big-business media.
The cop group campaigns nationally for Abu-Jamal's
execution. On March 25, off-duty police in Topeka, Kan.,
picketed a concert by Harry Belafonte because the singer signed
a New York Times ad calling for Abu-Jamal to receive a new
trial.
Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing a white cop, Daniel
Faulkner. He has always maintained his innocence.
"As millions of people from around the world have insisted,
Mumia Abu-Jamal is innocent and never had a fair trial,"
Concerned Family & Friends said. "In his trial the
prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence and violated more
than 22 of his constitutional rights."
Angela Beallor, a member of Anti-Racist Action at Kent State
University, said: "Abraham's personal attack on the students
demonstrates the anti-Mumia forces' insecurity with people
hearing Mumia's voice. This insecurity of allowing people to
hear the powerful analysis and commentary of Mumia Abu-Jamal is
nothing new. Indeed, it is what originally prompted the
political repression that eventually had him convicted in
1982."
On April 4 Kent State students walked out for Abu-Jamal to
mark the anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s
assassination. The political prisoner has agreed to tape a
message for the 30th annual commemoration of the May 4th Kent
State Massacre.
Ross Fitzgerald of the Antioch Student Com mencement
Committee also respond ed, saying, "Antioch students are highly
educated about Mumia Abu-Jamal. We are highly educated by the
state and we have absolute confidence in our decision to host
Mumia for keynote speaker at graduation."
Antioch President Robert H. Devine defended the decision. He
stressed that Abu-Jamal "has become a significant voice in the
international conversation about the death penalty, the
disproportionate number of Blacks on death row, the
relationship between poverty and the criminal justice system.
He was invited to speak because the issues he has raised as
part of that broader conversation are important to many of our
students."
'A courageous stand'
"The FOP fear campaign against the Antioch students is
reminiscent of Ku Klux Klan terror crusades," Abu-Jamal's
co-keynote-speaker, Leslie Feinberg, stated in a March 31 press
release. She applauded the Antioch students "for taking a
courageous stand when they chose a political prisoner on death
row and a lesbian transgender activist who is his earnest
supporter to be their keynote speakers.
"The FOP fear tactics will not succeed," Feinberg asserted.
"The progressive movement is bringing Mumia's case to millions
more people in the United States and around the world. On May
7, just a week after Mumia speaks at Antioch's commencement,
thousands of people from around the country will pack the
Theater at Madison Square Garden in support of Mumia. This
outpouring will bring more attention and support to Mumia's
case."
She concluded: "The battle by Antioch students to withstand
this right-wing siege will only galvanize their strength."
Community organizations, activists fighting police brutality
and the death penalty, lesbian/gay/bi/trans people, union
leaders and others have also answered Antioch students' call
for support statements. Student leaders have received between
250 and 350 solidarity messages so far.
Union President Al Weinrub wrote, "On behalf of the National
Writers Union, Bay Area Local, I want to applaud your
invitation to Mumia Abu-Jamal as commencement speaker.
"It is very important that Abu-Jamal's words and ideas get
public exposure," said Weinrub. "This is especially so because
of the centrality of his writings to the efforts to execute
him. His writings have played a key role in his case--before,
during and after his conviction. They were central to the
prosecutorial bias against him, to the death sentence he
received, and to the charged political atmosphere surrounding
his case, which continues to this day."
Cora Spearman, an Antioch graduating senior, summed up the
students' refusal to bend to the campaign of state
intimidation. "Tell all the haters to stay away. It's our
day,'' she said. (Akron Beacon-Journal, April 3)
Solidarity messages can be sent to the Antioch students at:
talatner@aol.com.
This article is copyright under a Creative
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