Historical Context
Mumia Abu-Jamal is a 62 year old inmate incarcerated in a Philadelphia prison for his role in the murder of a police officer during a routine traffic stop. He was born in 1954 and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formally a member of the Black Panther party, Abu-Jamal has dedicated his life to political activism and racial equality. His trial for the murder of the police officer was widely viewed as unfair and the media questioned if he was simply being incarcerated as a political prisoner. To this day, Mumia Abu-Jamal denies any wrongdoing on the night of the alleged murder.
In his early years, Mumia helped to establish the Black Panther party chapter in Philadelphia. Later, he became a reporter and worked with National Public Radio. He held talk shows throughout his time in journalism that discussed issues such as racism, economic injustice, and police brutality. As a side job to supplement his income, Abu-Jamal also worked as a taxi driver a few nights every week leading up to his incarceration.
The night of the alleged murder, Mumia and his brother were driving through Philadelphia when they were stopped by police officer Daniel Falkner. After his brother got into an altercation with the officer, Mumia ran across the street and returned with a pistol. Both he and the officer were eventually shot, but Falkner was the only one that perished from his wounds. (Abu-Jamal) Mumia Abu-Jamal claims that someone else shot the police officer and ran away from the scene before anyone saw him. Mumia says that he arrived after the police officer had been shot and was simply an innocent bystander.
The court proceedings for Mumia went by very quickly. The judge claimed very early on during the process that Mumia was constantly being disruptive and had him removed from the court. Mumia did not have an attorney and choose to talk and defend himself at the beginning of the trial. Since he was being disruptive, the judge appointed Mumia an attorney to speak for him. After the jury quickly ruled unanimously against Mumia, he claims to this day that the attorney did not put very much effort into the defense and eventually lost him the case. He was sentenced to death in 1982. For the next 22 years of his life, Abu-Jamal was on death row thinking that he was going to be killed. In 1999, a judge changed his sentence to life without parole instead of the death penalty.
In 1999, a man named Arnold Beverly confessed to shooting and killing officer Daniel Falkner. This confession was even proven true by a lie detector test. The Philadelphia district attorney, however, never reinvestigated Mumia’s case. Later that year, a judge upheld Mumia’s conviction and he has been incarcerated ever since.
Mumia Abu-Jamal’s thoughts on the governments “victory”
Mumia published eight books and still writes weekly columns that get published all around the world. In those he did not only try to justify his innocence, but also spread the truth about prisons. One of his books was “All Things Censored”, which consists of many short letters that describe different aspects of prison life – the true way.
Prisons are here to provide a space for bad people. They have been designed by our society and run by the government. From a justice point of view, prisons are here to punish those who disobey the law in a fair way. In other words, it is a status symbol that the government is above everyone and that they can win against everyone. In one of his letter, Mumia Abu – Jamar is questioning the government’s victory, and asks how ethical it truly is.
He begins by saying that the drive to learn in prison is high. People are bored, they have nothing to do but maybe workout. The only books, if at all, allowed in the cells are often only the Bible and other Religious texts and non-controversial articles. Humans need to keep their minds going. If we stop thinking, we become emotionless. The problem is that there is no material to educate yourself, “without schoolbooks, how can it be done?” (Abu – Jamal, 59). He asks what the point is for someone to simply rot away in a cell, not even giving them something to do. How is that just? He is sentenced to life in prison, how is it fair that he cannot even educate himself? Is being locked up not enough of a punishment?
There is an old saying by Mao Tse-tung, who was a Chinese revolutionist in the 20th century, “Tell no lies, claim no easy victory” (Abu – Jamal, 59). Mumia connects the “claim no easy victory” part to the government. It is not hard arresting someone, lock them up, and deny their rights. It is an easy victory. Prison is all about correction, a way to show the inmates that what they did was wrong and make them learn from their mistakes. But what good is that when you cannot grow as a person? When there are no tools available behind bars? Mumia claims that there is something “sinister” about the government taking away the ability for men to learn in prison and “grow in the human pursuit of knowledge”, and calling it “correction” (Abu – Jamal, 60).
So, yes the victory is the governments since they succeeded in talking all the property of their prisoners (Abu – Jamal, 60). But he also says it is a “victory of ignorance” (Abu – Jamal, 60), since it is unethical to take away human enlightenment and justify it with state power.
The last point he makes in his letter is that if this were to happen anywhere else in the World like Cuba, Russia, China then the whole world would hear about it and act. But in the US, this is “not news fit for print” (Abu – Jamal, 60).
Response by Dario
I do agree with Mumia Abu – Jamal, it seems to be a very convenient victory for the government. Not being allowed to have access to schoolbooks in prison seems completely unjustified. If a human cannot do anything for years, then they could just as well be dead. What is the point of being locked up in to a cell for “correction” and then have no chance to grow as a person? I simply do not believe that the majority of prisoners will change under this method – but rather go back to doing the same things that got them there in the first place.
In one of the film we watched in class there was this quote “what good is working out your body, when you can’t work out your mind?” That is completely true. Sure, working out your body is a good and health way to release some steam and most likely helps a lot with coping being in prison. But a body cannot take constant workouts. The times not working out should be filled with intellectual conversations and knowledge.
We as humans are on a constant search for more knowledge. We go to school, university, we acquire experience to become better at what we do, such as jobs and hobbies, we seek discussion, and we want to apply our knowledge to make our own and other life’s better. It is what makes us human, it is what fulfills us.
I understand that taking away some of that might seem to be a good punishment. Take away what truly enlightens us and we might learn not to disobey the law. But what good does that really do? Should the government be allowed to take way what is most important for us as a species?
I agree that people who have done a serious crime, such as murder, grand theft, rape, treason, and fraud need to pay. But these people are still part of a society. They should still be able to know what is going on in the world. Perhaps some of the smartest people get locked away. What if these are the people that could solve problems in society? If they have a good idea, should we just neglect it because it comes from a person behind bars? One bad act should not define a person.
Being locked up is punishment enough. At least proved them with books and knowledge to keep their minds sharp. If they ever get out they will need to readapt to our society, but that is not possible if they had no chance to better themselves.
Mumia Abu-Jamal’s thoughts on Death Row
As a philosopher, Mumia Abu-Jamal writes on a large variety of different subjects. He writes weekly columns that are read by people around the world. One of the topics that he is the most passionate about is, obviously, the death penalty. After 22 years on death row, his opinions are very engrained in his personality. He claims that the death penalty and capital punishment are simply a tool that politicians use to gain support from citizens of the United States. Politicians, he says, use the most gruesome and violent court cases as evidence for the support of the death penalty. Using these cases, according to Abu Jamal, dehumanizes the rest of the inmates on death row. Abu-Jamal argues that these cases should not be used to represent all of the prisoners on death row. To take one extreme case and use it to justify the killing of all the inmates that are on death row is absurd.
Mumia also argues that the court system is way too broken for a practice like capital punishment. There are so many people in prison that get handed lesser sentences that death row even though they committed the same crime as a death row inmate. Another reason that Mumia argues against the death penalty is that the system is inherently. African Americans make up 9% of the overall population in Pennsylvania, but make up over 60% of the death row prison population. (Abu-Jamal) Also, the vast majority of death row inmates are very poor and cannot afford good legal representation. Should a person’s economic background dictate the prison sentence that is handed out by a judge?
One of the only arguments for the installation of the death penalty in our society is that it deters future crime. Researchers have done countless studies, and almost all of the conclusions have been that it does nothing to deter crime. Since virtually every study debunks one of the only arguments for the death penalty, then it has to be unjust.
Another topic the Mumia Abu-Jamal discusses is politics within America. He explains that many people falsely say that they are not involved with politics or do not care about it, but everyone has a role in the political system. He argues that people that are not engaged with politics are simply approving of a flawed and unjust society. Similarly He thinks that, if someone is not engaging with politics because they believe that society is run well and that there is law and order, then they are delusional. Society, he explains, is completely chaotic and disorderly and has been since the country was founded.
Mumia Abu-Jamal is an extremely passionate philosopher. He uses his situation to educate and inform others about a huge variety of issues including the prison system and capital punishment.
Response by Patrick
Mumia Abu-Jamal raises many interesting points regarding the modern prison system in the United States. Due to his incarceration and his long term on death row, I think that Abu-Jamal is an important educator and should be listened to. One of his most interesting viewpoints deals with his ideas about death row. I agree with most of what he says regarding the dehumanization of inmates that are put on death row, but I do not believe that the whole process should be abolished. Some humans, the particularly cruel people, forfeit their right to live when they commit especially heinous and gruesome crimes. I do think that it should only be used in very few situations, but it should be an option. Even if it does not deter future crime, I think that these very few situations such as terrorism deserve the death penalty.
I also think that Mumia’s stance on politics within our culture is very interesting. I definitely believe and support his claims that everyone has a role to play in the political process within our country. For a person to say that they do not care about politics is not ethical in my mind. We have people currently fighting for our freedom oversees, and it is completely disrespectful to simply brush off the political process as unimportant. If someone claims that they don’t care about politics then they are reinforcing and accepting the unjust issues in our society
Another topic that I found interesting during my research is Abu-Jamal’s idea of spirituality within prison. Jamal talks about the idea that many people experience a spiritual revival and a new sense of divine from their imprisonment. In a place that is filled with so much hatred and bitterness, the ability of the human mind to become more spiritual almost unfathomable. It may be because prisoners experience, for likely the first time in their lives, time to reflect on their lives and reexamine the choices that they have made which makes many people lean to a more spiritual nature. This interesting phenomenon seems to cast into question the legitimacy and usefulness of extremely long prison sentences and death row. If many prisoners become spiritual then they will be much less likely to commit more crimes when they get out.
Sources
Abu-Jamal, Mumia, and Noelle Hanrahan. All Things Censored. New York: Seven Stories, 2001. Print.
Abu-Jamal, Mumia. Death Blossoms: Reflections from a Prisoner of Conscience. Farmington, PA, USA: Plough Pub. House, 1997. Print.
“The Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal: An Innocent Man on Death Row.” On a Move. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.
“WHO IS MUMIA ABU-JAMAL? | Free Mumia.” Free Mumia RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2017.
Philosophy Behind Bars 