[Reader-list] " We must fight to change history"- Mumia Abu -Jamal addressing Socialism 2009 Conference in Chicago, hosted by Campaign to End the Death Penalty

[Venugopalan K M]

We must fight to change history

July 7, 2009

Mumia Abu-Jamal is one of America's most famous political prisoners. Falsely
convicted of shooting Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and
sentenced to death in 1982, Mumia's trial was notoriously corrupt--with
prosecutors keeping Blacks offthe jury and judge Albert Sabo overheard
commenting that he was "going to help 'em fry the nigger."

Since his conviction, Mumia, a former Black Panther and journalist, has
tirelessly spoken out from behind bars as a "voice for the voiceless," even
as he has fought for his own freedom.

He delivered the following remarks via speakerphone to a meeting at the
recent Socialism 2009 conference in Chicago--the session was hosted by
the Campaign
to End the Death Penalty <http://nodeathpenalty.org/content/index.php>.

[image: Protesting in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal in San Francisco (Danny
Howard)]Protesting in support of Mumia Abu-Jamal in San Francisco (Danny
Howard)

WE'RE ALL alive at an amazing hour in American and world history. Like many
of our grandparents--in my case, my parents--we're living an age of truly
momentous economic upheaval, when temples we once thought were impervious to
the passage of time are crumbling before our eyes. When I speak of temples,
I speak not of religion, but of wealth and corporate power.

Why is this relevant to a group of abolitionists like you all? Because as
industry slows, as unemployment rises, as tax bases dwindle into dust,
states begin looking into expenditures, and the death penalty fails, if not
on moral grounds, than on the basis of economics. It costs too much.

The governors of quite a few states did simple cost-benefit analyses, and
reasoned that housing costs, staffing costs as well as trial and appellate
costs, are simply too much for cash-strapped states to bear.

It's racist, yes. But they can afford that. Is it unjust? Yes, but they can
afford that. Does it violate the Constitution and international law? Yes,
but they've tolerated such violations for decades. In a capitalist state, it
comes down to money.

Does that mean don't organize? No. Does mean people can just wait? No. As
socialists and other radicals have learned anything, it's that nothing is
inevitable.

Marx said, "History does nothing. It 'possesses *no* immense wealth,' it
'wages *no* battles.' It is, rather, *man*, real living man who does all
that, who posses and fights." Today, feminists would rush to edit his words
to include women, and they would be right. Men and women. And youngsters and
abolitionists must struggle and fight to change lives and history.

That's part of what you're doing today. What is broken either must be fixed
or replaced. Who can deny that the system is broken today? Will it be fixed
or replaced? That's for you to decide, that's for all of us to decide.

I thank you all. Ona move, long live John Africa, long live revolution.