Wednesday, March 3rd, 2021
Dear friends,
Today we write to you with serious news. Mumia Abu-Jamal is experiencing a severe decline in health and we must act now to secure his release from prison.
While Mumia Abu-Jamal— the 66 year old award winning journalist, former Black Panther, and US political prisoner— has been ill for years with Hepatitis C and other ailments, he is having difficulty breathing and chest pains. Like so many incarcerated elders, he is vulnerable to COVID-19 behind bars. We must act now.
For 39 years, a wide coalition of solidarity organizers have worked tirelessly to release Mumia from prison, where he is unjustly incarcerated for a crime he did not commit, and to abolish the prison industrial complex. After 25 years, organizers were successful in removing him from death row— but the fight continues for his release and the abolition of the prison industrial complex.
Today we must make phone calls and demand Mumia's release.
Here is who we are targeting:
OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR
TOM WOLF
(717) 787- 2500
OFFICE OF MAHANOY PRISON SUPERINTENDENT
BERNADETTE MASON
(570) 773-2158
OFFICE OF PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY
LARRY KRASNER
(215) 686-8000
OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS
JOHN WETZEL
(717) 728-2573
Here is our script:
Hello my name is _____ and I demand the immediate and unconditional release of Mumia-Abu Jamal, who is ill and vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 behind bars. I also demand the immediate release of all political prisoners and the release of all elders, aging prisoners over the age of 50, and all others who are especially vulnerable to death through COVID-19. We demand that Mumia be medically treated in a hospital and released immediately!
As you may know, Mumia Abu-Jamal is a beloved member of the War Resisters League community who wrote for us extensively on the connections between the military-industrial complex and the prison industrial complex. We recognized his enduring bravery of thought, commitment to racial justice, and continued fight for liberation from tyranny in 2015 with our Peace Award. It is because of our commitment to resisting war at home and abroad that we say: Free Mumia and all political prisoners! Free all elderly and aging prisoners! Free all medically vulnerable prisoners! Abolish prisons!
Please join us in amplifying this call to action and forward this email to your friends and family. To get more directly involved with efforts to free Mumia and abolish prisons, check out the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
In solidarity,
War Resisters League
Read: Mumia Abu-Jamal has COVID-19, supporters say at rally in Philly, demanding his release from prison. Philadelphia Inquirer.
Watch: Free Mumia Abu-Jamal NOW: March 3 Press Conference
