AS ACTIVISTS across the country prepare for a national day of action to get justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a state judge rejected Mumia's plea for a new trial.

Mumia Abu-Jamal, a Black journalist, was already a well-known critic of Philadelphia police brutality when he was framed for the murder of Officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death in 1981.

In cities across the country, activists will mark the 20th anniversary of Mumia's death sentence with protests and marches.

In late November, Common Pleas Judge Pamela Dembe refused to grant Mumia a new trial, ruling out any opportunity for a new round of state-court appeals. Mumia has argued that his former lawyers were ineffective and that new evidence--a 1999 affidavit signed by a man named Arnold Beverly confessing to Faulkner's murder--clears Mumia of the crime.

Dembe's decision leaves Mumia's fate in the hands of Federal District Court judge William Yohn--who has already rejected the testimony of Beverly. Meanwhile, police in both Baltimore and Philadelphia have been harassing activists for putting up posters to mobilize people for the December 8 day of action.

We won't be intimidated. Winning justice for Mumia will require pressure in the streets.

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