We must fight to change history
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.
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.
