October 3, 1996
Long Live John Africa's Revolution!
Dear Brothers, Sisters, Friends and Supporters:
Ona Move!
As we embark on the latest season of resistance, I am compelled, by circumstance, to write the following to you.
We have grown, and are still growing, by leaps and bounds, and by so doing, we have spread the seeds of resistance far and wide!
That is a very good thing, evidenced by the hard and heroic work of many good folks, many of whom are reading this very letter.
Good work y'all! I thank alla y'all!
It ain't been easy with an enemy this greasy; people have been beaten and busted from Vermont to Minnesota; from Philly to Frisco! Some of us have learned first-hand, the bitter lessons of the "law" of the outlaw, the system's attacks on so-called "free" people, who only dared to try to speak freely. Dig this: if you gotta fight for it, get beaten, lied on and judicially spat on for practicing it, then it ain’t free is it?
Has it ever been?
Also not free is my lawyers.
We been blessed to have so able and committed a team, led by the brilliant Leonard Weinglass, Esq., who joined when this movement could hardly fill a room.
Len and Co. have fought hard, with meager resources, against the state.
Legal fundraising has primarily been done by the International concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal (through the Black United Fund) and the Committee to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal (through the Bill of Rights Foundation, New York City), who, for the most part, have made sure our lawyers had the vital resources needed to pay investigators, to serve subpoenas, to hire experts--in short, to fight in a court of unprecedented hostility and unbridled petulance.
The Juristic Journal, American Lawyer, (December 1995) wrote, of our recent PCRA hearing, the following on the nature of the court, "Judge Sabo flaunted his bias, oozing partiality toward the prosecution and crudely seeking to bully Weinglass, whose courtroom conduct was as correct as Sabo's was crass." We are in a fight, y'all.
There have been many who have fought with their feet, their pens, or with their paint brushes--some have fought with their prayers--all valuable in this battle, and each deeply appreciated by my family1 my friends and myself. I thank you all.
To those who have helped, (or who want to help) in the courtroom batt1es~ please accept my thanks for working with the groups mentioned above.
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Send contributions for legal defense payable to Black United Fund/Mumia Abu- Jamal (earmarked Legal Defense) and mail to: Black United Fund, 2227 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19132; or payable to Bill of Rights Foundation (earmarked "Mumia Abu-Jamal Legal Defense") and mail to: Committee to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal, 163 Amsterdam Avenue, No. 115, New York, New York 10023-5001.
As you can see from the date of this letter this struggle has been a long one with EJ he has given them a year and a half to straighten things out before this. The most determental thing EJ did was to deny the mailing list especially when we were trying to inform people about the Tribunal in December. Jane refused to share the list and also refused to do a mailing. That refusal was in my opinion the straw that broke the camels back, however, Mumia and MOVE still gave EJ the benefit of the doubt and time to come around.
If you have any further quesitons, please don't hesitate to ask
Susan Burnett International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal Secretary to Mumia Abu-Jamal 203-847-6721 (Norwalk, CT)