Apsken at aol.com wrote:
>
> This thread has included a lot of heated exchange, but not much
> principle. In a campaign to free a prisoner, participants have no legitimate
> right to demand that the campaign be democratic.
Of course they do and I'm sure that Mumia would agree with me. Any movement towards an egalitarian society must mean that our methods try to be consistent with our goals.
Mumia's life is at stake,
> not yours.
That is irrelevant. Phrases like this are used to duck criticism and to maintain authoritarianism within the movement. It is because Mumia's life is at stake that I make these criticisms. I want to see the movement use the best methods to free him and end the death penalty, whatever methods those may be. Unlike Cooper, I think Mumia's freedom is worth fighting for, despite these problems.
How do you gain the right to decide strategy for a campaign whose
> outcome will determine not your life or death, but his?
It's not my goal to gain the right to decide strategy. But it is the goal of some people who wish to use his case for their own political gain. Mumia's face sells Commie newspapers. I'm simply pointing out that people who are in the "leadership" of authoritarian Left organizations have finagled their way into the group that decides strategy for the Mumia movement. This is no conspiracy theory; just examine the name and affiliations of those who sign the "calls" for any national action.
Only he has the right
> to determine the line and leadership of the campaign to free him.
Of course he has the right to determine who will represent his interests. He has designated MOVE. I can respect that, but I have the right to criticize them. If he wants the focus to be on his legal campaign, I'll send money for that.
Remember, he's on death row. His perception of the support movement is filtered by those that have access to him. I know from my experience that he isn't being told the full story. I could explain more, but that's a long story that I don't want to type in.
If you
> disagree, you can either keep your disagreement to yourself, or find another
> activity.
What? Why should I keep my disagreement to myself? How is Mumia's interests being served by activists silencing themselves? What should we do if an incompetent leader were to take the reigns of the support campaign? Your suggestion sounds awfully authoritarian to me.
A hallmark of Trotskyist and Maoist sectarianism during the 1970s
> was their attempts to impose "democratically" their own slogans and leaders
> on political prisoners' cases as a condition of support.
I don't see how this is relevant. I'm speaking as a person who has been involved in the Mumia support campaign for 5 years. If you ask anybody who worked with me in the former D.C. Coalition to Free Mumia, they will tell you that I never wore my ideology on my sleeve. I'm sure many folks with activist experience can tell you stories about what happens when an egalitarian support group becomes hierarchized.
To their great
> credit, during the 1970s when dozens of such struggles were waged
> successfully, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
> (formerly the Committee to Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners) and
> the Workers World Party did not place such demands on the prisoners who
> needed support.
Well, good for them. Do they engage in internal criticism, or do they march lockstep in place in the interest of "unity?" I suspect that the latter is the approach taken by the sectarian Left groups who are heavily involved in Mumia support. They rely heavily on Mumia's cause to recruit new members and sell newspapers. They wouldn't risk rocking the boat to jeopardize such a lucrative ideological cash cow.
To her credit, Pam Africa told one group of newspaper-selling parasites to leave a Mumia rally. It would be nice if MOVE told everybody to leave their newspapers at home.
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