reviewed by a RAIL Comrade
(edited by MIM)
Mumia Abu-Jamal is one of the most widely known political activists in the United $tates today. Some of these commentaries were originally recorded for the show All Things Considered on National Public Radio. But NPR decided not to air the commentaries due to police pressure, hence the name of the CD. But Mumia was able to gain support from others in order to get his message out to the public. MIM Notes has reported on Pacifica Radio's airing of Mumia's commentaries in the past (which led some Pacifica affiliates to drop that network's programs).
In addition to 16 Mumia essays, seventeen of his famous supporters recorded supportive introductions to the Mumia commentaries. These introductions represent a wide spectrum from actors to Assata Shakur to Howard Zinn. Even a retired Black cop participated, saying that Mumia was censored because his "voice threatens the smooth and orderly function of both state sanctioned murder and modern slavery."
This CD provides a thorough criticism of the current system here in the United $tates. Mumia's vast knowledge, poetic voice, and political consciousness all make this CD worth a listen. In track 4, "War on the Poor," Mumia describes how the system differs in its treatment of the rich versus the poor. "The only apparent solution to the scourge of homelessness is to build more and more prisons." He goes on to state statistics on poverty, showing how it falls disproportionately on the Black nation.
Mumia closes by saying, "It must come from the poor, a rebellion of the spirit that re-affirms their intrinsic human worth, based upon who they are rather than what they possess." MIM points out that the majority of people in the United $tates are rich, relative to the rest of the world, and the principal contradiction is actually between the oppressed internal semi-colonies (Blacks, Latino and First Nations within U$ borders) and the imperialist white nation.
In track 6, "Media is the Mirage," Mumia criticizes the bourgeois media as being geared towards entertainment, rather than education. He asks why people are so misinformed when our resources and technology are so great. And he answers that the media is driven by profit and corporate interests. This is why it is so important to build independent media. MIM and RAIL have done this with our newspapers and publications, RAIL's radio show, and our webpages. But obviously there is much work to be done, since MIM does not possess the capital that the corporate media do. It is our goal to get the resources and technology available in all fields and to apply them in ways that best serve the majority of the people rather than the imperialist bankers and corporations.
To Mumia's analysis, MIM adds that the bourgeois-owned media did not become so devoid of useful content on their own. Because even those who are nationally oppressed in this country are not majority proletarian, we must analyze this country's culture and leisure time pursuits closely. Most people in the u.$. devote well over half their time to leisure ITAL during their working years END; the proportion of time spent on leisure explodes when we look at the full lifetime of a u.$. citizen -- from late starts on employment to early retirements. The emphasis on entertainment even in so-called news media is a reflection of how much time people here spend at leisure. For this reason people in this country are most interested in news that is devoid of meaningful political content and packed with gossip, sex and sports.
Of course, Mumia spends some time discussing the MOVE movement, and the violent repression it faces by the state, which he reported on extensively before being locked up. He points out that the police repression has only encouraged more people to join in the struggle. Another track criticizes the hypocrisy of Christians for worshipping god while serving the dollar, pointing out that Jesus was a poor man on death row.
Many of the chapters of this CD focus on criticizing the U$ injustice system. In "When Ineffective Means Effective," Mumia describes how the constitutional right to assistance of counsel is said to be fulfilled even if an appointed lawyer sleeps through parts of the trial or is high during the proceedings. Mumia puts no weight in the words that are supposed to provide us with certain rights under democracy, and neither does MIM. In "No Law, No Rights" Mumia describes how this is especially true in prisons. This is clear in the letters that MIM receives from prisoners all over the country describing repressive conditions, which we publish in our biweekly newspaper.
One notable disagreement with Mumia's commentaries is with track 24 "NAFTA: A Pact Made in Hell." It's simply not true that "NAFTA pulls the plug out of the tub, and quickens the economic whoosh down the drain for U.$. labor." While NAFTA and similar agreements has been a blow to some U.$. workers, but not for the group as a whole. The bulk of workers in North Amerika are in alliance with the bourgeoisie against the Third World for a share of super profits. The whooshing sound that Mumia and Ross Perot talk about it not labor getting sucked down, it's the entire Amerikan nation sucking up the blood and sweat soaked labor of the Mexican people.
Mumia ends the commentary: "Consider any politician's stand on NAFTA and you will know whether he supports the rights of those who labor, or those who boss and profit from labor." Among others, the Klu Klux Klan, Ross Perot, Patrick Buchanan and Strom Thurman all oppose NAFTA. These reactionaries don't support those who labor, they support the Amerika-first bourgeoisie and the labor aristocracy afraid of losing jobs. The real laboring masses are those in the Third World whose suffering under U.$. imperialism began long before NAFTA.
In track 12, Mumia describes how the death penalty is only considered as a punishment for the poor, obviously an issue he's had a lot of experience with. He ends the CD comparing the United $tates to South Africa, pointing out that at least South Africa has declared the death penalty unconstitutional. MIM adds that the United $tates incarcerates a greater number of Blacks than apartheid South Africa ever did. It is obvious that U$ imperialism is alive both at home and abroad. MIM encourages all who agree to join our campaigns in opposition to this system.
All Things Censored is available from RAIL by sending $15 made out to MIM to the address on page 2. Or you can order them from Prison Radio/Quixote, PO Box 411074, San Francisco, CA 94141 415 648 4505. Prison Radio sells single copies for $15 (including shipping) and orders of 10 or more are $6.50 each plus 5% for shipping. Excerpts from this CD can also be heard on RAIL's radio program on prisons: Under Lock and Key.
Source: MIM Notes 135 1 April, 1997.