From: MUMIA ABU-JAMAL <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
REMEMBERING TOM PAINE
======================
[Col. Writ. 8/29/04] Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal
"A little matter will move a party, but it must be
something great that moves a nation."
-- Thomas Paine, *Rights of Man* (1791-92)
The name Tom Paine may be known here in America,
but it is not revered.
If he is seen as a so-called 'founding father', he
is a forgotten one, who gets few accolades, when
one compares him to his contemporaries, like
George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or
Ben Franklin.
The faces of these men emblazon U.S. currency,
and there are universities, hospitals and other
institutions that proudly bear their names.
There is a state and, of course, the nation's
capital, that bears Washington's name.
If one looks at the counties of this nation's
50 states, at least 30 states have a Washington
County; 25 counties boast a Jefferson County;
and Franklin brings up the rear with 20 counties
named after the Philadelphia scientist.
Thomas Paine, the powerful pamphleteer
who wrote the best-selling *Common Sense*,
and *Rights of Man*, writings which stirred
the hearts of American colonials against
Britain, gets nothing (while Oklahoma has a
'Payne' County, its spelling suggests it has
little to do with the revolutionary).
Paine was a poor man, who, in his 37th
year, was a failure at business, and marriage.
When his pamphlet, *Common Sense* took
off, selling about 120,000 copies in the Colonies,
he found his niche in life. It is from his writings,
that the words 'Declaration of Independence'
were first found in print, and this English-born
scribe coined the phrase, "United States of
America."
He went to France shortly after the
American Revolution, to join in the anti-royal
struggle there, later writing to Washington,
"A share in two revolutions is living to some
purpose."
Today, almost 200 years since his death,
his words, his brilliance, his clear prose and
true radicalism is little known.
I have found his works in right-wing and
libertarian book catalogs; yet few leftists quote
him, far fewer seem to study him, and few pore
through his works (outside of occasional
graduate courses).
He, as a man among the poor, wrote and
spoke about the boiling, burning issues of the
day; he opposed slavery; he opposed capital
punishment; he opposed kings and much of
organized religion with equal vigor. During
the French Revolution, he spoke out against
the execution of Louis XVI, and earned himself
a date with the guillotine. By chance, he
survived, until the cold lawyer, Robespierre
was beheaded, and in the euphoria of that
event Paine, and other political prisoners, were
freed. He never forgave his fellow American
rebels, Washington, nor Gouverneur Morris
(then U.S. representative to Paris), for not
lifting a finger to help him during his wait
for the guillotine. He would write a bitter
*Letter to Washington* (1796) where he
accused him of treachery and incompetence:
And as to you, Sir, treacherous in
private friendship (for so you have been
to me, and that in the day of danger) and
hypocrite in public life, the world will be
puzzled to decide whether you are
an apostate or an imposter; whether you
have abandoned good principles, or
whether you ever had any.
Thoroughly radical, a believer in international
revolution, an opponent of slavery, anti-death
penalty, and advocate for the poor, Thomas
Paine embodied some of the most humanistic
movements of his time.
He shouldn't be the 'forgotten founding father',
but a model of radical, and even revolutionary
activism for millions of folks today.
Ultimately, it really doesn't matter if there
are no counties named after him, or universities.
It would mean much if his radical vision lived
in the minds and hearts of young people, in
America and beyond.
Copyright 2004 Mumia Abu-Jamal
[Check out Mumia's latest: *WE WANT FREEDOM:
A Life in the Black Panther Party*, from South
End Press (www.southendpress.org); Ph.
#1-800-533-8478.]
===============================
"When a cause comes along and you know in your bones that it is
just, yet refuse to defend it--at that moment you begin to die.
And I have never seen so many corpses walking around talking about
justice." - Mumia Abu-Jamal
MUMIA'S COLUMNS NEED TO BE PUBLISHED AS BROADLY
AS POSSIBLE TO INSPIRE PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENT AND
HELP CALL ATTENTION TO HIS CASE.
The campaign to kill Mumia is in full swing and we need you to
**please** contact as many publications and information outlets as
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**especially off-line**)!! The only requirements are that you run
them *unedited*, with every word including copyright information
intact, and send a copy of the publication to Mumia and/or ICFFMAJ.
THANK YOU!!!
Keep updated by reading ACTION ALERTS!!
at www.mumia.org and its links.
========================================
To download Mp3's of Mumia's commentaries visit
www.prisonradio.org or www.fsrn.org
==============================================>
The Power of Truth is Final -- Free Mumia!
PLEASE CONTACT:
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Phone - 215-476-8812/ Fax - 215-476-6180
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AND OFFER YOUR SERVICES!
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Waynesburg, PA 15370
WE WHO BELIEVE IN FREEDOM CAN *NOT* REST!!
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