------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the May 3, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- FROM QUEBEC TO PHILADELPHIA: CAMP FREE MUMIA GAINS MOMENTUM By Monica Moorehead Organizing for the Camp Free Mumia Now activity set for the weekend of May 11-13 in Philadelphia received a tremendous boost at the Free Trade Area of the Americas protests in Quebec City April 20-22. Tens of thousands of demonstrators including youths, students, trade unionists, environmentalists and many more poured into the streets to express their opposition to the expansion of NAFTA-type policies throughout North and South America. These policies are anti-poor and anti-worker. They lead to a general lowering of wages, a deepening erosion of safety standards concerning working conditions and the environment, and destruction of local economies by the profit-hungry giant monopoly corporations. The International Action Center brought an important message to these protests: Political repression against the workers and the most oppressed is an inherent outgrowth of economic inequality. The case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the most well-known political prisoner on death row worldwide, symbolizes one of the most barbaric forms of repression inside the United States and elsewhere: racism. His case has evolved for almost two decades until it is now the pinnacle of the struggle against racist police brutality, the death penalty and the prison-industrial complex in the United States. Throughout his tortuous daily life on death row, Abu-Jamal has remained a staunch revolutionary who stands in opposition against all manifestations of global capitalist slavery. In his statement to the protestors in Quebec, Abu-Jamal called for global resistance units. Gery Armsby, a young transgender leader of the IAC, commented from the front lines when asked about the IAC's main political objectives during the Quebec City protests: "Our main thrust was to raise the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. We had hundreds of bright orange flags that read 'Free Mumia' in Spanish, French and English. "Those with us carried a big banner that read 'Build global resistance to the capitalist death machine.' We marched with these banners in the labor march for an hour, then went over to where there were confrontations at the perimeter. "People would see the banner and start chanting, 'Brick by brick, wall by wall, we're going to free Mumia Abu-Jamal.' " IAC activists from New York, Boston and elsewhere were able to hand out thousands of leaflets to demonstrators about the encampment demanding the freedom of Abu-Jamal. Many of those who took a leaflet made a commitment to participate in the encampment. Some said they want to come early to help mobilize others to come to Philadelphia--the city where Abu-Jamal was falsely convicted on July 3, 1982, after a sham of a trial for the murder of a white Philadelphia police officer. The encampment will coincide with the May 12 international day of solidarity with Mumia Abu-Jamal. Revolutionaries and activists around the world will be holding demonstrations to bring attention to his case. The motivation for the encampment is very simple: to let the powers that be and the repressive forces that protect their private property know that the movement is not going to rely on the bourgeois courts to free Abu-Jamal--that only the power of the people's movement can liberate Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners. The ruling class will receive a clear message that the two- day encampment is just a dress rehearsal for continuing organized mass resistance to their attempts to silence Abu- Jamal though a legal lynching. Activists from all over the country are being encouraged to bring their sleeping bags, tents, food and water to camp out at City Hall in Philadelphia. The encampment will begin at 5 p.m. on May 11. A hip-hop concert in support of Abu-Jamal will begin some time that evening. Organizing meetings for the encampment are taking place on Wednesday evenings in Philadelphia. The International Concerned Family and Friends for Mumia Abu-Jamal and the National People's Campaign are sponsoring these meetings. Betsey Piette, a leading member of the NPC, told Workers World: "There seems to be a high level of enthusiasm for the encampment. This past Wednesday's meeting was very well attended, including members of a hip-hop group who will be performing on May 11. They belong to a group called AWOL, an anti-military group that is involved in anti-Junior-ROTC work in area high schools. "These multinational youth are organizing an activity for May 10 to help build the encampment. Calling it 'guerrilla artists in action', they want to go around the communities in Philadelphia with a small truck and a small group of hip- hop artists and others to do outreach for the encampment, particularly targeting high schools." A welcoming committee for the May 11-13 encampment is also being organized out of these meetings to help organize logistics, including portable toilets, food, housing alternatives, medical and legal teams and much more. Readers can call 215-476-5416 or 215-724-1618 for more information about joining this committee or attending the meetings. Besides the hip-hop concert, there are two other important activities being organized in Philadelphia for that weekend. On May 12, there will be a march and rally to build support for Abu-Jamal. And on the final day of the encampment, there will be a program in tribute to those 11 children, women and men who were slaughtered by the Philadelphia authorities during the infamous MOVE bombing on May 13, 1985. Readers can go to www.mumia2000.org or www.iacenter.org to download the May 11-13 leaflet. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
