THE NATIONAL WRITERS UNION DELEGATES ASSEMBLY PASSES RESOLUTION PUBLICIZING CENSORSHIP OF MUMIA ABU-JAMAL
On Sat., June 19, the following resolution was passed unanimously by the National Writers Union Delegates Assembly (NWU-DA):
WHEREAS in 1995 the DA called for a new trial and offered honorary membership to Abu-Jamal, which he has since accepted;
WHEREAS the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has rejected Abu-Jamal’s appeals despite a mountain of prosecutorial misconduct and he is now facing an imminent death warrant once again;
WHEREAS the effort to silence Abu-Jamal is part of a stepped-up attack on journalists;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the 1999 DA encourages each Local of the NWU to promote or participate in a public activity in the Fall of 1999 publicizing the censorship of Mumia Abu-Jamal and the chilling role censorship exerts on all writers and raising funds for Abu-Jamal’s legal defense.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan E. Davis
Susan E. Davis, a long-time member of the NWU and a delegate to the NWU-DA, initiated the formation of Writers for Mumia in the spring of 1999 as part of the Millions for Mumia mobilization.
Davis introduced the resolution with the following words:
The death penalty case of Mumia Abu-Jamal is possibly the most widely known instance of political censorship in the world today. Yet, ironically, the U.S. is the one country where it is relatively unknown. But this is largely because of censorship by the corporate-controlled media.
To encapsulate the case, Mumia is a journalist and book author who for the last 30 years ‹ since he was 15 and the Minister of Information for the Black Panther Party in Philadelphia ‹ has passionately exposed and opposed police brutality and all other forms of racism targeting people of color. Since Mumia has been on death row beginning in 1982, he has also exposed the injustices of what he calls the prison-industrial complex. The state ‹ the police, the courts, and the corporate-controlled media ‹ want to silence Mumia permanently. The ruling class wants to censor the "voice of the voiceless," as Mumia has been known since the 1970s. The state doesn’t want the horrific, racist practices designed to scapegoat and criminalize people of color, particularly African Americans, to be widely known.
The death penalty is the ultimate form of censorship. If we as writers don’t fight to save Mumia’s life, we are failing to support one of the most basic tenets of our profession. If essence, we would be failing ourselves.
This fall is a critical time to mobilize support for Mumia. Now is the time for NWU Locals to use the case to publicize censorship of writers. One major advantage of such events is that they could help promote diversity and build coalitions with other writers groups, particularly with writers of color.
I urge the union to pass this resolution for three reasons: (1) to defend the life of one of our own members*; (2) to educate the public about the sinister role of censorship in our society; and (3) to promote a strong, unified, united, diverse community of writers.
*Mumia accepted honorary membership in the NWU on May 11, 1999.
In addition, a resolution by Local 3/San Francisco Bay Area was passed by the NWU-DA on Sun., June 20, authorizing an ad campaign in the SF Bay Area slated for September 1999. The ad, to be signed by journalists, poets, and other writers, exposes the death penalty for Mumia as the ultimate form of censorship.
An event, "Writers for Mumia Speak Out Against Censorship," is scheduled to take place in New York City on Sat., Oct. 17, from 4 to 10 at The Brecht Forum, 122 W. 27th St., 10th Floor. Anyone who would like to help work on organizing the event can reach Writers for Mumia at the National Peoples Campaign at 212. 633.6646.
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