ID Number: 11627
Maker: Artist Unknown
Technique: offset
Date Made: 2000
Place Made: Germany: Berlin
Measurements: 56.5 cm x 42 cm; 22 1/4 in x 16 9/16 in
Main Subject: Mumia Abu-Jamal; Political Prisoners; Capital Punishment
Materials: paper (fiber product)
Digitized: Y

Full Text:
Für das Leben und die Freiheit von Mumia Abu-Jamal und allen politischen Gefangenen! Abschaffung der Todesstrafe! "Meine grösse Angst ist momentan, dass viele meiner Unterstützerlnnen denken, meine sogenannte Prominenz würde mich davor schützen hingerichtet zu werden. Ich kann nur hoffen, daß meine Zeit abläuft und es dem Staat todernst ist, mich umzubringen" Bundesweite Demonstration Berlin 14 Uhr Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz 5. Februar 2000

Acquisition Number: 2000-028
Translation: Nationwide demonstration For the Life and Freedom of Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners! Aboliltion of Death Penalty!

Copyright Status:
Copyright status unknown; may be protected by copyright law.

Exhibition Annotation:
Mumia Abu-Jamal joined the Philadelphia Black Panthers in 1968 when he was 14 years old. At the age of 15, the Federal Bureau of Investigation—with the help of the Philadelphia Police Department—placed Mumia under surveillance in the covert Counter Intelligence Program known as Cointelpro, amassing a file on him over the next decade that would run to 700 pages. Mumia became Minister of Information for the Philadelphia Panthers. Later he became a journalist and radio commentator. He was known for his support of the activist group, MOVE, and for his condemnation of the Philadelphia police for their habitual brutality against blacks. He served as president of the Philadelphia Society of Black Journalists, and has aired on National Public Radio and National Black Network. Unable to make a living as a conventional journalist because of his controversial views, Mumia supported himself by driving a taxicab in Philadelphia. One night in 1981 he spotted a police officer beating and arresting his brother, and went to find out what was going on. At that point, Mumia’s story diverges from that of the police. The police version is that Mumia shot the police officer twice in the head. Mumia maintains that another person in the crowd that gathered shot the officer. Mumia was also shot by police and almost died that night. The main civilian witnesses at the trial were two prostitutes. One changed her description of the assailant several times. The other subsequently stated that she was under pressure by police to testify. Witnesses to support Mumia’s version were never called to testify, and many inconsistencies were not examined. The prosecutor won a death sentence. Mumia’s name is second on the list of death-row prisoners facing the electric chair. Groups such as Amnesty International, the PEN American Center and Human Rights Watch have all questioned the fairness of the trial. An international campaign is currently being waged to obtain a new trial.