Wednesday, 28 May, 5:30 pm.
1050 2nd Ave–the Great Room, La Escuelita Education Center–a block up 2nd Ave from Laney College
Please attend this important protest!
We are also asking supporters of Mumia to write emails to the Oakland School Board. Please see below.
Under pressure from the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and Fox News, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) recently shut down the entire “Urban Dreams” website, including material on Mumia Abu-Jamal authored by Oakland teacher Craig Gordon. Mumia was framed by the Philadelphia police and falsely convicted of murdering a Philadelphia policeman in 1982, a murder he did not commit.
“Urban Dreams” was initially set up under a grant from the Federal Department of Education in 1999-2004. It contains teacher-written material on a wide variety of issues and is used extensively in California and beyond.
The FOP recently succeeded in defeating Obama’s nominee to head the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, Debo Adigbele, because he served for a period of time as Mumia’s attorney. Now the FOP is attacking a lesson that asks students to compare the censorship of Martin Luther King’s later, thoroughly radical positions with the censorship of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s writings from prison.
OUSD is censoring and attacking the academic freedom of Oakland’s students and teachers. This shameful action must be reversed immediately!
Oakland Teachers of Mumia is asking people to write an email complaining to the Oakland Unified School District requesting that they put “Urban Dreams” back online. Please support Mumia by writing an email to the following individuals:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
And please forward this message!
http://indymedia.us/or/2009/
Martin Luther King III says Mumia Abu-Jamal and the MOVE 9 are unjustly incarcerated
Speech by MLK III | 01.21.2008
My father’s words that, “Freedom only comes through persistent agitation, through persistent rising up”, were true in 1982 when Mumia Abu Jamal was unjustly convicted for the death of a Philadelphia policeman because he dared to use national air-waves to agitate for the rights of MOVE and for racial and economic justice. They are true today as we continue to fight for his freedom….We live in a society shrouded in hypocrisy, a nation that expects its children to abhor violence but takes every opportunity to promote the “might is right” philosophy….While we promote the notion throughout the world that America’s system of justice in colorblind, we live with the reality that racism is inherent in every single facet of our criminal justice system….From the aerial bombing of MOVE to the unjust incarceration of MOVE members, Mumia Abu-Jamal and countless others; to the unjustified and unpunished killings and beatings of people of color; to the “blue mentality” pervading police forces across the country that rewards brutal behavior; to the increasing incidents of police abuse and harassment of even white Americans, we understand the need to continue and remain steadfast in our struggle for freedom. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s journey began in Montgomery with civil rights and ended in Memphis with human rights. SCLC’s current support of human rights around the world is consistent with our support of the rights of MOVE.
This message is from the Labor Action Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal