The March 11 Bearing Witness program, as viewed by live stream at the ILWU, longshore workers union local 10 hall in San Francisco, was wonderful and inspiring. Local 10 and the Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal co-sponsored the live stream preceded by a report back from longshore delegates who went to South Africa last month to build international support—mainly in Africa—for Mumia. So, before the live stream of the Bearing Witness event, we heard 4 longshore workers speak about their experience and we viewed a short video of a militant demonstration of the largest union in South Africa, NUMSA for freeing Mumia.
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Akiko Hoshino, Chair of the Hoshino Defense Committee (Japan), Letter to Governor Tom Wolf
Demand for Mumia-Abu Jamal’s release
December 29, 2020
Dear Governor Wolf,
I am Akiko Hoshino, Co-chair of Hoshino Defense Committee, and the wife
of the innocent prisoner Fumiaki Hoshino who died last year in prison
after 44 years detention. On November 14, 1971 he led a demonstration
against the Okinawa Reversion Agreement between the U.S and Japan and
was sentenced to indefinite term imprisonment for framed-up charge of
killing a policeman. There was no physical evidence at all; only forced
eyewitness testimonies of juvenile participants of the demonstration
were the incriminating evidence. The “most competent evidence” was
that a juvenile saw a man in beige jacket beating the policeman and he was
Hoshino. However, according to the physical evidence found out later,
Hoshino wore light blue jacket and gray trousers.
OEA Statement on Colin Kaepernick’s Call for Mumia’s Freedom
The Oakland Education Association (OEA), representing nearly 2,800 educators in the Oakland Unified School District, applauds Colin Kaepernick’s statement calling for freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal. In a video statement, Kaepernick documented how nearly 40 years ago Abu-Jamal was framed for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer, framed by a police department notorious for its systematic racist brutality and for tampering with evidence to convict the innocent.
Kaepernick himself has been blackballed by the NFL for protesting police violence against the African American community since he first took a knee as an SF 49er. His courage in the forefront of anti-racist struggle inspired much of the NFL to take a knee, leading athletes to protest police violence and to boycott sporting events following the murder of George Floyd.
Oakland Education Association: “Do the Right Thing”
The following email was sent to Philadelphia District Attorney, Larry Krasner, by OEA President Keith Brown.
You can reach Larry Krasner at [email protected].
Dear District Attorney Krasner,
Teachers and educators call on you to do the right thing. Do not stand in the way of justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Do not appeal Judge Tucker’s decision. As a progressive attorney you ran for Philadelphia District Attorney on a platform that included standing for justice, not just for convictions. You promoted reviewing past convictions and freeing the wrongfully convicted. In Philadelphia, Abu-Jamal’s frame-up stands out as the city’s most notorious wrongful conviction. I urge you to allow Mumia Abu-Jamal to go forward with re-arguing his appeals, which Judge Tucker states “would best serve the appearance of justice.”
Sincerely,
Keith D. Brown
President, Oakland Education Association
LAC Salutes Howard Keylor
The following letter was distributed at the December 9, 2018 tribute at International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 10 for longtime Labor Action Committee member Howard Keylor.
Click here for a PDF of the letter
Dear Howard,
The Labor Action Committee to Free Mumia (LAC) sends its revolutionary greetings to you, our comrade of many years and many struggles.
As you remember, in 1998 you participated in the picket of the Neptune Jade in the Bay Area in defense of 500 locked-out Liverpool Dockers. Mumia Abu-Jamal headed the list of endorsers of that successful expression of international labor solidarity. The Neptune Jade picket sparked off the blockade of the ship in three countries. It was the inspiration for creating the LAC, and you were there when it happened.