Mumia+Abul-Jamal

Mumia Abu-Jamal was an African American radio journalist. His job was to dig deeper into incidents that happened in the City of Philadelphia. He had his own radio show which people listened to often.
 * by DeSean, grade 6**

In December, 1981, at the intersection of 13th and Locust streets in Philadelphia, Mumia was in a taxi when policeman Daniel Faulkner stopped traffic. Mumia saw his brother run to him and there was an exchange of gun shots. Mumia and Officer Faulkner were wounded and they were both taken to Thomas Jefferson Hospital. Mumia was treated while Officer Faulkner died.

Seven months later, Mumia was charged with first degree murder for Faulkner’s death. In court, Mumia was going to represent himself. One of the first days in court the judge revoked his chance of self-representation for being disruptive in court. Soon after the prosecutor brought in four witnesses who all said that Mumia shot Officer Faulkner on purpose.

Mumia was put on Death Row for thirty years and was taken off on December 7, 2011. It was because of his followers that he was released. Years of protesting and hard work had finally paid off. When people fought for Mumia they also fought for the rights of equality for African Americans, and the rights of every citizen of Philadelphia.

What made Mumia’s case different from others was that people thought he was a political prisoner. For thirty years people have fought for Mumia’s freedom. They thought it wasn’t fair for a person to be locked up for what he thinks about the world.