Mumia Abu-Jamal

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?


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      PRAISE FOR MUMIA ABU-JAMAL

      “Abu-Jamal’s writing tends to be forceful, outraged, and humorous, but he also engages in the bombastic approaches of another era. . . . The author offers powerful columns on diverse subjects ranging from the plight of black farmers to the crushing of dissent after 9/11. Some remain all too relevant—e.g., those decrying systemic police brutality as seen in flashpoints from Rodney King to Ferguson or the rise of racial disparities in drug sentencing. Abu-Jamal meditates on central figures in the black political narrative, ranging from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Trayvon Martin. . . . These topical essays [from 1982 to 2014] testify to the effects of incarceration on mind and spirit. While his prose has sharpened over time, Abu-Jamal remains enraged and pessimistic about an America that, in his view, remains wholly corrupt: ‘[Blacks] know from bitter experience that while Americans may say one thing, they mean something quite different.’”

      —Kirkus Reviews for Writing on the Wall

      “Hope and the seeds of revolution can come from the depths of isolation. Writing from his cell on death row, where he was held in solitary confinement for nearly 30 years, Abu-Jamal has long been a loud and clear voice for all who suffer injustice, racism, and poverty. Edited by [Johanna] Fernández, this selection of 100 previously unpublished essays includes a foreword by Cornel West.”

      —Evan Karp, SF Weekly for Writing on the Wall

      “The power of his voice is rooted in his defiance of those determined to silence him. Magically, Mumia’s words are clarified, purified by the toxic strata of resistance they must penetrate to reach us. Like the blues. Like jazz.”

      —John Edgar Wideman

      “Mumia refuses to allow his spirit to be broken by the forces of injustice; his language glows with an affirming flame.”

      —Jonathon Kozol

      “Mumia is a dramatic example of how the criminal justice system can be brought to bear on someone who is African American, articulate, and involved in change in society. The system is threatened by someone like Mumia. A voice as strong and as truthful as his—the repression against him is intensified.”

      —Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking

      “Brilliant in its specificity and imperative, Mumia Abu-Jamal’s work is about why multitudes of people don’t overcome. It rings so true because he has not overcome.”

      —LA Weekly

      “Expert and well-reasoned commentary on the justice system. . . . His writings are dangerous.”

      —The Village Voice

      “Uncompromising, disturbing . . . Abu-Jamal’s voice has the clarity and candor of a man whose impending death emboldens him to say what is on his mind without fear of consequence.”

      —The Boston Globe

      “Abu-Jamal, a gifted and controversial Philadelphia journalist, [has an] ever-lucid voice and humanistic point of view. [His essays are] eloquent and indelible.”

      —Booklist (starred review) for All Things Censored

      “Like the most powerful critics in our society—Herman Melville . . . to Eugene O’Neil—Mumia Abu-Jamal forces us to grapple with the most fundamental question facing this country: what does it profit a nation to conquer the whole world and lose its soul?”

      —Cornel West

       HAVE BLACK LIVES

       EVER MATTERED?

      Mumia Abu-Jamal

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      City Lights Books | Open Media Series

      Copyright © 2017 Mumia Abu-Jamal

      All Rights Reserved

      Open Media Series editor: Greg Ruggiero

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file

      ISBN: 9780872867383 (paperbound), 9780872867390 (ebook)

      City Lights Books are published at the City Lights Bookstore

      261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94133

       www.citylights.com

       CONTENTS

       Introduction: Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?

       Hate Crimes

       June 14, 1998

       The Law Against the Law

       June 20, 1998

       We Are Blind to Everything but Color

       July 5, 1998

       A History of Betrayal

       October 29, 1998

       Legalized Police Violence

       March 28, 1999

       The Folly of Calling the FBI

       April 18, 1999

       Where Is the Outrage?

       1999

       What Is the Fourth of July For?

       June 19, 1999

       Public Servants or Paid Predators?

       February 27, 2000

       Cincinnati Fires

       April 17, 2001

       Aiding and Abetting “Bombingham”: The FBI

       May 28, 2001

       Of Cops and Courts