What's Going On???

What is going on? That’s
what Marvin asked back in 1971. Why are our brothers dying; why are our mother’s crying?

These questions have been ringing out within the black and
poor communities around the country for the last two months; to be more specific since my childhood. Watching documentaries like Eyes on the Prize, where images of Emmett Till, Fred Hampton, and the three civil rights leaders killed in the summer of 64, June 21st in Philadelphia, Mississippi flashed across the living room TV screen scarring me with the reality of “one
nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

I asked myself, what is going on? Why this hate; this utter contempt for human
life that the system choses to see more value in the respect of animals then
that of young children shot down dead with no semblance of justice?

These questions began to resurface recently through the daily organic people’s news and information source that comes across the Facebook status feed.

In early February there was a story that got minimal coverage from local news about a young black boy name, Ramarley Graham, 18, in Queens, NY. He
was chased into his home by NYPD and shot at close range dead for alleged possession
of marijuana while his grandmother was in the house.

Then another story came through the Facebook feed a few weeks later about a 17 year old unarmed black boy, name Trayvon Martin, who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, 28, self-appointed neighborhood watch attendant.

Four days later, Mar. 1, the news of two brothers Justin Sipp, 20 and Earl Sipp, III, 23, appeared, shot in New Orleans, LA where Justin was killed in a routine traffic stop that turned into a deadly shootout leaving two police officers wounded. New Orleans is no stranger to police misconduct and brutality, especially since the conviction of five police officers found guilty
for the killing of two black unarmed men, James Brissette, 17, and Ronald
Madison, 40 a few days after Hurricane Katrina devastated the gulf coast.

Attention began to grow around the Trayvon Martin case as information about Zimmerman’s non arrest began to flood Facebook status’ all over the country in Black communities, creating public outcries; but while this was going another unarmed black boy, Dane Scott Jr. 18, was shot from behind and killed after a highway chase with the police on March 14, 2012 in Del City,
OK. Since this shooting an investigation has been requested by state lawmaker, Rep. Mike Shelton, on the shooting death of this teen, but no confirmed status was provided at press time.

As millions sign the change.org petition demanding the arrest of Zimmerman, and thousand others from around the country participate in protest and candlelight vigils, another young person was shot by an off duty police officer in Chicago.

This time a young woman, Rekia Boyd, 22, an innocent bystander shot in the head whiling walking alongside a man who was alleged to have had a gun but only charged with a misdemeanor for aggravated assault.

“I think the latest killing of African people is nothing more but a continuation of the war on Black,” said Natasha Danielle, Philadelphia activist and mother of two young girls.

These attacks by the state and their self-appointed vigilantes become more credulous when juxtaposed upon the 30 plus years of torturous and inhumane conditions we find political prisoners like Russell Maroon Shoats, Lenard Peltier, Eddie Marshall Conway, and Mumia Abu Jamal, just to name a few, living through in the bowels of the criminal justice system.

“The Mumia struggle is not an isolated incident, but another incident on how the state seeks to remove revolutionary forces out our community,” continued Danielle.

A call for retribution has been offered; a proverbial eye for an eye. Since the lives of these young men and women cannot be brought back the demand of freedom for all political prisoners has been issued to the Justice Department.

Thousands will meet in Washington DC, April 24th, Jamal’s 58th birthday, to demand justice for these youth and countless others who’ve been victimized by mass incarcerations and economically starved into a new Jim Crow caste system.

A coalition based call lead by the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal, Educators for Mumia, the Free Mumia Coalition, and the Millions for Mumia began planning immediately after the Dec. 9, 2011 National Constitution Center event where over 1,100 people were re-engaged into the cases of Jamal and other political prisoners and a call of action was put out by Jamal’s 87 year old literary agent to, “Occupy the Justice Department!”

The coalition joined with organizations like Occupy for Prisoners, Decarcerate PA, Occupy Philly, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy NOW DC, and others to converge on the justice department demanding the end of mass incarcerations, the end of solitary confinement, torture, and the death penalty, hands of immigrants, the release of all political prisoners, and jobs, education, health care not jails.

The demonstration will serve as a celebratory event for the victory the people won in getting Jamal removed off of death row. A civil disobedience action will also take place stressing the immediacy of the need to right the wrongs of this unjust judicial system, The civil disobedience
will be lead by public figures like Danny Glover, M1 from Deadprez, Norman Finklestein, and Frances Fox Pixen to name a few.

When asked why he is willing to put himself on the line, M1 from Deadprez said “I’m challenging the system all the way live; if they don’t acquiesce to what we say is going down, then got dammit take me to jail! On behalf of my freedom fighter, my elder, my teacher, my leader - Mumia Abu Jamal – we salute to you. We’ll see you on the other side; we’re gonna get you free, freedom is what this is about. Power to the people. April 24th, I’ll see you there!”

To obtain more information about the day’s action and to
sign the pledge to be present, April 24th you can go to the website,