supreme injustice

once again, mumia has been denied justice. this time, the supreme court refused his plea for a new trial. i don't know how many more options mumia has, but there can't be many. his treatment is such an injustice, that it's hard to even think about it. the millions who danced in the street when obama was elected surely weren't thinking of it. but, whether we think of him or not, he continues to sit in jail, as do two of the angola 3, the cuban 5, peltier, and so many more. there are thousands of poor, non white youth none of us will ever know, who sit in jail as innocent men, framed by a corrupt system that favors the wealthy and white. every year, we produce thousands of lawyers, very few of whom ever think these unpleasant thoughts. how many americans have even heard of mumia? and of those who have, how many of them favor his immediate death? and he is the most famous death row prisoner! yesterday, i saw robert hillary king, the one free member of the angola three. king spent 31 years in prison, 29 in solitary. an amazing 26 years of that time was supposedly spent by the state investigating a charge of murder against king, though the actual murderer stated several times that king had nothing to do with the killing. king was a black panther, as were/are the other two of the angola three. how many americans know this story? we speak of creeping fascism, but hasn't fascism already impacted king's life? we talk about the political prisons of soviet russia, but what of the many political prisoners within our "free" borders? we hold over 2 million men and women in prison, and continue to speak of ourselves as a free nation.

despite it all, king gave off good vibes. he smiled, told some jokes, came off as a jovial dude. i couldn't imagine being in his place. i would be so angry, so filled with rage. king has recently written a book for pm press called "from the bottom of the heap." his story, and the story of so many others unjustly imprisoned, deserves to be better known. these stories tell us about racism, about the persecution of radicals, and about the class bias inherent in our justice system. perhaps it is for these reasons that we don't know about such men. in fact, i'm sure that's the reason. such men give the lie to the myths about the fairness of our justice system. to quote lenny, in the halls of justice, the only justice is in the halls.

as it is, mumia remains in prison. i blog, which does nothing for him. i go to work, which does nothing for him. i read his writings, which does next to nothing for him.

life goes on.

for some.

free mumia!