Magic Moment with Mumia & Cornel West Filmmakers delight
I was filming for my latest film 99% Occupied at the Left Forum (NYC) and captured Mumia Abu Jamal speaking by phone with Cornel West live from prison – a magic moment I want to share as a call to action.
What is so special about the video I shot was that Mumia’s call was completely unplanned and unknown to him the sister who took the call happened to be in Cornel West’s seminar at the Left Forum NYC.
I had been flitting between seminars full of juicy activism and was just about to set up my tripod to film when Pam Africa got Cornel’s attention and interrupted proceedings. It was Mumia on the phone and I was there to capture this magic moment, (albeit without a tripod).
This is the second time Ive been around with my camera and filmed Mumia talking by phone, (I feel blessed), the first being in Brixton, London my hometown, a couple years back. However what made this moment magical to me was that Mumia had just been released into the general prison population having been in solitary confinement on Death Row for nearly three decades, the majority of his life, despite his innocence and racially motivated conviction.
In the video (above) Mumia Abu Jamal speaks to Cornel West and the audience about how he’s doing and you hear his appreciation for a ‘sunny’ Sunday! H also draws our attention to the prison-industrial-complex and the injustices and inequality it highlights.
“OCCUPY the JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: TRANSFORM THE WORLD!”
Call to Action – On April 24th Mumia Abul Jamal turns 58 and his earthday is marked by a march on Washington DC to Occupy the Justice Department.
Danny Glover, Frances Fox Piven, Norman Finkelstein, M1 of Dead Prez and Talib Kweli and thousands of others to build a movement that will link the violations in Mumia’s case and his fraudulent trial to the crisis of mass incarceration, torture, death penalty, here in America and aboard.
Goals:- Release Mumia Abu-Jamal /End mass incarceration /Jobs, Education & Health Care. NOT JAILS! /End solitary confinement & stop torture /End the racist death penalty /Hands off immigrants /Free all political prisoners
http://occupythejusticedepartment.com/
UK stands in solidarity with Washington D.C. 24th apr
5-7pm DEMONSTRATE OUTSIDE the US EMBASSY
Grosvenor Square, London W1A 2LQ
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“There’s a strategic dependence on racist structures and ideologies to render mass punishment palatable and profitable”. Angela Davis
More black men are behind bars or under the watch of the criminal justice system than there were enslaved in 1850, according to Michelle Alexander in her book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” Colorlines.com
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Support 99% Occupied Film
In order to determine what it truly means to be a just society, 99% Occupied film invites us all to confront a system that tolerates racism.
Find out more about my film 99% Occupied and watch the trailer here:
99% Occupied is fiscally sponsored by Women Make Movies and will be seeking tax deductible support. If you like you can ‘like’ the page and stay in touch.
Peace
