At a moment when the nation is grappling with the realities of—and backlash to—police violence in communities of color, join the Institute for Policy Studies for a Politics and Prose talk and book signing of Writing on the Wall Selected Prison Writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal that couldn’t be more relevant, provocative or timely, and reads like a syllabus for understanding the daily civic and political realities of those marginalized by racism and class inequality.

Mumia is no stranger to such realities, and was the target of an unrelenting surveillance campaign from the time he was a 16 year-old sixties activist and long before the fateful night when he himself was shot, beaten and arrested by white Philadelphia police. From the moment he was taken into custody, Mumia has been subjected to gross violations of his rights, violations which have been well documented by Amnesty International and denounced by world leaders including Nobel Laureate, Bishop Desmond Tutu. These violations continue right up to the present time through U.S. authorities’ attempt to censor his speech and deny him adequate medical treatment
required to address his life-threatening illness. At this moment, Mumia’s medical condition is fragile and uncertain.

Writing on the Wall Selected Prison Writings of Mumia Abu-Jamal presents a selection of over 100 previously unpublished essays spanning the entire period of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s incarceration that crystallize his essential perspectives on community, politics, protest, history, social change and movement organizing in the U.S. and internationally. From discussions of Rosa Parks and Trayvon Martin, to Martin Luther King and Edward Snowden, Mumia articulates lucid, humorous and often prescient insight into the past, present and future of American politics and society. Written as radio commentaries from his prison cell on Death Row where he was held in
solitary confinement for close to 30 years, Mumia’s revolutionary perspective brims with hope, encouragement and profound faith in the possibility of social transformation.

This Politics and Prose DC book launch will begin with a conversation between Netfa Freeman and the book’s editor and close friend of Mumia, Johanna Fernández, a former Fulbright Scholar to Jordan and Assistant Professor of History at Baruch College of the City University of New York teaches US history and African American History. She is author of the forthcoming When the World Was Their Stage: A History of the Young Lords Party, 1968–1976 (Princeton University Press). Fernandez is the writer and producer of the film, Justice on Trial: the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal and she is featured in the critically acclaimed documentary about Mumia Abu-Jamal, Long Distance Revolutionary. Her writings have been published internationally, from Al Jazeera to the Huffington Post. She gives interviews often and has appeared in a diverse range of print, radio, online and televised media including DemocracyNow! with Amy Goodman, the Fox News shows Hannity and Megyn Kelley, Al Jazeera and The New York Times. She is a coordinator of the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home.

The event will include the showing of a clip from Johanna Fernandez’s film documentary, Justice On Trial detailing Mumia’s case.