I have been aware of Mumia for as long as I can remember. That’s because he was arrested on the night I was born, for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. As my mom would often remind me, every birthday I had, has been another year that Mumia has spent in prison…. I am going on a journey to find out about the man who has been in prison my whole life.
So begins William Francome’s trip to America from London, documented by director Marc Evan in the feature In Prison My Whole Life to learn about Mumia Abu Jamal’s arrest and trial, police brutality, racism in America, our justice system and Death Row. With him we discover that Charles Graner, one of the prison guards who oversaw the torture at Abu Ghraib, had worked at the Pennsylvania prison where Mumia is incarcerated.
We see through the eyes of Black Panther members how the United States government attempted to destroy that movement–Mumia was the Philadephia branch’s Minister of Communication at age 15–and the reprehensible actions of the Philadelphia police during the two deadly attacks on MOVE, a black urban commune.
The film packs a vast amount of information about Mumia’s case into an hour and a half: Background, forensics, eye witness accounts, and new evidence are presented in a compelling manner, due in part to the use of computer graphics and music, but also because Francome is such an engaging and earnest narrator. He wants to know, he wants to learn– and as he does, so do we.
However, as much as Mumia’s supporters are willing talk, the Fraternal Order of Police and the prosecuting attorney turn down Francome’s requests for interviews, though archival footage is utilized.
From Mos Def being arrested outside the Video Music Awards to Alice walker discussing Hurrican Katrina, Angela Davis and Snoop Dogg each discussing race and politics, and Steve Earle’s recounting of being an invited guest at an execution (he was friends with the prisoner), this film packs in plenty of pop culture political commentary on America’s racist history–and all of it intelligent and thoughtful.
Along with those moments there is a chilling sense that something went very wrong at crime scene and trial, a feeling supported by recently uncovered press photographs, a feeling enhanced by the interview of Mumia’s younger brother, Billy Cook, whose beating by Officer Daniel Faulkner led to the shootings that killed him and wounded Mumia and resulted in Mumia’s trial and incarceration. Billy Cook admits he was too afraid for his life to be a witness at his brother’s first trial, and that he is still afraid for his life. He does say that if a retrial happens, he will speak up.How did a witness who was in Cook’s car that night, end up handcuffed naked in a parking lot dead form "natural causes"? Why did witnesses’ stories change?
In Prison My Whole Life will air Dec 17 on the Sundance Channel
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Hi William, thanks for staying up so late–it’s 1am in London, and we appreciate it so…and what an awesome documentary you inspired. It really brought to case to life for me, and in parts it was like a police procedural drama. You totally helped bring to light new evidence. Thank you for the film.
Good Evening. Thanks for having me and paying attention to the film. It is late here, but nice to be able to take part in this.
A brief recap for those unfamiliar with the case: Mumia, who worked as a cab driver to suppliment his income as a journalist, saw an officer beating a man..and he realized the victim was his younger brother Billy. Shots were fired, the officer died and Mumia was arrested…
From there, the trial was flawed…and there was a rush to injustice. The jury was tainted, evidence was falsified and now Mumia is on Death Row.
His death penalty was over turned and then reinstated…what is his status now?
That’s exactly it. We tried to start our film off from this moment and show what the prosecution say happened and what Mumia’s camp say happened. There isn’t too much in terms of hard forensic evidence (gunshot residue on hands etc) so we had to try and say what we could be sure of.
Hello William and thanks for joining us. Can’t wait to see your film – we need a clear new view of this case.
Well at the moment he’s about to file a petition with the US Supreme court. They’re appealing on racism in jury selection, known as the Batson issue and if he wins then he should get a whole new trial.
Thankyou for joining me. Well unfortunately, this case is a real political lightning rod and it would be great to be able to look at it outside of the retorice, but I’m not sure if that is possible anymore.
He’s still on death row? I thought I’d read that his sentence had been commuted to life (although that might just have been that it was proposed to do so)
Welcome to FDL William. What led your mother to remind you so often of Mumia? It seems a little obscure a situation for most British I would think.
One member of the jury said a pretty inflamatory thing…and there’s new evidence as well, the photos by the press photog?
Chicago Tribune wingnut Steve Chapman compares the Blagojevich scandal to 9/11. I guess Godwin’s Law
…needs an addendum
Regarding death row- At the moment his sentence has been commuted to life, but as the state appealed they have kept him on death row which means isolation, no contact visits etc.
My mom is acutually American, from New York and knew of the case from community radio and from Mumia’s writing.
REMINDER: Please stay on topic. Comment about other political matters and news should be placed in those threads. Thanks.
A great investigator from Germany called Michael Schiffman tracked down a guy called Pedro Polakoff who was the first photographer on the scene and his photos show a few things that counter the prosecutions depiction of events.
There don’t seem to be bullet holes in the ground around where Officer Faulkner was shot, one of the witnesses, a cab driver, could not have been where he said he was and the police are shown mishandling the guns (not wearing gloves) and contaminating evidence.
Wow, what a potent question…
Very telling tale right there as to what transpired…!
(oh noes..I had a typo in that) Thanks Tuttle for bringing that up… Kevin Freeman is pivotal int the story..William, please fill us in
We talk about this in the film and really try to highlight the fact that Billy Cooks friend Kenneth Freeman was never mentioned by police although they questioned him the next day. Even if he wasn’t the murderer, the fact that he was there at all changes things significantly- especially considering the way that he died 4 years later.
Aloha, William! Welcome to the Lake! Btw, my wife’s birthday is also Dec. 9th, however, 20 years earlier…!
Thank you for being here William.
For those interested this is the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC) site. His Prison Radio essays may be found here.
He was found handcuffed and naked in a parking lot, but the police said that he died of natural causes.
I recommend that everyone has a listen to his commentaries if possible. No matter where you stand on the case of Mumia, you cannot deny how amazing it is that he’s been able to reach out from solitary confinement with his journalism and literally speak out to the world.
Haha, what a coincidence.
Or his broadcasts online, William?
Because Mumia is such a divisive/inspiring figure, there was a Pennsylvania law passed specifically with him in mind that says no death row prisoners can be recorded, photographed, filmed or video taped. That to me seems like something a journalist/free speech group should take up…
Though Abu-Jamal is unable to appear on camera, though his voice is heard in radio broadcasts that he records during his three 15 minute phones calls a week.
It stunned me that NPR caved to the Fraternal Order of Police and stopped his broadcasts. Thank goodness for Pacifica!
especially considering the way that he died 4 years later.
Prior to the trial…?
Pacifica have been instrumental in getting his voice out with the work of prison radio in San Francisco. It’s how I really got to know of Mumia along with the work of bands like Rage Against the Machine etc. as well.
My community radio station airs them each Sunday morning. The man is well informed and could very well fit into the Lake. His analyses are spot on.
Freeman’s driver’s license was foudn in the slain officer’s pocket..indicating he was at the scene..you’d think maybe “OH here’sa clue..” but they wanted Mumia for the crime, either for ease or, as you touch on, because he was really a voice during the MOVE 9 trial and subsequently, a voice for the voiceless always in his career
No Freemans death was in 1985, 4 years after the trial and coincidentally on the same day that the Philadelphia police bombed the Move house killing all but 2 of the people who lived there and burning a neighborhood to the ground.
Does Mumia have access to the internet directly?
I think it was partly that they wanted to silence him but they also thought they could easily wrap up the case (which they were unfortunately right about) and perhaps they could get freeman back later.
No mumia has never used the internet. He knows about it in a vague sense and understands that it’s the way that alot of info about him is spread but he’s never been able to use it.
He has a TV with limited Channels, books, radio and newspapers though.
is he denied access specifically, or is there no access at all on Death Row?
People can send him books from Amazon or from publishers but he cannot receive any gifts or anything. Only letters and cards.
If anyone wants to contact him they can write to him at the prison
Mumia Abu Jamal AM-8335
175 Progress Drive.
Waynesburg, Pennsylvania
15370-8090 USA
Wow, I was thinking to myself, why hadn’t I heard about it at the time, I then realized I was in Basic training at the time and was effectively incommunicado from any news at all…!
My understanding is that prisons now limit access to the Internet because of criminal activities being carried out by the inmates. Now access is closely monitored, what access exists. Additionally, death row units would have to be wireless. State’s not gonna pay for that.
There’s no access to the internet on death row at all. I don’t know if that’s true of the general population of prisoners in Pennsylvania, but he’s never been able to use it.
I’ve chatted with him about it and he understands that computers ‘talk’ to each other and the internet is as wide and full of information as it is but he has no experience with it.
Digg
Were you aware of MOVE before this? I can still recall the news stories…it was a horrid event–to BOMB US citizen like that
many of mumia’s monologues have been sliced up into 3 or 4 minute pieces and can be listened to and even purchased on itunes like a song. i recommend a daily terror.
It’s interesting that you talk about the cost of death row, because when I visited with Mumia a few weeks ago, he was feeling that with the financial crisis, that states might soon feel that death row is too expensive to keep going. Rather like New Jersey did last year.
You also masterfully pointed out the racism in the City of Brotherly love, using the statue of Rocky Balboa to demonstrate the city’s willingness to honor a fictional white boxer over 2 real life black boxing heroes….
I wasn’t aware of Move before I was aware of Mumia. I was 4 at the time of the bombing, but when I was in my teens and really reading up on the case and getting into politics in general I found out about it. It really is shocking and is by far the thing that shocks people the most in the film.
I think that people who have never heard of it are shocked to see that a police force have dropped a bomb on a political group in the middle of a city and let the whole place burn to the ground.
There was just an news article about that very thing on Dec 11…Mumia’s vibe must be getting out
I guess that’s one way of stopping executions, make them too expensive
http://www.reuters.com/article…..UV20081211">http://www.reuters.com/article…..UV20081211
Well the city didn’t commission the rocky statue themselves and were not responsible, but I think that it says alot about the city. I was absolutely amazed at the race problems in Philly and i was already aware that they were going to be bad. The poverty is unbelievable, parts of the city looked like Soweto.
I hadn’t seen that article, thanks for pointing it out, I’ll read it later.
gotta go so thanks to william for staying up late from one fdl reader. everyone should put this film in their netflix queue, (i did,) so they will be more likely to carry it when the time comes.
Do you think there could be a link between the CBS cerebral crime drama “Cold Case” and the city in an effort to rejuvenate the city’s image?
Thanks for checking in and chatting.
I have to be honest, I’ve never really watched Cold Case. I know they have it here, but I’ve never caught it. Too busy watching the Wire.
In Prison My Whole will air on the Sundance channel Dec 17..check you local listings for time–the DVR is your friend!
Thanks Lisa for the Sundance details, I was just trying to work out what day it was on again exactly.
My peace group screens a film each Wednesday night. I’ll talk to them about screening In Prison My Whole Life.
We don’t have the exact details about a DVD release yet and we’re hoping to show it around the US in a few cinemas and perhaps a university tour at some point and I’ll keep our website and myspace updated for anyone who wants more info.
So Billy Cook, Mumia’s brother and a witness was never subpoenaed by the defense–tell us a bit about what he saw that night–what he was able to discuss without affecting perceptions should a retrial come up…
and please give us your myspace addy!
I’m really hoping that grassroots organisations will take the film and hold screenings like your peace group. I think that’s the natural venue for films like this. My greatest hope is that it inspires dialogue.
Unfortunately for us making the film, Billy and Mumia are quite held back when talking about what happened that night as they’ve been advised to hold out for a trial. They obviously know more than has been said in the past but want it to come out in a court of law and Mumia has promised to take the stand if a new trial comes about.
Billy was never called to testify as he was going through his own trial at the time from the same incident (accused of assaulting a police officer) and the legal teams thought it was best to keep the trials separate.
The Myspace is http://www.myspace.com/inprisonmywholelife
Does a new trial look likely? I guess it’s a matter of the appeals prcess, but there is new evidence, new testimony
We don’t really know. The supreme court only take a fraction of cases put in front of it, but hopefully there will be a lot of public attention.
Mumia is hoping, but obviously he’s been disapointed before. It often seems that the courts will do one thing for everyone else and a different thing in his case. He failed on his 3rd Circuit appeal even though racism in jury selection is pretty undeniable in his case and has been awarded to many other appellants. People in the movement have taken to calling it the ‘Mumia Exception’.
I am still stunned by–whihc is why I am mentioning it again–the “Mumia Law” whihc was inacted to prevent him from being photographed, video taped…and because to just enforce it on him, it has been laid on all PA death row inmates…so freaking WRONG–and it shows how powerful a force he is–AND how powerful and necessary a free press is
Unfortunately when appealing like this you can’t really bring in new evidence unless there’s a hearing. You have to appeal on what happened in the trial and subsequent appeals. If mumia gets a new trial or a new sentencing hearing, then they will be able to introduce the new evidence.
Well I think that someone like Mumia can be a very inspirational figure for people and the authorities thought that it was worth shutting him up. They don’t really like the idea of someone being able to continue fighting from their cell. It’s amazing because all of the pictures that you see of Mumia are so old. He looks so different in real life and is 12 years older than any pictures available. I think that if people could see him now, it really clarifies the length of time that he’s been in, and was one of the reasons I wanted to go on this journey as I represent that ‘time’. It’s also why we featured the ticking clock so much in the film to really highlight a life spent behind bars.
One of the things I foudn so poignant was the Rosenberg connection to Mumia, that ulius and Ethel Rosenberg’s children were adopted by compser Abel Meeropol who wrote Strange Fruit…and later as an adult, while on a book tour Mumia interviewed one of the sons and asked “Could the execution of political prisoner occur again?” (word to that effect–the irony (and NICE useage of the song, and music in general in the film)
When Robert Meeropol (the Rosenbergs son) told us that story, it nearly floored me as I had no idea going in to the interview. He also went to school with Angela Davis who also features in the film and it was surprising how many of these connections there were when we were making it.
Thanks for the music compliment. In a doc like this, music and graphics really help to move it along and give it a good pace. Otherwise you can get caught up in too much detail and voice over and it can feel pretty long..
Alos, the Mos Def story and footage, being arrested (tho he had a permit) for performng his songs–I guess the VMA’s were a little touchy–they had given him a spot, but then told him “no politics” what the crunk! Music is a politicla statemnt…and you show that in the movie!
Well I think that the arts so often are responsible for saying things that the wider media would rather not, especially in the days before the internet.
We really tried to look into the wider political commentary in America in this film and show that Mumia is part of something so much bigger, from Paul Roberson to Howard Zinn.
It’s a part of America that I think until recently most of the rest of the world had forgotten about. America has such a rich progressive history and is a country that was founded on desent. We recently showed the film in london with some readings from ‘Voices of a Peoples History of the United States’ and it was a great partnership, really placing the film in that rich history.
The reichwing portion of the country has spent the last 40 years attempting to erase all of that history. I’m constantly amazed that I have to explain who Malcolm X was, for example. Or Watts.
Well it’s not really taught in school or celebrated in the way that it deserves. I went to High School in New York and am still learning the things that weren’t taught to me, but should have been. It’s tragic really, but looking at the recent elections it has been great to see people remembering how to get involved.
It’s amazing how ass-high flames will get one movin’.
Well said… It’s unfortunate to think that we need to descend to the point of despair to really get us involved, but I think that I’m hoping that people are finally waking up.
Wow… time has FLOWN, we’re starting to wind down…William what can WE do to help Mumia..
We can’t repeat 68 and just lay back thinking everything’s gonna work out. Folks have to realize this is a participatory democracy. Watching on the sidelines is not participating. Folks have become “comfortable” and don’t want to be bothered. Now the flames make them uncomfortable. Vicious cycle.
Well I think that the best thing that we can do at the moment is to be talking about the case and raising awareness as much as possible. With the Batson issue in front of the supreme court, it’s vital that we make sure that they know people are paying attention. If the court acts on precedent, it should be impossible for them not to grant him a new trial on racism in jury selection, but as we’ve seen in the past, that doesn’t mean they’ll do it.
You can also write to Mumia and to your your local representatives, telling them that you care and you’re paying attention.
Or Newark, Or Detroit, Or…!
Indeed indeed and the problems we are facing at the moment are dire. We have gotten ourselves into a tight spot and only participating can get us out of it.
Thank you William and FDLers for particpating in this lively chat!
Thank you for having me and I hope to be back in the future.
Uhuru, brother.
Mahalo, Lisa, for hosting, and, William for your tireless endeavors…! *g*
William, Thank you for being here and spending the evening with us discussing your important movie.
Please feel free to blog on Oxdonw Gazette! keep us posted!
Take care all of you and thanks again for having me.
http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/
And thanks for staying us so late wiht us and caring about our justice system and Mumia!
Thanks, Lisa, for hosting this. I hope folks will educate themselves with Mumia’s case and other such “situations” that have occurred.
Please drop in anytime William! We always enjoy having fresh faces here at the Lake! 8-)
Good night. It’s 2.30am here and time for bed. :)
Ahhh, GST time, eh? I’m half way around the world… HST…! ;-)
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One thing about this tragic case is clear: Mumia didn’t get a fair trial or a fair appellate process.