Live from Death Row
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Live from Death Row, published in May 1995, is a collection of memoirs by American death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal. Addison-Wesley gave Abu-Jamal a $30,000 advance for the novel, an action resulting in Maureen Faulkner, Daniel Faulkner's widow, hiring a plane to fly over the company's headquarters trailing a banner that read "Addison-Wesley Supports a Cop Killer", an invocation of Pennsylvania's Son of Sam law, and a promoted boycott of Addison-Wesley by the Fraternal Order of Police. Abu-Jamal's essays were finally published after National Public Radio backed out of an agreement, due to pressure from the Fraternal Order of Police and Senator Bob Dole, to broadcast his writings on All Things Considered, an act he referenced with the title of his 2000 book All Things Censored.
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[edit] Context
Historically, Abu-Jamal references many important events of relevance to the standing of blacks in America. Utilizing numerous references to law and court cases, he relegates the Dred Scott ruling as still relevant; he believes blacks are still far from free denoting Nelson Mandela's plight. He expresses a dislike for William Rehnquist's conservative slant and Sandra Day O'Connor's "Rehnquistian" dissent in Penry v. Lynaugh, allowing the execution of the mentally retarded. He mocks Lewis Powell's dismissal of statistical evidence of racial discrimination in capital sentencing in McCleskey v. Kemp and his dissent in which he states "McCleskey's claim, taken to its logical conclusion, throws into serious question the principles that underlie our entire criminal justice system". He also mentions Harry Blackmun's vote in Gregg v. Georgia that ruled the death penalty constitutional and his later dissent in Callins v. Collins in which he states "from this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death ... I feel morally and intellectually obligated simply to concede that the death penalty experiment has failed".
A former Black Panther, Abu-Jamal recalls some of his past experiences with the organization, his one-time role as bodyguard for Huey P. Newton, whom he regards as a hero, the feuding between the Newton-led west coast and the Eldridge Cleaver-led east coast and, ultimately, its demise. He mentions his protest of a George Wallace rally with three other black teens, their subsequent beatings at the hands of white attendees, and his mistaken appeal for help to a police officer who, instead, kicked him in the face while he was on the ground.
He also frequently references the MOVE organization, its founder John Africa, and the battle of May 13, 1985 which he compares to the raid at Waco. He also mentions the trial of Rodney King, the succeeding riots in Los Angeles, and his belief that the involved officers each had their constitutional right of double jeopardy violated by putting them on trial twice.
[edit] Synopsis
Told as anecdotes, most of Live from Death Row details the prison system; in an additional end section titled "Musings, memories, and prophecies", Abu-Jamal discusses past events in his life and he remembers some prominent blacks in America. He delves into the purported purpose of prison finding it hard to believe that "corrections" and deterrence are its true goals using the policy to block education of inmates and the psychological problems caused by isolation and non-contact visits as support for his argument of an ulterior motive, to "erode one's humanity". He describes the procedures of death row blocs where twenty-plus hour solitary confinement is offset by a few hours of recreation and exercise "outside" on penned in plots of land and minimal conversations with fellow inmates often regarding their attempts at appeal and their battles with the law. He details two suicides of fellow inmates, one by hanging and one death caused by self-inflicted burns, and the drugging of inmates to make them more sedate even at the expense of one epileptic's health. He reports the interactions between "urban" prisoners and "rural" guards in which prisoners are subject to brutal beatings, cavity searches, racial harassment, and human rights violations after insurgencies.
In addition to prison conditions, he discusses social issues and their relevance to prison. He expresses dismay towards "three strikes" mandatory sentencing and politicians using "tough on crime" slogans as political gateways offering the fact that the United States has the most incarcerated individuals in the world. He hints at racial discrimination, as proposed in the McCleskey v. Kemp case, by reciting statistics on America's death row population in comparison with America's population by race; the numbers are not proportional. He then looks at the elements of the judicial system, believing it is subject to racism; he mentions the choosing of "peers", often white jurors who are pro-death, as jury members and expert witnesses who suppress or distort evidence to suit the criminal justice system. He also explores the topic of uneven justice with examples of police officers being acquitted with compelling evidence against them and, more often than not, guards receiving minimal, if any, punishment for inappropriate actions against prisoners.
- Political-Rock band, Rage Against the Machine is observed as a heavy supporter of Abu-Jamal. Singer, Zack De La Rocha has spoken to Congress condeming the U.S. government's treatment of him. Guitarist Tom Morello visited Abu-Jamal and has interviewed him.
- New York heavy metal band, Live From Death Row, take their name from Abu-Jamal's book written in jail.
- Political Hip-Hop artist Immortal Technique featured Abu-Jamal on his second album Revolutionary Vol. 2.
- The Punk Band Anti-Flag has a speech from Mumia Abu Jamal in the intro to their song "The Modern Rome Burning" from their 2008 album "The Bright Lights of America". The speech is actually on the end of their track "Vices" which precedes "The Modern Rome Burning."
[edit] References
- Espada, Martin. "All Things Censored." Progressive. July 1997, Vol. 61 Issue 7: 20-22.
- Featherstone, Liza. "Abu-Jamal and Son of Sam." Columbia Journalism Review. September/October 1995, Vol. 34 Issue 3: 9-10.
- Tabor, Mary B.W. "Book Notes." New York Times. 15 February 1995: C14.
