Mumia Abu-Jamal

On December 9, 1981, in the midst of a decade-long war between the Philadelphia police department and radicalized elements in the city’s African-American community (a struggle that claimed the lives of eleven members of the black revolutionary group Move, including five children, and left sixty families homeless), a police officer was shot dead. Journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal was also shot in the chest and beaten, supposedly for killing the police officer. Despite conflicting witness testimony, Abu-Jamal was convicted of the homicide and sentenced to die. On death row, Abu-Jamal has done anything but languish, and his work, before and after his conviction, is the focus of this album.

Abu-Jamal focuses on a variety of social issues, from inequity in public school financing to inhumanity in nursing homes. The album uses a variety of approaches, integrating Abu-Jamal’s work prior to the incident with tapes made from death row, as well as with essays written by Jamal after he was silenced by his sentence. (Respected celebrities such as Ruby Dee and Peter Coyote do these readings.)

Abu-Jamal repeatedly refers to the vilification of youth, particularly the hip-hop community, and his analysis of youthful alienation is thoughtful and supportive. Among the tracks that address this theme are a reading by Spearhead’s Michael Franti and two powerful rap cuts, including one that features Zack de la Rocha, Pharoahe Monch, Tragedy and Chuck D, among others. The result is a document that ties the injustices in our prison system to society’s blind need to shortchange humanity in favor of a profit. It’s amazing such an album can be produced in the current climate of cynicism and fear. What’s less surprising is that you’ll probably never hear it unless you seek it out. (Try www.alternativetentacles.com or www.mumia.org.)