Mumia events on his birthday

Writers for Mumia, an afternoon of readings and testimonials by poets, playwrights, journalists, book authors, wordsmiths and activists, will be held April 24 from 2:30 to 6 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church, 512 W. 126th St. in Harlem. The New York Chapter of the National Writers Union and the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition of New York City are co-sponsoring the event, which precedes a rally in front of the Justice Department’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 26. Unjustly held captive on Pennsylvania’s death row since 1982, Abu-Jamal is being threatened by the courts with another execution date for a killing he didn’t commit in 1981.

“Mumia needs public support at this critical time, so that’s why fellow writers want to pay tribute to the power of his words and his struggle for freedom and justice on April 24,” Susan Elizabeth Davis told Workers World. Davis founded Writers for Mumia as a project of the International Action Center in 1997 and organized two public events in 1999 and 2007. “As the ‘voice of the voiceless,’ Mumia inspires others to write as truthfully, eloquently and purposefully as he does. We must fight to free him with our words as we seek to write truth to power.” Davis noted that Mumia has been an honorary member of the National Writers Union since 1995. The gathering will also celebrate his 56th birthday, which is on April 24. For more information call 212-633-6646; 212-254-0279 ext. 18; or 212-330-8029.

There will also be a Birthday Celebration and Organizing Party for Mumia Abu-Jamal on April 24 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the S.H.A.P.E. Center, 3815 Live Oak in Houston, Texas. The event is sponsored by the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement. The program will include poetry, music and a birthday cake, along with strategizing to support the campaign for a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into violations of Mumia’s civil rights. For more information call 713-503-2633 or email [email protected].

Gloria Rubac contributed to this report.