They fought for the people! Now is the time for the people to bring them home!
The San Diego Coalition to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal and the Black Panther Party San Diego joined the hundreds and thousands in cities nationally and internationally mobilizing to Free Mumia and All Political Prisoners on Dec. 9, the 42nd anniversary of the unjust arrest of Long-Distance Revolutionary Mumia Abu-Jamal.
We came together at the Malcolm X Library in San Diego to sign postcards addressed to Mumia, Leonard Peltier, Imam Jamil (aka H. Rap Brown), Edward Poindexter, Kamau Sadiki, Rev. Joy Powell, Veronza Bowers, and many more listed on the Jerico movement website, sending “Revolution Love and Support.”
We had a slide presentation showing the faces and names of political prisoners, looping continuously and encouraging everyone to find out who they are, where they are, and how long they’ve been incarcerated. We must organize letter-writing campaigns to show that we are continuing to fight for their release.
We emphasized the urgency of our fight to free all political prisoners, especially our elders who have been incarcerated for decades.
As we organized for Dec. 9, we received the news of the passing of Elder Ed Poindexter, a former Black Panther and leader, 79 years old, imprisoned for 53 years.
Unlike the bittersweet passing of Ruchell McGee, Russell Maroon Shoatz, Mutulu Shakur, and others, compassionately released in time to spend a few months with friends and loved ones, Poindexter died in prison.
Poindexter’s niece, Ericka “Rikki” Payne, said on her last visit with her uncle, “He put his hand out for us (Me & my Mom) to touch him … he opened his eyes twice … was able to acknowledge us … I kissed his face and told him to take my kisses with him on his journey and to go ahead and rest cause he’s done his work.”
Edward Poindexter died Dec. 7 in the Nebraska Department of Corrections, where he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and advanced kidney disease.
Mumia’s medical consultant, Dr. Ricardo Alvarez, had this to report in a letter to Amnesty International concerning the medical care in a prison setting:
“The state causes the trauma. The collective consciousness coming from the voices of the incarcerated and the released elders guides our messages as witness to a movement that speaks with one voice: ‘Freedom is the only treatment.’”
Poindexter’s signed postcard will be sent to his family, along with our deepest condolences.
Find out about Mumia and many other political prisoner campaigns in the U.S. and worldwide by watching the Virtual Program for Mumia Abu-Jamal (Dec. 9, 2023) at linktr.ee/Mumia.
Free Mumia! Free Leonard Peltier! Free them all!
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