On a Move: The Story of Mumia Abu-Jamal [Paperback]

Terry Bisson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2001

Covering Mumia's childhood in the North Philly projects, a turbulent youth in Oakland and New York, a promising career in radio journalism and a fateful sidewalk latercation that changed everything, Bisson's colourful sketches tell the story of one of the stormiest periods in US history, and of a young rebel who came of age in its crucible.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Calling attention to the plight of death row activist, journalist and NPR contributor Abu-Jamal, award-winning science fiction author Bisson attempts a full-scale portrait of the controversial figure implicated in a police slaying in Philadelphia nearly two decades ago. What he delivers is a well-intended rehash of mainstream media accounts. The book's real value is in its chronicle of Abu-Jamal's bold, inquisitive youth on Philadelphia's mean streets, inspired by his exceptional mother to become a compulsive reader with a deeply curious mind. In school, Abu-Jamal discovered the causes of black liberation and black power, and became a natural student leader. In his early teens, he faced his first police run-in at one of George Wallace's presidential campaign rallies and was "beaten so badly that his own mother didn't recognize him." His tenure with the Black Panthers during their glory days awakened his talent for writing and activism, and so impressed his comrades in Philadelphia that they made him lieutenant of information at age 15. Abu-Jamal's tireless efforts on behalf of the Panthers brought him to the attention of Hoover's FBI, placing him on the infamous Cointelpro target list. A series of painful episodes of police harassment and intimidation against Abu-Jamal followed, ultimately leading to that fateful night in 1981 when Abu-Jamal was shot and seriously wounded while defending his brother during a conflict that ended in the shooting death of an officer. Labeled a "cop-killer," Abu-Jamal faced a highly charged trial that ended in a death sentence that has stirred international interest. Written in short, energetic vignettes, Bisson's tribute occasionally fails to fill in the gaps in Abu-Jamal's travails, choosing heated rhetoric over researched substance at a time when more information and less fist pumping would suit the imprisoned writer's cause well.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Abu-Jamal, condemned to death in 1982 in a murder trial seen by many as notoriously unjust, has continued to draw on his journalistic skills and voice his passionate and informed observations from death row, just as he has ever since he joined the Black Panthers as an ardent and gifted teenager and promptly became the lieutenant of information for the Philadelphia chapter and an enemy of the state in the eyes of the FBI and the police. His books, including All Things Censored [BKL My 1 00], are widely read, and many people, some quite famous, have been working on his behalf. In an engrossing, straight-ahead style, acclaimed science-fiction writer and political activist Bisson chronicles Abu-Jamal's childhood, the evolution of his political consciousness, and his tireless and nearly fatal efforts to unveil the truth about racism. Leery of being seen as a saint instead of a revolutionary, Abu-Jamal asked that the book be fun to read, and, indeed, Bisson's incisive tale is every bit as charming as it is enraging. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Litmus Books (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874869013
• ISBN-13: 978-0874869019
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 4.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,219,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping reading, December 28, 2002

By 

Michael C. Howard (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: On a Move: The Story of Mumia Abu-Jamal (Paperback)

This book is very interestingly written. It's not exactly "street prose" as one reviewer put it, but just shockingly to the point. The writer says in one sentence what most would take paragraphs to convey. It doesn't seem to matter to the writer whether he is writing in first/second person etc, he just conveys his message - beautifully.

Whether you believe in Mumia's innocence or not, this book is a good start to look into the complicated issue. For those reviewers who don't even review the book and simply blast Mumia or his followers, you have missed the point. I personally believe in Mumia's innocence and the system's failure to give him a fair trial (I'm a law studend and have read his trial transcripts, the opinions, etc). But that isn't the point. This is a good book, thoroughly gripping - I read it in 5 hours or so.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Only Fudges Some Major Facts, October 23, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: On a Move: The Story of Mumia Abu-Jamal (Paperback)

This book is interestingly written in 'street' prose, with certain lines and bits emphasized and then re-emphasized to hit home. This story will help a reader looking to find a first hand perspective into the Black Panther movement of the sixties and into the Philadelphia police nightmare of the seventies. As long as you approach this book knowing that Mumia is NOT a political prisoner (he is a murderer) and was NEVER silenced for writing the truth (he spread vicious libel throughout his career as a journalist), and you look into those facts for yourself, then this book can be for you what it is for me... a dishonest biography of a man set against an honest background of the turbulant and nightmarish time for African- Americans in the years following the Civil Rights Movement.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick and fun read, March 6, 2001

By 

sunshine84 (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On a Move: The Story of Mumia Abu-Jamal (Paperback)

This is a very quick read, but good none the less. MAJ has the tendency to be treated either as a hero or a criminal and not a person. This reminded you that he is a human. Read it pass it on.