In Defense of Mumia (Paperback)

by S. E. Anderson (Editor), Tony Medina (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
On December 9, 1982, Mumia Abu-Jamal, a black journalist moonlighting as a cab driver in Philadelphia, came upon a violent confrontation between his brother and a police officer. Mumia rushed to the aid of his brother, and in the gunplay that ensued, Mumia was wounded and the officer was shot and killed. What happened that night has been debated: the murder weapon did not match the gun in Mumia's possession, a man was seen fleeing the scene by some witnesses, and the star witness for the prosecution was a woman of questionable character and motive. At any rate, Mumia was convicted and sentenced to death, and his strange career has become a cause celebre. Editors Anderson and Medina have brought together a formidable group of artists, politicians, and activists--including Gwendolyn Brooks, Allen Ginsberg, Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, Cornel West, John Edgar Wideman, Standing Deer, and more--in defense of Mumia in this collection of prose, poetry, and art. The book does an excellent job of defining this issue in U.S. history. Bonnie Smothers

Product Description
In 1982, the award-winning journalist and former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing a Philadephia police officer and was sentenced to death. He was on death row for 13 years before a groundswell of public opinion questioned the fairness of his trial and demanded a stay of execution. In August 1995, artists, activists, and concerned citizens met in New York City to demand a new trial. This book documents their overwhelming outpouring of support.

Product Details

• Paperback: 364 pages
• Publisher: Writers & Readers Publishing (March 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0863160999
• ISBN-13: 978-0863160998
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,665,160 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a fantastic book!!!, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

I give this book a 5 star rating. It's that good. S.E. Anderson and Tony Medina have put together a mesmerizing collection of poetry, art and prose that rekindles the kind of passionately political wrting that dominated the literary landscape of the 1960s and '70s. Not only do you have giants such as Gwendolyn Brooks, Toni Morrison, Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Amiri Baraka, June Jordan John Edgar Wideman and Cornel West to name a few of the older generation of writers,but you have new up-and-coming hotshots like Ras Baraka, Mike Ladd,Asha Bandele, Suheir Hammad, Paul Beatty, Kevin Powell and Tony Medina himself. This is a book for everyone interested in socially committed art. It is also a worthy cause...to defend the life of a fellow writer, intellectual and political activist who was sent to death row with little or no evidence when the trial he was given was not fair. This anthology leaves one with the nagging question: How many innocen people are sitting on death row because they weren't able to pay for a competent defense like, say, O.J.? If the system is allowed to execute Mumia, then what will follow in the urban areas of these as-yet-to-be-united states will be a fate worse than that which preceeded the assasinations of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "In Defense of Mumia" is a book that clearly and boldly warns of a fire this time.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An impressive body of poetry & prose: activism at its best!, March 30, 2000

By	"anansi" (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

From reading some of these myopic reviews, it is obvious that they come from people who clearly haven't bothered to read the book they claim to review. Rather than basing your review on television programs such as 20/20 (they always get it right?) or resorting to some uninformed knee-jerk reactions, it might be helpful to READ the impressive body of poetry and prose that Anderson and Medina have painstakingly collected. IN DEFENSE OF MUMIA offers readers a diverse array of distinguished contributors, from Gwendolyn Brooks to Toni Morrison to Nat Hentoff to E.L. Doctorow and several emerging, new writers. Within its pages these authors address many issues that move the discussion beyond Mumia the Man into a much larger arena that encompasses police brutality, the privatization of prisons, and the disenfranchisement of prisoners, to name only a few. It is a timely and much-needed collection, especially considering the dangerous times in which we live. In a nation where Proposition 21 passes, allowing cops to arrest young children...in a nation where an innocent, unarmed man can be ruthlessly murdered (shot 41 times) on his own doorstep--without impunity--...in this nation we can ill afford not to support progressive literature such as the anthology, IN DEFENSE OF MUMIA. Buy this important book and judge for yourself, don't allow others to make the decision for you.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must read for any politically progressive person!, April 29, 2000

By A Customer

This book speaks to the need for people of color to protect our men from being railroaded by America's so-called justice sytem (read "just us" system). And this need is even more evidenced by the New York City cases of Patrick Dorismond and Amadou Diallo who ultimately lost their lives. In Mumia's case, we as people at least still have the chance to save his life and liberate him.