| A seven year-old
has limited experience, and a relatively small vocabulary. Unlike
you and I, their basic points of reference are not Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary. They are totally dependent on Mom and Dad to define things
for them. So, like a lot of post-sixties-seventies-eighties-nineties
parents, I try to educate my child on why as a single parent and a
woman of color, it is necessary to be politically active as well as
politically aware. Today we will participate in the March for Mumia.
"MOMMY...WHO IS MOOME...MOOEE...HOW DO YOU SAY THAT NAME?"
"You almost had it babe, Mumia Abu-Jamal is pronounced...Moo...Me...Yah...
Ah...Boo...Jah..Mall. Will it help if Mommy writes it down for you?"
"I AM NOT A BABY, MOMMY. IF YOU PRONOUNCE IT A COUPLE OF TIMES
, I WILL BE ABLE TO SAY IT, O.K.?"
"Sure you're right darling. Its Moo...Me...Yah Ah...Boo...Jah...Mall."
"MOO...ME...YAH WHAT ELSE?"
"Moo...Me...Yah Ah...Boo...Jah...Mall."
"MOO...ME..YAH AH...BOO...JAH...MALL"
"Great Babe, you got it."
"WHO IS MUMIA ABU-JAMAL?"
"We are here in support of not executing Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal
is a Black journalist in Philadelphia. From the time that he was
fifteen years-old, Abu-Jamal was politically active and aware. He
was a member of the Black Panther Party, and before he was incarcerated
he was part of M.O.V.E. as well as a writer and member of the non-elite
poor."
"MOVE? A MOVE? THE MOVE? WHAT MOVE?"
"M period, O period, V period, E period. M.O.V.E. was an organization
that believed in an agrarian and communal lifestyle steeped in grassroots
political activism."
"WHAT'S THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY?"
"The Black Panther Party, to my knowledge, were a group of individuals
interested in achieving some agreed upon goals for the advancement
of people of color in the United States of America."
"AND WHAT GOAL WAS THAT?
"In the beginning their goals were pretty basic, a good hot breakfast
for kids before starting their school day, and a place to prepare
and serve those meals to the kids."
"In the beginning their goals were pretty basic, a good hot breakfast
for kids before starting their school day, and a place to prepare
and serve those meals to the kids."
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD THING TO DO MOMMY."
"I believe it was a very good thing to do as well, yet others had
a problem with the dialogue and speeches given along with the kids
food.
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"WHAT DOES Dialogue mean?"
"Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people. An exchange
of ideas. In this particular case the Black Panther Party wanted
to inform children of color about their history as Americans and
the history of their ancestors before the came to America."
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THAT?"
"Do you remember Mommy saying that knowledge is power?"
"YES"
"Well there are people that want to have all the power, they are
not willing to share. One of the things that powerful people really
don't want to share is information or knowledge. If you don't know
something, then maybe you will believe the things I tell you. By
not sharing knowledge, the power to define reality is held by the
people with the knowledge, understand?
"SORT OF, BUT MUMIA WAS TRYING TO SHARE SOME KNOWLEDGE WITH THE
KIDS, RIGHT?"
"Right."
"There was a time in America when it was illegal to teach Black
people to read. And for a long time it was a very effective way
of keeping Blacks powerless. As a journalist Mumia was constantly
trying to keep himself and others informed. He was a very good writer,
so good that it brought him to the attention of a lot of powerful
people. These people wanted him to be quiet. He had the misfortune
of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Here was a chance
to finally make him be quiet, so the powers-that-be took this chance
and put him in jail. When he was arrested he had a gun in his possession,
sometimes if you don't have a permit for a gun you will go to jail.
A policeman was shot and died. The police took Mumia's gun, arrested
him and eventually convicted him of shooting the policeman. Now
they want to execute him."
"DO YOU THINK THAT HE SHOT THE POLICEMAN?"
"When Mumia was arrested the police took the gun that he had, the
gun that they took from him was a 38. The bullets that were removed
from the policeman were from a 44. A 38 caliber gun will not shoot
44 caliber bullets. Do you understand?"
"SO THE BULLETS THAT KILLED THE POLICEMAN WERE NOT FIRED FROM MUMIA'S
GUN, RIGHT?"
"It would seem to reason, but you cannot always rely on reason
when it comes to the American Justice System and how people of color
are treated in that system. It has taken a very long time to reach
the point that we are at today . And today we are trying to get
attention focused on some of the irregularities of Mumia's trial.
With enough people and their organizations making enough noise,
maybe we will be loud enough and hopefully Mumia will get a new
trial as a result of some of those irregularities."
I had been holding a copy of a brief synopsis of Mumia's history,
she reached for it and placed it in her backpack. The sun's reflection
gave her hair copper overtones, as she reached for my hand, her
grasp was firm and filled with intent. Her stride was purposeful,
her eyes ablaze, she smiled as she took her first step into the
political arena.
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