Hurricane = Mumia

The Hurricane is based on the true story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter who served more than two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit. Hurricane Carter was the victim of racism in the criminal justice system in this country.

This is not a unique occurrence. It is not even a rare one. Black people are 12% of the US population, but make up almost 50% of the men and women in prison and over 40% of those on Death Row. Many have received harsher sentences than whites accused of the same crime. Like Hurricane Carter, many are innocent, as DNA testing has proved in dozens of recently reported cases.

Three things you can do now • Learn more about the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal. On the web, visit www.freemumia.org or www.aspenlinx.com/mumia • Come to the Emergency National Conference to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (at Amsterdam and 112th Street) in New York City on Saturday February 19. For more information, call 212-385-9303. • Support or take part in a civil disobedience action at the US Supreme Court on Monday, February 28 in Washington, DC. For more information, call 212-330-8029 or 202-722-1911.

Now Hurricane Carter has spoken out on the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, an African American journalist and activist who faces execution in Pennsylvania. Mumia was accused of shooting a policeman in a 1981 incident and found guilty in a farce of a trial which has provoked international protest ever since.

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter says, "Mumia is factually innocent. And he’s sitting on Death Row."

"Jailhouse stool pigeons, jury tampering, jury fixing, criminals paid for perjured testimonies, the manufacturing of evidence by police departments, the lies in the seat of government itself—that’s what Mumia Abu-Jamal is in prison for. That’s what I was in prison for."

Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted by a jury from which the prosecution systematically excluded Black jurors, just as they did in Hurricane’s case. Mumia has had execution dates set twice already. Now this outspoken and courageous man’s appeals are running out, with a crucial court date set for early March.

It is vitally important that new voices, your voice, be heard in the campaign to win him a new trial. Hurricane Carter is free. Now we must win Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal!

You can use this leaflet in your organizing around the case of Mumia. Pick an evening or Saturday afternoon, gather 3 or 4 people, and leaflet outside a movie theater showing The Hurricane. Add a local contact number for people who want to get involved.

Download a printable Acrobat PDF of this leaflet