Fourth Annual W.E.B. DuBois Lecture Series
At Temple University Mumia Abu Jamal spoke from his prison cell* on the growing movements of the people for their social, racial and economic rights. Also on the panel was poet, writer and social critic Eware Osyande, freedom fighter Pam Africa, activists Lewis Thomas, Professor Jared Ball of Morgan State University and Chad Dion Lassiter. The panel/series was convened by Dr. Anthony Monteiro of Temple University.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
* Our apologies but the audio on Mumia’s call was simply too poor to salvage. He, of course, was brilliant and can be heard more regularly at PrisonRadio.org.
That Michael Cord dude was sellout. How do you have a meeting of the minds, and the first thing out of your mouth is a false binary that comprise and selling out are different. He led with compromising as a good thing, and unifying at all costs with the OWS movement. That’s some bs, why didn’t he say that they are the ones that need to unite with us at all costs? Then he tried to shut down that brother who had an on point analyses about the right wing element in the Occupy Philly movement. He was completely insulting to that brother like he was being irrational so much so that others jumped in to defend that brother. People like him try to stir the convo towards being acceptable at all costs and to have no integrity. That “go back and bring your army” analogy was a joke. If he really believes that then he needs to go study and reflect some more, but of course he doesn’t believe that, he just wanted to stir the convo back to unite with white at all costs. Also people saying that brining up our issues as colonized people is divisive is ridiculous, because HELLO, WE ARE ALREADY DIVIDED! If we weren’t already divided, why the need for some token “People of Color” subgroup component to the Occupy Wall Street movement? Wouldn’t our issues be at the forefront and not some “side issues to get to at a later date”? The fact of the matter is we are colonized and that being the case, the lines of demarcation are very, very, very, clear. Also, that white women who was surprised that all Black folks didn’t have the same political line bears witness to the fact that we are defiantly divided, but also that they don’t recognize are humanity. No one would expect every single member of a nation to have the exact same response to oppression, unless you don’t see them as human beings endowed with their own subjectivity. It speaks to how much white people don’t know about Black/African people (all colonized for that matter), and it’s insulting for her to ask what political line is right. Again, she wanted a quick and easy standard answer to make her feel good about some homogenized group called “African-Americans”, sorry sister we are human beings and we are complicated like all human beings, and we can’t be expected to liberate ourselves and you at the same time. I’m sure Michael Cord would love to give you a comforting answer that denies Black/African people’s humanity.
Great job Jared! Oh yeah, Greg Thomas and yourself were spitting hot fire on the Malcolm X panel! Thank you Brother, please keep doing what you do.