Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Remarks by Martin Luther King III

President, Southern Christian Leadership Conference International Committee to Save the Life of Mumia Abu-Jamal, January 12, 2000

Conscience compels me to unite with Nelson Mandela, Catholic Bishop Thomas Gumbelton, elected representatives of the European Parliament, the Congressional Black Caucus, Amnesty International, Harry Belafonte, Paul Newman, Ossie Davis, Danny Glover, Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu, and millions of others around the globe to fight for the life of our brother in "the struggle," Mumia Abu-Jamal.

SCLC's commitment to justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal, dates back over a decade. We thank God for the energy of Ralph Schoenman, our board member Dick Gregory, and others, who have made today's international witness a reality.

First of all, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference we are unequivocally opposed to capital punishment. The conductors of the evil system of injustice made Abu-Jamal a political prisoner and now they have planned his execution. As "consciousness-raising members" of the global society, we cannot afford to sit back and let an innocent man die.

The world must know that the judge purposely withheld "crucial evidence" from Abu-Jamal's case. Experts say this evidence alone could have brought an acquittal. We can no longer afford to allow bias in the criminal justice system to continue.

We must stand by Abu-Jamal's side just as we stood by the sides of Nelson Mandela, Angela Davis, Ben Chavis, and Joann Little.

I do not believe it is incidental that I find myself protesting for the life of this innocent man, one month after my family and I received the verdict from a multicultural jury that said my father's assassination was part of a conspiracy. Martin Luther King, Jr. was brutally murdered because he spoke out against social injustices.

Today, almost thirty-three years after he was killed, we must unite together in the name of justice to stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal, a young man who was respected in the community for reporting stories about economic and social injustices.

My family was able to find out who killed my father because my brother, Dexter never gave up. He persevered in his search for the truth and our family let our faith sustain us until we found out who killed my father.

We must come together as a family in the spirit of my father who said, "the arc of the universe is long but is bent towards justice," and never give up until we save the life of our brother, Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Americans should know that the world is watching to see if she will do the right thing. Under the system of government dictated by our Constitution, the judicial system is the final repository of public power. It should be held inviolate from racism and other prejudices, which plague our society. We demand that all those with the power to intervene do so now in the name of justice"-do so now in the name of all that America holds, claims to hold, true and fair"-do so now in the name of humanity"-do so now, in the name of all those who have already died to force America to live up to its motto of liberty and justice for all"-

praise presidential candidate John Edwards for his views on economic justice. Link at URL.

January 20, 2008

The Honorable John E. Edwards

410 Market Street

Suite 400

Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Dear Senator Edwards:

It was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father’s legacy. On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up with a personal note.

There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father’s legacy. It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.

I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.

You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system. They don’t have lobbyists in Washington and they don’t get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing to do.

I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic justice has received during this campaign. I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America.

From our conversation yesterday, I know this is personal for you. I know you know what it means to come from nothing. I know you know what it means to get the opportunities you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the same opportunities you had.

I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes. My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society. He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives.

So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father’s words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.

Sincerely,

Martin L. King, III