Jericho -- at 10
{speech writ. 10/7/08} (c) '08 Mumia Abu-Jamal
Ona Move!
I greet you all who've gathered here today, at the 10th anniversary of the Founding of Jericho-the Movement to free all political prisoners -- and also to remember the life and work of an extraordinary sista -- the late, great, Safiya Bukhari.
When she was here, all we could see was her in motion, working, leafleting, explaining, organizing -- all of these things -- ceaselessly!
She was a quiet, intense, ubiquitous presence who seemed like a force of nature -- a cloud, a ray of summer sun, a force that would be there -- for quite a while, if not forever.
But, in a blink, she was gone -- and only then did we recognize her strength, her iron will -- for with her gone, we felt a great void.
And all of our movements suffered from her loss.
But her passing shouldn't immobilize us; it should inspire us!
For, though many of us thought of her as a Superwoman, she was, to quote Nietzsche, "Human, All Too Human."
She laughed, she cried; she got angry, she was joyous; she got tired, she was energetic -- she was brilliant, and she made mistakes. But what made her remarkable was her commitment to all Political Prisoners (PP) and Prisoners of War (POW).
On this, the 10th anniversary of its founding, let us all, in the spirit of Safiya, work to rebuild Jericho into a true social force.
We owe it not just to Safiya Bukhari, but to ourselves.
We owe it to our brothers and sisters in Bablyon's dungeons, like the MOVE 9, Jalil Muntaquin, Ruchell Magee, Russell 'Maroon' Shoatz, Hugo 'Yogi' Pinnell, Jamal Hart, and many other brothers and sistas, from various movements -like Leonard Peltier, the still -caged Puerto Rican independentistas -- and beyond.
We must salute and join the efforts of Ashanti Alston and Kazi Toure, to help Jericho grow into a true liberation movement.
Ona Move!
.jpg)
Comments
Post new comment