Book on Black Panther Party Launched in Cuba

Havana, Feb 19 (ACN) The first Spanish version of the book "We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party" by Mumia Abu, was launched Saturday by Cuba's Jose Marti publishing house at the 16th Book International Fair underway on the island.

For over 25 years Mumia Abu-Jamal's ideas have continued to grow, becoming more and more defiant and irradiating clarity, despite his being one of the prisoners who has served the longest time on death row. Today, Mumia is waiting for a decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on the case presented by his attorney, who advocates for the overturning his death sentence.

Mumia was set up. On December 9, 1981, while he drove a taxi in Philadelphia to earn a living --since his work as a journalistic was censured-- he was shot and beaten by police officers. A policeman died at the scene. Eye witnesses have confirmed that the gunshot that killed the policeman was fired by someone who fled. Nonetheless, the verdict of guilty was handed down. The police evidently lied when they alleged his possession of the gun. Racial hate, political intransigence and judicial manipulation played the other part of the job: he was sentenced to death on July 3, 1982.

Mumia's real "guilt" is that of thinking as a revolutionary, which led him to become a member of the Black Panther Party and to broadcast a controversial and militant talk-show on several radio stations.

His many years of imprisonment have not discouraged him, as he continues to study and write from death row. One of Mumia's most well-read books has been translated for the first time into Spanish and was issued by Cuba's Jose Marti publishing house. The book "We Want Freedom: A Life in the Black Panther Party" was translated by Luis Alberto Chirino Gamez and revised by the Cuban Association of Translators and Interpreters (ESTI).

The book is a very serious and objective essay that reveals the origin, ideology and actions of a political movement that brought together a considerable segment of the African-American population demanding social justice and freedom.

Enthusiasm does not lead the author to idealize the organization. He also pinpoints the deficiencies, problems and deviations of the party.

Today, it is known that the FBI implemented the Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) to destroy the Black Panther Party, and any activity representing a threat to the foundations of the system.

Mumia's work includes a large number of sources and his testimony. He points out that the Black Panther Party had an anti-imperialist character and was the reflection of a latent state of consciousness in Black people over several generations. "The Black Panther Party is a part of history, but not the driving forces behind its creation; we are waiting for the appropriate time for these to prompt action again, said Mumia.