Mumia Abu-Jamal: Delbert Africa revolutionary!

  • August 7, 2020 1:31 am

from AMW English

by Mumia Abu-Jamal

He was born under the name Delbert Orr but is known in the world as Delbert Africa, a prominent member of the MOVE Organization.

In the ‘70s in Philadelphia, he was perhaps its best known and most frequently cited member. With more years than most, he was adept at using the media to spread information and promote MOVE purposes.

His country accent around Chicago and his ingenious puns made his remarks interesting and gave them journalistic value.

I regret to inform you that Delbert Africa, who won his freedom in January 2020 after 41 years imprisoned, lost his life a few days ago to the ravages of cancer.

But this is not the whole story. Late last year, Delbert was urgently taken to a nearby hospital due to an undisclosed disorder.

On leaving prison, Delbert consulted with some doctors who were horrified to learn of the drugs he was given while in Dallas prison in Pennsylvania State. A doctor said, “The drugs they used in that prison were poison.”

Still, Delbert ended his stay in prison strong in spirit. He loved the MOVE Organization and hated the rotten system.

Delbert criticized Black people who supported the system and opposed the revolution. He used to call them “niggapeans,” a word I’ve never heard from someone else’s mouth.

More than a decade before Rodney King’s police beating recorded on video in LA, Delbert was beaten by four Philadelphia police officers on Aug. 8, 1978, and the beating was recorded by a local station.

Video shows Delbert left unarmed from a basement window at his home after a standoff with police. With his naked torso, he had raised his arms in a gesture of accepting detention.

Delbert endured everything and walked free with his revolutionary Black soul intact.

Immediately, four officers surrounded him and savagely beat him, hitting him with the handle of their rifles, crushing his head with a motorcycle helmet, and kicking him until he lost consciousness.

Yep, that’s what they did.

Delbert suffered a jaw fracture and a swollen eye the size of an Easter egg.

There was a whitening trial of three of the police officers, in which the judge took down the case by impeaching the jury composed of people from rural areas of Pennsylvania, then declaring an acquittal of the police despite evidence recorded on video of the state brutality.

And that brutality was not limited to the streets of West Philadelphia, nor to the unfair trial and conviction of Delbert and other members of MOVE.

He continued for 41 years in exhausted soul lockdown and sorry health care. Delbert endured everything and walked free with his revolutionary Black soul intact.

As a MOVE member until the end, he continued to follow John Africa’s teachings and lived embraced in the love of his MOVE family and daughter Yvonne Orr-El.

After all, love is the closest thing we’ve come to freedom.

Delbert Africa, after 72 summers, turned to his ancestors.

From imprisoned nation, I am Mumia Abu-Jamal.

© Copyright 2020 Mumia Abu-Jamal. Keep updated at www.freemumia.com. Mumia’s latest book is “Murder Incorporated: Empire, Genocide and Manifest Destiny, Book One: Dreaming of Empire” by Mumia Abu-Jamal, Stephen Vittoria and Chris Hedges, published by Prison Radio in 2018. For Mumia’s commentaries, visit www.prisonradio.org. Send our brother some love and light: Mumia Abu-Jamal, AM 8335, SCI-Mahanoy, 301 Morea Road, Frackville, PA 17932.

Help Raise Legal Funds for Imprisoned Encampment Volunteer Daniel Gibson

  • July 31, 2020 12:38 am

from Fundrazr

Hello everyone! My name is Christa Rivers. It brings me nothing but pain and anxiety to write to people in our community but I have to tell this story. My partner, Daniel Gibson, had been volunteering with the Occupy PHA encampment in north Philly. PHA police and Philadelphia police have been surveilling the camp. On the night of July 2, 2020 he was on his way home when he asked the police why they were following him. He was arrested that night, and is currently upstate in SCI Coal Township. They beat him; he still has bruises and scratches all over his body two weeks later, still has a swollen and fractured knee, fractured shin bone. The charges they have against him can be fought, we just need to hire a lawyer. Which is why we’re turning to the community for help. I want my loved one home. We believe that hiring a lawyer, whom we have already contacted, will yield the best results. This is going to be a long process because of covid 19 and because the court system is slow, especially for those who are already in state custody. I just want to do everything possible to make his time in prison end sooner than later. As of right now, we are keeping the fundraising deadline open to account for future curt dates. Please help anyway you can, share with people, donate, connect us with a pro bono lawyer–anything.  Thank you, from both of us.

[Contribute Here]

Several police cars set on fire overnight across Philadelphia

  • July 28, 2020 12:59 am

from Mainstream Media

Four unoccupied Philadelphia Police Department vehicles were set on fire overnight, burning them but not injuring any officers or passersby, authorities said.

Shortly after 1:30 a.m. Monday, authorities said, someone set fire to the front passenger side of a police cruiser outside the Sixth District station, near 11th and Vine Streets. About 15 minutes later, they said, the left rear tire was burned on another empty cruiser near Seventh and Chestnut Streets.

Then, about 2:30, two more cars were set on fire farther west, authorities said. One vehicle was parked outside the University City District’s headquarters on the 3900 block of Chestnut Street, they said, and the other was a mile away on the 400 block of North 39th Street in Powelton.

On North 39th, authorities said, they determined the cruiser was set on fire with a Molotov cocktail placed on the hood of the driver’s side.

In the later incidents, police said they used University of Pennsylvania Police security cameras to identify a suspect. In surveillance footage, a man wearing a flannel shirt and a backpack was seen leaving the area on a white Cannondale bike, authorities said.

It was unclear whether police considered him a suspect in all four incidents or just the two in West Philadelphia.

Investigations into the arsons are ongoing, police said, and no additional information was available.

It was unclear whether the property damage was linked to the recent protests across the city or the calls for police reform nationwide in light of the death of George Floyd.

Philly PD-Backed Mob Assaults Several People in Fishtown: Who Was Involved?

  • July 17, 2020 1:04 am

from Philly Justice

Mob of Racists who harassed, intimidated and attacked other residents of Philly who they perceived as being allied with Black Lives Matter.

Panic over “Antifa” and “anarchist agitators” has reached a fever pitch in this country, thanks to Donald Trump and his state media parrots at Fox News, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, and other far right and white nationalist outlets. This scapegoating has been discussed and debunked at length in other outlets.

It was this hysteria that was used to justify the mob of (almost entirely) white men who “patrolled” the Fishtown neighborhood of Philly on June 1st, 2020. According the the organizers of the mob, and the ones giving interviews, they were there to prevent looting and rioting where they lived. The truth of how this mob was formed, which we discuss at length below, is far different.

However one needs only look at the video and photos recorded from that evening to see that the group was not any sort of defense-minded community patrol, but a pack of bigots looking for easy targets to intimidate and assault to feel powerful after seeing 2 days of furious protests and riots aimed both at the cops they call family and friends, but also the white supremacist power structure that remains in place in this country and all the ways it harms Black people.

The members of the mob were unable to contain themselves. They identified people who were supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement and attacked them viciously.

Richard Goodwin (white shirt, note the Teal shoes), Jimmy Bradley (green hoodie) and others attack several BLM protestors.

Two medical professionals, who happened to witness the attack, stopped their car to help one of the people Goodwin and co. assaulted. While one of them rendered aid, Richard Goodwin returned to smash the window of the medic’s car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodwin changed his shirt between attacks, but the shoes, shorts, hair, build and tattoos all match. It was also confirmed by eyewitnesses that Goodwin broke the window.

The other medic was in the back seat of the car when the window was smashed and was showered in broken glass.

Despite their being several cops nearby enough to hear the breaking window, and the yelling exchanged between Goodwin and the medics, Goodwin mysteriously escaped being detained or arrested. Even more strangely, despite being identified over the next few days on social media and alternative media like Idavox, Richard Goodwin was still not arrested. As of this writing, Goodwin has finally been named in the Inquirer, but still has not been arrested or charged.

This is likely because Richard Goodwin has a brother, Joe Goodwin, who is a longtime cop in the 26th precinct, which is the precinct that enabled Richard Goodwin and his cohorts to harass and assault people on the night of June 1st. Despite having been identified in multiple outlets, Richard Goodwin has not been arrested or charged for this attack. Even more suspiciously, Joey Goodwin was in uniform and working in Fishtown that evening.

Even more unsettling, as covered in BillyPenn, this mob was not simply an organic event in response to the rioting. It was, in fact, PHILADELPHIA POLICE OFFICERS from the 26th prescinct who had gone door to door to claim that “Antifa were coming to loot.”

Justin Haskell (white shirt, carrying bat) formed the mob of racists in Fishtown on June 1st. Haskell trains martial arts at Renzo Gracie Philly in Kensington.

For those keeping score, here are the facts of the events of June 1st:

  • Cops from PPD MANUFACTURED a mob of their supporters with a baseless rumor.
  • A large number of those supporters went on to harass, intimidate, insult and assault activists, journalists, or just random people in the area. Many of these acts were in full view of PPD officers from the 26th . Not only was no one from the mob arrested, but weeks later they have failed to investigate or charge anyone.
  • At least one person involved in one of the assaults that was caught on camera, Richard Goodwin, has a family member who is a cop in the 26th precinct, his brother Joe Goodwin. Joe was present that night and therefore there’s no doubt that Richie was identifiable as having participated in the assaults.

The PPD behavior in Fishtown, the several days of even more disgusting attacks by violent racist reactionaries at Marconi Plaza in South Philly, including the Proud Boys, and the police violence against Black Lives Matter protesters in this city have made it clear that the PPD is not a neutral party simply enforcing the laws of the land. It is on us to defend ourselves and see the PPD as another adversary in the fight for Freedom, Justice and Equality.

Since, as of this writing, he has not been arrested and is still at large and a danger to others, people should be aware that Richard Goodwin lives at 2981 Aramingo Ave. He works in the building trades, possibly as a roofer.

People should be also aware that Richie Goodwin has a previous manslaughter conviction.

Mayor Kenny and Commissioner Outlaw are probably aware of vast corruption in the PPD, and the 26th and 1st precincts involvement in the racist mobs in Fishtown and Marconi Plaza. In that case, they are running a smokescreen and dragging their feet in holding the cops accountable. The other option is that they have lost control of the PPD, and the PPD has decided they are no longer going to prevent violence against those that want to curb their power and influence in this city. Not only that, but the PPD are going to encourage and condone those attacks, and defend those that perpetuate them from being held accountable. Either way, we will be working to identify EVERY person who has participated in these mobs and further exposing how the PPD was a their partner in terrorizing parts of this city.

More Philly Justice to come.

John Bramble of the Vaughn 17 is on hunger strike

  • July 15, 2020 1:50 am

from Twitter

URGENT: John Bramble of the Vaughn 17 is on hunger strike. The Vaughn 17 continue to be retaliated against in PA. They have now been in solitary for 3.5 yrs in retaliation for a prison uprising that the State couldn’t prove they participated in.

Johnny is still being held on the Restricted Release List (indefinite solitary) w/o due process. Lately he’s being harassed by guards to discourage him from testifying for another prisoner who was accused of attacking the cops. He has no other recourse left except hunger strike.
Johnny is asking for us on the outside to call SCI Rockview at 814-355-4874 (btwn 9am-3:30pm today or tmrw); ask to talk to Superintendent Garman or Deputy Superintendent Houser. You can say you’re concerned for his safety and his mental state and that he’s not eating.
He says he is not going to break the strike until something changes. If you support militant resistance against prisons, PLEASE call today or tmrw! These guys took major risks & came together in multiracial solidarity against the system. We can’t let them fall through the cracks!

Pete Dardas of the Berks County Sheriff’s Department

  • July 15, 2020 1:30 am

from It’s Going Down

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

Antifascist researchers using the pseudonym Firestorm on Fash we able to track the racist social media posts from Constable Pete Dardas of the Berk County Sheriff’s Department. His Facebook posts are littered with meme’s about “Black on Black crime” and “refusals to apologize for being white.” He regularly posts racially insensitive content in response to the recent wave of removals of confederate and other racist monuments.

As you might expect, he posts plenty of anti-ANTIFA propaganda as well as sexist content. He also posts a ton of sexually charged content, which makes us wonder if the memes are indicators of his behavior in real life, or more importantly, on his shift.

Finally, he posted a diatribe in response to the George Floyd Uprising where he includes some thoughts on the Philadelphia Police Commissioner. He includes his belief that protesters who block highways deserve to be run over, his desire to shoot and kill protesters, his belief that blue lives matter over Black lives and that BLM should be labeled a terrorist organization.

Dardas uses his social media to make veiled threats toward minority groups and activists and given his position of power at the Berks County Sheriff’s Department, it’s clear that his is an absolute danger to the community. After this dox dropped, an understandably outraged community contacted the Berks County Sheriff’s Department calling for Constable Dardas’ removal and as of July 8th, the Dardas had officially resigned.

Help Community Care Worker Lore Elisabeth

  • July 10, 2020 1:26 am

from We Love Lore

Latest update, July 9: $33,388 raised by 405 donors.

[Donate Here]

We are the family, friends, and loving community of Lore Elisabeth (Lore-Elisabeth Blumenthal), a community care worker in Philadelphia. Our beloved Lore has dedicated her entire life to serving people and making them feel better. She provides essential, life-sustaining services to the most vulnerable Philadelphians as a care worker. She supports community members who live with HIV and chronic illnesses to access medical and critical care, often at her own expense. She has maintained multiple studios in massage therapy and provides regular outcalls to elders and clients who cannot leave their homes. She is the irreplaceable rock of support for her family through health crises. We all love and depend upon her incredibly generous spirit every day. If you’re seeing this fundraiser, then you may be among the countless Philadelphians (and beyond!) whose lives have been improved or even saved by this selfless volunteer.

Federal authorities raided Lore’s home in the early morning hours of June 15, 2020, in a manner that was meant to intimidate her housemates and neighbors. It has now been publicly revealed that their surveillance and raid tactics are an attempt to discourage public demonstration. She is currently being held in custody pending a trial for charges with enhanced federal penalties despite hundreds of other protestors being charged with property crimes in state court.

All proceeds to this fundraiser will support Lore. Funds will be withdrawn exclusively to a single-purpose account owned and managed by Lore’s brother Karl, strictly for this support. We are all united in our ongoing support for her and for an end to police brutality. We look forward to welcoming her home to the family, friends, and community who love and depend upon her so much.

Coverage of Care Not Cops Demonstration

  • June 27, 2020 9:39 pm

from Twitter

Philadelphia Police civil affairs cops have been monitoring this protest, other officers appear staged nearby. Fairly calm scene so far
‘Care not Cops’ demo has been chanting the names of #BreonnaTayor and #GeorgeFloyd
One Philadelphia Police bike officer stationed along the march route is sporting a design of ‘skull mask’ popular with far-right and white nationalist militants
‘Care not cops’ march reacts positively when a group of skateboarders(?) rides past and shows support

Protesters in Philly say they are now establishing an occupation at the site of the Hahnemann Hospital, which was bought and closed down by an investor named Joel Freedman.

Freedman recently tried to extract $1M rent from the city to use the empty hospital during the pandemic.

More barricades continue to go up at brand-new Hahnemann Hospital occupation in Philly as more police start to arrive and stage nearby.
As usual, the Philly PD “Audio Visual Unit” aka surveillance team is among the first officers to arrive, and have been taking pictures of protesters.
More barricades going up at Hahnemann as police command staff appears to be weighing options
PPD SWAT officer seen here in black arrived to consult with PPD civil affairs who were already on site
SWAT officers in riot gear began to load off this Philadelphia Sheriff white bus. Philly Police officials appear poised to quickly deploy mass force to confront people looking to reopen a closed hospital during a pandemic.
Protesters appear to be dismantling the Hahnemann occupation now, several were heard saying they did not want to experience the police brutality displayed by Philly officers during recent protests (and spotlit in national media this week)
SWAT team from Philly PD forming up outside Hahnemann now

Mass amounts of police at Hahnemann are now just doing cleanup after protesters left.

PPD SWAT was seen moving debris at direction of Hahnemann Hospital staff (hospital owner Joel Freedman has insisted on staying closed since serving public health does not make enough profit.)

A Philly PD commander in white shirt could be seen smiling as he rolled up a Black Lives Matter flag that had been placed in the barricades outside Hahnemann Hospital.

It’s possible some of the Philly protestors still marching, we would guess they’ve dispersed by now.

When people marched away from Hahnemann Hospital a large amount of police in the area followed them. This included the PPD “Audio Visual” surveillance guys, who were in this car:

Report back and reflections on the Juneteenth anti-cop anti-prison noise demo in Philly

  • June 22, 2020 12:39 am

from Anarchist News

Even though there’s been active protests going on everyday here since May 30th, it feels like things for the most part are becoming more and more tame. There’s still a lot of momentum but with it is a strong fear it’ll be overtaken by the popular liberal agenda or suppressed by state repression. Nonetheless with a curiosity of what direction things will take, and with rather low expectations I showed up to the call for the ftp noise demo..

Most folks show up to the meet-up mad late. There were conversations around not having enough numbers, if the time was called for too early and if we should wait longer, make moves, or go home. Lots of hesitations and indecisiveness. Fortunately despite the demo being publicized on the internet, there was no cop presence at the start, and the 25 of us decided to proceed.

Even while moving, things started off a bit awkward and quiet. We rushed through the streets towards the federal detention center. Graffiti went up on the walls and some cop vans, and when we got to the FDC things got LOUD. There were tons of fireworks and smoke bombs, fuck prisons graffiti was written on the ground for the prisoners to see, there was yelling and banging on street signs. There were a few chants but for the most part they were pretty minimal. The folks inside were hype to see us, they were flashing their lights and banging on windows. Their reactions reassured a lot of the trepidations some of us had had about coming out after all.

Once we finished with the louder toys, we didn’t try to stick around since a small squad of cops had showed up outnumbering us. We had a hasty, sloppy dispersal but everyone made it out alright and in good spirits.

After the demo I was left with a few things on my mind:

Noise demos are really cool opportunities for people with less street experience to get their feet wet with a little more risk. Because they’re a slightly more escalatory than the common protest marches, but aren’t as scary as heavier attacks, they give folks a greater sense of power and practicality to navigate moving through the streets together in riskier situations.
Regardless of what type of action we show up to it’s important to come with our own personal goals and a readiness to adapt to the goals of others around us.

One way to stay ready is to always use best practices to conceal our identities. Whether that’s making sure we’re covered up before we’re near any cameras or cops, or wearing gloves whenever we use illegal objects that might get left behind. It’s important we stay off the radar, unrecognizable and untraceable.

When moving together we really gotta get better at keeping it tight and not panicking! When were too spread out at vulnerable moments it puts us more at risk. Cops trailing us doesn’t always turn to cops chasing us. When we run away unnecessarily we open ourselves up to being more vulnerable. It’s important to assess when it makes or doesn’t make sense for us to run.

Lastly, it’s exciting to imagine all the possibilities of what we could get away with in a group that big when there’s no cops around!

In times like this, where repression is coming down extra hard it’s especially important to show solidarity and counter isolation.

Shout out to all the angry ones turning their anger into action, directing it to revolt. Solidarity to all those recently captured by the state, you’re in our hearts and your actions were courageous.

I hope that we can spread and keep the momentum of the recent uprisings directed towards the police state and it’s prisons, because without their total destruction we will never be free.

Towards the destruction of the state, it’s cages and it’s reinforcers.

Towards the creation of something better than anything they could ever offer us.

Care Not Cops Rally

  • June 20, 2020 9:23 pm

from Facebook

This city was already in the midst of a care crisis before the pandemic hit. Hospitals closing, shelters and schools underfunded and overcrowded, many Philadelphians unable to access basic healthcare, healthful food and medicine, and suicide, addiction and mental illness massive social problems. All of these disproportionately effect Black and immigrant communities in Philadelphia, and instead of responding with care, compassion and resources, the city criminalizes homelessness, mental illness, drug use, poverty, survival!

With coronavirus all these systems have revealed themselves to be utterly insufficient to our needs. Covid spreads rampant in prisons and jails, but police keep throwing more of our siblings in cages for just trying to survive.

Enough is enough! We’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we, nurses, doctors, teachers, mental health professionals, unhoused folks, and many more, are marching for immediate abolition of the police and prisons, and the redirection of their resources, infrastructure and funding to us, so that we can take care of each other. And if the city won’t give it to us, we’ll take it for ourselves!!

[Saturday, June 27, 2020 at 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM at City Hall]

Monday, June 22nd: Letter-writing for Joe-Joe Bowen

  • June 19, 2020 1:04 am

from Philly ABC

Join us for our monthly letter-writing to political prisoners that we hold on the 4th Monday each month. To observe social distancing, we will hold this event online once again on the secure video platform, Jitsi. We will post the link on social media the day of, or message us beforehand for the link.

When: Monday, June 22nd, 6:30-8:30pm

Where: Online, join from anywhere!

In the midst of this uprising, we recognize our comrades behind bars who would be out here on the streets with us struggling for freedom and self-determination. As a soldier in the Black Liberation struggle, Joe-Joe Bowen is one of those people.

Hailing from Philadelphia, Joe-Joe was a young member of the “30th and Norris Street” gang, before his incarceration politicized him. Released in 1971, his outside activism was cut short a week following his release when Joe-Joe was confronted by an officer of the notoriously brutal Philadelphia police department. The police officer was killed in the confrontation, and Bowen fled. After his capture and incarceration, Bowen became a Black Liberation Army combatant. He is now serving two life sentences for the assassination of a prison warden and deputy warden, as well as an attempted prison break which resulted in a five-day standoff in response to racist and oppressive prison conditions. During his time in prison, he has raised the consciousness of thousands of Pennsylvania prisoners through his powerful history and political/military education classes.

If you are unable to join us online, drop Joe-Joe a line at:

Smart Communications/PADOC – Joseph Bowen #AM-4272
SCI Fayette
P.O. Box 33028
St. Petersburg, FL 33733

Up Against The Law on Dealing with Law Enforcement

  • June 18, 2020 1:38 am

from Facebook

FBI agents can lie to you, but it is illegal to lie to them. So it’s best to just DONT TALK. Ask for their business card, or name/phone number. Say nothing else. Do not consent to any searches. Then email up against the law for FREE legal support.

 




Philadelphia: Camp Maroon encampment press conference

  • June 18, 2020 1:16 am

from Twitter

Philadelphia: Camp Maroon encampment press conference pscp.tv/w/cbj7JTFheVFWdmRWUm…
Speakers at Camp Maroon calling for more access to housing – authorities to permit the camp – disarming, disempowering, disbanding Philly PD. #Live now (alternate YouTube link) invidio.us/watch?v=EOjRonsv…
a closer look at the demands posted at the press conference for #CampMaroon in Philadelphia – our live feed is ongoing now

The camp is being renamed away from “Camp Maroon” and information will be released later about this

We are hearing a rundown on the Philadelphia camp demands now – live at press conference. Call to repeal ‘camping’ ordinances aimed at unhoused people, and must support tiny houses, without eating into existing public housing stock & resources pscp.tv/UR_Ninja/1BdGYnaoeeE…
pscp.tv/UR_Ninja/1BdGYnaoeeE… Hearing about how people without housing are pushed into a system that does not care about them – that homelessness could be ended tomorrow by institutions in Philadelphia

FTP Noise Demo at FDC

  • June 18, 2020 1:10 am

from Twitter

Philly! Friday! Juneteenth noise demo to free all looters
[Meet 7:15 Washington Square Park Fri June 19th]

Up Against The Law statement on Raid and Arrest in Germantown

  • June 16, 2020 5:38 pm

from Facebook

[Statement release date: 06/16/2020]

Early yesterday morning, Monday June 15th, Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE,) Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), FBI Homeland Security, and the Philadelphia Police Department knocked down the door of a Germantown house and took one person into custody. An ICE agent, who refused to identify himself, was at the forefront of the intrusion. We believe this individual was targeted due to alleged protest activity and support for the Movement for Black Lives. This action is not only an egregious infringement on Civil Rights, but also in direct opposition to Mayor Kenney’s statements and purported actions in support of establishing Philadelphia as a “Sanctuary City.”

Up Against the Law is working to ensure the individual who was picked up has legal and community support. If you or someone you know is approached by the FBI, PPD or ICE relating to protest activity or support for the Movement for Black Lives, please remember you have the right to remain silent and contact Up Against the Law.

[Arrest Hotline: (484) 758-0388
UpAgainstTheLawLC@gmail.com
UpAgainstTheLawLC@riseup.net]