PHILLY COMES TOGETHER DEC 9 FOR JUSTICE IN THE FACE OF TRUMP, FOR CLEAN WATER, HEPATITIS C TREATMENT FOR PRISONERS, FOR ABU-JAMAL’S FREEDOM AFTER 35 YEARS

PRESS RELEASE Dec 9, 2016

CONTACT: Tiffany Robbins 484-343-2172; Dr Suzanne Ross 917-584-2135; Joe Piette 610-931-2615

PHILLY COMES TOGETHER DEC 9 FOR JUSTICE IN THE FACE OF TRUMP, FOR CLEAN WATER, HEPATITIS C TREATMENT FOR PRISONERS, FOR ABU-JAMAL’S FREEDOM AFTER 35 YEARS

Relatives of prisoners, health care advocates, water defenders, Black Lives Matter activists and news reporters are invited to an outdoor march and indoor rally on FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9 in Philadelphia. Hundreds of participants are gathering to assert constitutional rights to clean water, full hepatitis C treatment for all prisoners and freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, unjustly imprisoned since 1981. From a city that experienced extreme racial repression under “law and Order” Mayor Frank Rizzo, speakers will give their views on what “law and order” President Donald Trump will mean for our communities.

• People will begin gathering at the contentious Rizzo statue, in Thomas Paine Plaza near 15^th & JFK, at 3pm with signs and banners.
• A march to Governor Wolf’s office at 200 S. Broad begins at 3:45pm, where thousands of petitions will be delivered.
• Marchers will stop in front of the District Attorney’s office at 3 South Penn Square across from City Hall, before ending the march at the Rizzo statue.
• An inside rally at the Arch Street United Methodist Church, beginning at 6pm, will feature three panels:

• Fighting for hep C treatment, clean water and other health care issues inside and outside prison: Teresa Sullivan (member of Prison Health News), Shani Akilah (Black & Brown Collective), Bryant Arroyo (PA prisoner environmentalist), Liz Ellis (Peoria Nation member, Philly organizer for Standing Rock), family members of prisoners, and others.
• Fighting for legal rights for Mumia Abu-Jamal and other prisoners:                    Attorneys Michael Coard, Robert Boyle and Rachel Wolkenstein.
• Fighting for Justice during a Trump Presidency: Erica Mines (Philly REAL Justice Coalition), Larry Hamm (Peoples Organization for Progress), Ramona Africa (the MOVE Organization), Carmen Guerrero (Coalicion Fortaleza Latina PA), Estela Vazquez (Executive Vice President, Local 1199 SEIU) and more.

Bryant Arroyo, who hasn’t let his imprisonment at Frackville prevent him from fighting for his right to clean water, said about numerous water problems in many of Pennsylvania’s prisons, “Let me remind people that under the PA Constitution we all have the right to clean air, pure water, and the preservation of the natural scientific, historical, and aesthetic value of the environment.”

The gathering is taking place just weeks after Philadelphia City Council passed an Oct 22 resolution “Calling upon Governor Wolf and the Pennsylvania State Legislature to ensure that individuals incarcerated and working in state prisons have access to clean water and proper health services.” (attached)

The meeting occurs 3 months after the Federal Court decision (Abu-Jamal vs. Kerestes) on August 31 declared it was unconstitutional for the Department of Corrections to refuse to give hep C-infected prisoners with medicines boasting a 95% cure rate. Pam Africa, of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, said: “It’s is criminally insane –and murder—that Graterford prisoner Jose Barrio died last week. He could have been saved if given the hepatitis C cure before it was too late. How many more have died needlessly?”

Just six months ago, on June 9, the US Supreme Court ruled in Williams vs PA that a prosecutor in a case cannot sit as a judge over the same defendant he prosecuted. Acting as prosecutor and later Judge for both  Abu-Jamal and Terrence Williams, former PA Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille refused to recuse himself. A new lawsuit by Abu-Jamal’s attorneys has been filed, based on that recent ruling. If a judge rules in Abu-Jamal’s favor, it would reopen all of the legal decisions in the case made since 1998.

In weeks, the racist billionaire administration of Donald Trump is set to begin. How will people respond to his regressive policies? “As the Trump presidency takes shape… Let us build movements. Let’s lift our hearts. Let us remake our history with the brick and mortar of struggle.” Abu-Jamal said on Prison Radio Nov 21.

Reports will detail other developments impacting unfairly-convicted Pennsylvania prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal:

Abu-Jamal is experiencing increased symptoms of the deadly hepatitis C virus. His deteriorating health is again approaching alarming levels as occurred in March, 2015 when he was rushed to the hospital unconscious. For Mumia Abu-Jamal and nearly 7,000 other prisoners with hep C, prison authorities continue to use a protocol that refuses effective treatment until inmates are near death. (Case 3:16-cv-02000-RDM   Document 18-1   Filed 11/08/16 Section 20 – Hepatitis C Protocol)  Why is the DOC continuing its deadly protocol of “deliberate indifference”?

Prisoners at Mahanoy Prison had to bathe in dirty, brown water, and were limited to inadequate rations of drinking water for weeks until recently.  Is the water safe to use, especially for hep C inflicted prisoners with skin complications? Why does the DOC do so little to protect prisoners from unsafe water at SCI Mahanoy, SCI Frackville, SCI Graterford and other prisons?

Individual endorsers of the Dec 9 event  include:

Angela Davis;

Betty Davis, New Abolitionist Movement;

Estela Vazquez, Executive Vice President, Local 1199 SEIU* ;

Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka, US Green Party Presidential Ticket;

Juanita Young, Stolen Lives*;

Lynne Stewart, former political prisoner and people’s lawyer, Lynne Stewart Organization;

Martha Grevatt, Trustee, UAW Local 869*;

Minnie Bruce Pratt, UAW Local 1981/ National Writers Union *;

Monica Moorehead & Lamont Lilly, US Presidential & Vice-Presidential  Candidates, Mundo Obrero/Workers World Party;

Ralph Poynter, New Abolitionist Movement;

Rev CD Witherspoon Baltimore SCLC President*;

Robin Laverne Wilson, US Senate Candidate (NY – Green);

Royce Adams,  International Longshoremen ‘s Association Local 1291 -AFL-CIO*;

Susan E. Davis, National Writers Union, UAW 1981*;

Wadiya Jamal

*For Identification Only