Above photo: Supporters of inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal rally outside City Hall in Philadelphia Dec. 9, 2006. JEFF FUSCO/GETTY IMAGES
Update: Marylin Zuniga was not fired but was suspended with pay. This news story gives a sequel describing a community hearing where Zuniga spoke and community showed support for her forcing the board to reconsider its plan to fire her. The story includes a video of the event.
Note: Below are two articles about Mumia Abu-Jamal. The first focuses on Mumia’s still dangerous medical condition and urges people to take specific actions to help him receive the care he needs.
The second article focuses on a teacher who was fired because she urged her students to write a “get well” card to Mumia as a voluntary extra project after completing their assignments. Roots Action has a petition that seeks to have Marylin Zuniga be rehired. Click to send an email to Ronald Lee, Superintendent of Schools in Orange, NJ.
We are keeping our “Eyes on Mumia”. Your support has enabled his family see him.
On Thursday Mumia’s wife Wadiya Jamal visited him. She shared with us that his weakened state continues, and she is deeply concerned that he still has not had the appropriate care and diagnosis– and in fact has been returned to the environment that allowed his chronic but treatable conditions to nearly kill him.
We demand that:
1) Mumia’s chosen private physician has immediate regular phone access to Mumia in the infirmary. Phone access is limited in the infirmary, and Mumia and his physician need to be in conversation throughout each week.
2) His doctor be allowed to communicate freely and regularly with the prison infirmary physicians who are currently overseeing Mumia’s care.
3) The PA Department of Corrections (DOC) allow Mumia’s doctor to schedule an immediate Independent Medical Examination in an examination room with a table and medical instruments.
4) The PA DOC develop a diagnostic and treatment plan adequate to understand any underlying conditions that have contributed to his current ongoing crisis, and that consultation with appropriate specialists be arranged in a timely fashion and be used to assist in this effort.
We need a mass mobilization of calls and letters to:
Tom Wolf, PA Governor
717-787-2500
governor@PA.gov
508 Main Capitol Building, Harrisburg PA 17120John Wetzel, PA Department of Corrections
717-728-4109
1920 Technology Pkwy, Mechanicsburg PA 17050John Kerestes, Superintendent- SCI Mahanoy
570-773-2158 x8102
Fax: 570-783-2008
Rising out of his infirmary bed to reach out to us, Mumia recorded a commentary that night. Now we need to reach out to him.
On Saturday from his wheelchair in the visiting room, Mumia discussed the steps necessary that both he and his outside doctors and supporters have to take for him get the care he needs. His attorney, Bret Grote of the Abolitionist Law Center, discussed the ongoing efforts to pursue immediate diagnosis and adequate treatment for his medical conditions.
On Monday Mumia met with Suzanne Ross, again in a wheelchair, in the visiting room and only for an hour to preserve his strength. She noted that although he remained very sick, his mind was sharp and focused.
Please know that it is your calls, faxes, emails, and letters that have literally kept Mumia with us.
Mumia Abu-Jamal has provided to the world a body of work that is a heartbeat of resistance; brilliant and incisive. It is now our turn to take care of our brother and make sure that he has the support and treatment he needs.
The next few weeks are crucial to making sure that he receives appropriate care. Please continue calling. Continuing rising up. Stay involved.
Our Call for Support: Mumia’s Medical Fund
With 18 days left, we want to give everyone a chance to make Mumia’s Medical and Legal Fund possible.
We’re calling on you to help us get Mumia’s medical fund to $40,000, now!
In an unstoppable mobilization of support, 414 supporters from around the world joined our Indiegogo Campaign and raised $21,720 in 14 days! When we launched the Campaign, we didn’t think we could raise more than $20,000. But the truth is that we need to raise double that to get Mumia the medical care and legal assistance he urgently needs.
Please click here to support Mumia with a gift of $25, $52 or even $10 now!
We are in the thick of the struggle to keep Mumia alive and healthy. Mumia’s chosen outside doctor is reviewing his medical records while we’re pushing to allow phone communication between the two; and we’ve spent over 100 hours of legal fees for Mumia. And we need your help to defend Mumia’s right to medical and legal access now
Join us to defend Mumia’s life! Now is the time!
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO MUMIA’S MEDICAL FUND.
NJ Teacher Is Suspended for Having Students Write ‘Get Well’ Letters to Mumia Abu-Jamal
Advocates maintain the convicted cop killer’s innocence, and one advocate in particular encouraged her students to show the former black nationalist leader some love.
By DIANA OZEMEBHOYA EROMOSELE
The Root
School officials in Orange, N.J., said they had no idea that schoolteacher Marylin Zuniga had instructed her students to write “get well” letters to convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, NJ.comreports. School officials suspended Zuniga on Friday.
Orange Superintendent Ronald Lee said that Zuniga didn’t get permission from her students’ parents, or receive clearance from school officials, to give the assignment.
“The Orange Public Schools was surprised to learn through recent news reports that one of its teachers, Ms. Marilyn Zuniga, a third-grade teacher at Forest Street Elementary School, involved her students in a ‘get well’ letter-writing assignment to convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal,” the statement from Lee read.
“The school’s principal and district administrators vehemently deny that it had any knowledge of the assignment and preliminary inquiries find that no approval was ever sought nor were parents notified about this unauthorized activity,” the statement continued.
Abu-Jamal was once on death row but is now serving out a life sentence (without the possibility of parole) for killing Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. Abu-Jamal has been sick, suffering from complications related to diabetes. Abu-Jamal was a black nationalist leader, and many maintain that he is innocent.
Zuniga on Sunday tweeted about how she was excited for Abu-Jamal to get the “get well” letters from her students.
“My 3rd graders wrote to Mumia to lift up his spirits as he is ill,” Zuniga tweeted.
Zuniga’s Twitter account has since been deactivated. She did not respond to NJ.com’s request for a comment.
Read more at NJ.com.