In honor of Martin Luther King Day, VIBE took time to chat with beloved rapper Talib Kweli about the first time he heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak, hip-hop’s respect for the holiday, as well the influence Dr. King had on him.—Diane “Shabazz” Varnie

VIBE: Can you recall the first time you heard Dr. King speak?

Talib Kweli: The first time I remember Martin Luther King having an impact on me was in ’82. I was six or seven years old and my mother took me to D.C.—they were having a rally to create the national holiday. I know that rally couldn’t have compared to the “March on Washington” rally in ’63, but it’s still a memory from my childhood that sticks through the test of time. I remember hearing speeches from Dr. King, and especially seeing Stevie Wonder perform “Happy Birthday,” which was an incredible experience that I’ll never forget.

Do you think hip-hop still cares about remembering his legacy?

I think hip-hop culture does care. I think Dr. King’s legacy is so great that hip-hop culture is not immune to it. Hip-hop culture does not exist without Dr. King, and I think most people who listen to hip-hop recognize and understand that. I don’t know if most people employ Dr. King’s spirituality, vision and clarity into their everyday lives, but his legacy is certainly respected.

If Dr. King was still alive, do you think he would say that our race has been set back?

I think that The Boondocks did it best when they did the Return of the King episode, which is one of the greatest pieces of television I ever seen. Have you ever seen it?

Yes, and it was great.

Dr. King in that was just spot on, dead on. But you know, I don’t think… just like in Dr. King’s time, just like now, too much reasonability is put on artists because people don’t understand the job of art. It would be nice if all artists were leaders, if all artists were the Bob Marley types, but most artists are regular people with the same problems that you and me have. So that comes out in their art. The fact that their willing to express themselves, for our benefit along with their own personal catharsis, when they can be doing something worse. Would Dr. King as a Christian [be proud] when it comes to all the messages and imagery that’s used in some of the hip-hop, of course he wouldn’t. But I think he understood the need for solidarity amongst people and put that ahead of his own personal and emotional preferences.
Continue reading →

FROM MUMIA’S LEGAL TEAM:
Mumia is still in Administrative Custody (AC)—the hole—at SCI Mahanoy. The confinement conditions in all the Restricted Housing Units (RHU) are degrading and tortuous.

Mumia is in solitary confinement, with lights glaring 24/7, without adequate food, or the opportunity to buy food to
supplement his diet. He is shackled and handcuffed whenever outside his solitary cell—including when he goes to shower. And he is isolated without regular phone calls, or access to his property, including legal materials, books and typewriter. His visiting hours are limited.

There is no legal basis for Mumia to be confined in AC. At the point he was no longer under a death sentence, he should have been transferred into general population. This is not dependent on a court date for Mumia to be formally resentenced to life imprisonment.

On January 3 and January 6, 2012 I submitted demand letters on Mumia’s behalf to John Wetzel, Secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC), and to John Kerestes, Superintendent SCI Mahanoy, to immediately transfer and assign Mumia to general population with full visitation, phone and commissary privileges and access to all programs and services. The stated legal grounds are the following: The degrading, dehumanizing, tortuous conditions of Mumia Abu- Jamal’s confinement in administrative custody at SCI Mahanoy are an abuse of authority, counter to DOC regulations, punitive, discriminatory, in violation of his protected liberty interests and his civil rights, including First Amendment rights.

The DOC regulations allow only two permanent categories of imprisonment, death row and general population. AC is by law only a temporary placement. It must be based on defined grounds, justified and implemented subject to procedural due process. None of the grounds listed in the DOC regulations for placement in AC apply to Mumia. In
fact, on December 8, 2011 the DOC transferred Mumia from death row at SCI Greene and onto a cellblock that does not house capital inmates. On December 14, the DOC ordered Mumia moved to a medium security facility, SCI Mahanoy, which by regulation cannot hold death row prisoners.

The response by the DOC via telephone by Chief Counsel Suzanne Hueston was that Mumia is in AC pending resentencing and further evaluations. These are bogus explanations. The December 2001 federal court ruling that Mumia’s death sentence is illegal has been upheld on appeal. The District Attorney has stated there will be no trial to obtain a new death sentence. Therefore Mumia should be in general population.

Nor is there a reason or basis for “further evaluation.” Mumia has been confined in Pennsylvania prisons for some thirty years. The DOC unquestionably knows his history, conduct and behavior. There is nothing in Mumia’s personal record to justify holding him in Administrative Custody.

The DOC’s treatment of Mumia is punishment for depriving the FOP and Philadelphia District Attorney of his execution. This is the latest attempt by this frame-up system to silence Mumia, an innocent man, and to subject him to tortuous, punitive conditions in the hole.

Rachel Wolkenstein, Attorney
January 7, 2012

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT:
1) Write Call Phone and email the Secretary of Corrections
Tell them that Mumia must be immediately transferred to General
Population.

John Wetzl, Secretary Department of Corrections
2520 Lisburn Road,
P.O. Box 598
Camp Hill, PA 17001-0598
(717) 975-4928
Email: ra-contactdoc@pa.gov

2) Write Call Phone and email the Secretary of Corrections
John Kerestes, Superintendent
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, PA 17932
(570) 773-2158
fax 570-783-2008

3) Write Call Phone and email the Philadelphia DA
Seth Williams, DA Philadelphia
Three South Penn Square
Philadelphia, PA 19107-3499
(215) 686-8000
Email: DA_Central@phila.gov

*WRITE MUMIA*

Mumia Abu-Jamal
AM 8335
SCI Mahanoy
301 Morea Road
Frackville, PA 17932