Make Your Voice Heard: Say No To “Sexy” Fund-Raiser For Mumia At NYC Episcopal Church

(Update 11/5/2007 According to a "Free Mumia" website, this event has been "postponed" due to a scheduling conflict. I guess the Westboro Baptist Church already had a break-dancing contest planned the same night)

"In 1963, the Convention condemned extremists "both of the Right and of the Left who often resort to false witness, slander, distortion and over-simplification" and whose activities have "often aroused suspicion, mistrust, and confusion within the Church,; reminding Church people to "examine carefully charges of disloyalty and subversion brought by extremist groups, and the over-simplified appraisal of our situation which they promote."

-Episcopal Church position on "Extremists"

On November 9th, the New York branch of the "great un-washed", will be having, and I quote "A Dance Party With A Purpose, For The Grown And Sexy", the money raised is to be used specifically to bus Jamal supporters from New York City to Philadelphia the day after the 3rd Circuit Court rules on Jamal’s latest appeal. This, so they can tie up traffic and scream at empty buildings and find cops to call "pigs" as they pollute the streets of Philadelphia with their hatred and ignorance.

Prior to writing this, I contacted the NYC diocese asking why this event was being allowed, and to date I have received no response.

And while I understand the Episcopal Church likes to present itself as a champion of the "progressive" ideal, there is nothing "progressive" in allowing for the raising of money for the cause an un-repentant murderer.

It is no secret that in the city of Philadelphia there exists only a handful of Mumia supporters and that his most ardent devotees on the east coast live in New York City, an hour and a half away from the scene of the crime, but apparently a million miles away from reality.

It is also no secret that the last major event set in NYC did not go so well after a groundswell of public outrage forced the Mumia groupies from the swanky nightclub they had booked for the event to their stinky communist club-house where they ended up having to have it.

That they have chosen to hide their cop-killer party in the basement of an Episcopal Church is certainly typical Mumia tactics. To try and hide the profane behind the sacred in the hopes of mitigating any kind of public display of indignation shows both their cynical nature and the frailty of their cause. To be sure, it wasn’t too many years ago that a pro-Mumia event would be held not in the dank basement of a church, but instead at Madison Square Garden with hundreds, if not thousands in attendance.

Those days are thankfully, for the most part over. The "free mumia" fraud certainly reached it’s high water mark in the mid-nineties and crashed down as the millennium dawned, crushed under the weight of it’s own contradictions. But the downfall of the Mumia cause was not all self-immolation, it was also due to the consistent, sometimes quiet, but no less determined people, who knew the truth about Mumia and who wouldn’t be intimidated into shutting up about it. People like Daniel Faulkner’s widow, Maureen, who has a book coming out soon and who apparently didn’t buy into the notion that silence is the only answer to the vulgar protestations of the Mumiaphiles.

As someone who wakes up in the morning and devotes at least a couple of thoughts towards figuring ways to make the lives of those who lie about Mumia and his crime that much more difficult, I cannot let them hide what they are doing in a Church and let the Episcopal Diocese off the hook for this.

In all likelihood, the Church bureaucracy knows nothing about this little "dance with a purpose", nonsense, nor is it likely that those who attend the Church know either. But, I argue that they should be made aware, that those who are allowing this event to be held accountable, and also made to understand the crime that Jamal committed. And they should also be know that the Mumia devotees are comprised of violent, child-abusive cults like MOVE, certified hate-groups such as the New Black Panther Party, and a whole host of other explicitly anti-American, pro-authoritarian entities, dedicated not to social justice, but to chaos and destruction.

Let those who are truly concerned with justice and freedom have their voices heard.

Contact the NYC Episcopal Diocese at

Episcopal Diocese of New York

1047 Amsterdam Avenue

New York, NY 10025

212-316-7400 Fax: 212-316-7405 mailto:212-316-7405minfo@dioceseny.org

Also, contact the Church where the pro-Jamal event is being held and express your concerns

St Mary’s Episcopal Church

521 W. 126th St.New York,

NY 10027-2496

212- 864-4013

Below is the Mumia flyer

The Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition Presents*A Dance Party with a Purpose, For the Grown and Sexy *

What: ***A Party With A Purpose *** Where: St Mary's Episcopal Church (in the basement)521 West 126th Street (btw. Old Broadway & Amsterdam Ave.)1 train to 125When: Friday November 9, 2007 – 7-12pm

Any day now, we expect to get a ruling by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals regarding Mumia's Abu-Jamal legal rights to a new and fair trial. As we all know, his original 1981 trial was completely biased and racially tarnished by the prosecutor's incorrect summary remarks and Judge Sabo's infamous statement during the trial.

Mumia Abu-Jamal was and continues to be a very vocal critic of the United States governmental terrorism within and beyond our borders. Since his former membership in the Black Panther Party, our government has kept a close watch on him, and now that they have him in their clutches – the courts have bent over backwards to keep him, where he remains – on death row. It's up to us to force their hand.

Be in the streets the Day After the ruling is made public. Check out our website regularly for updates www.freemumia.com or call 212 330-8029

Come to our party in order to raise money, so we have a nest egg to pay for transportation costs to Philadelphia, at a moments notice. They actually believe they have won the battle – we must show them how we intend to win the war, at home for our own self determination.
Suggested donation $10, food, beverages, and Mumia gear on sale

DJ Mellow G will be spinning Old School R&B, House Music, Salsa Meringue, Blue Eyed Soul, Classic Hip Hop and Reggae with video streaming for your visual pleasure. Special guest performance by:

*Nana Soul* of Black Wax productions
If you can't make it and would like to make a donation send it to:

Free Mumia Coalition NYC
P.O. Box 16 College Station New York, NY 10030
Make it out to Free Mumia Coalition/IFCO
(212) 864-4013

Episcopal Diocese of New York1047 Amsterdam AvenueNew York, NY 10025 212-316-7400Fax: 212-316-7405info@dioceseny.org

*A Dance Party with a Purpose, For the Grown and Sexy *

Where: St Mary's Episcopal Church (in the basement)