Letter from Pennsylvania's Coal Fields

Join the Struggle for Mumia's Freedom

June 7, 2006
Hastings, PA

Spartacists and WV,

The Coal Country Coalition (CCC), formed in the early 1990’s to battle the fascist KKK in the coalfields of Western Pa., wishes to announce that it supports the efforts of the Partisan Defense Committee (PDC) to build a mass movement based upon the working class to win freedom for Mumia Abu-Jamal, who sits on death row, framed for the murder of Daniel Faulkner, a Philadelphia cop. The CCC is very aware of the fact that Mumia was targeted by the racist capitalist state due to his membership in the Black Panther Party at a young age, as we are also aware of the fact that the capitalist state wants Mumia to die for his belief in the liberation of black people and all the oppressed from the ignorance breeding capitalist system. It is certainly a testimony to Mumia’s spirit that he continues to study and write articles dealing with issues facing the oppressed and CCC members follow these articles closely.

While the US imperialists continue to claim that the US imperialist military is occupying Iraq to bring them a democracy, the war against democratic rights continues on the home front. As we know and as the WV article, “Government Spy Network Exposed, Again” [WV No. 871, 26 May] points out, the US capitalist government is trampling upon basic rights, as it spies on millions of American citizens in the name of the “war on terror,” which gives them an excuse to wage their vicious imperialist wars and institute a fascist like police state in the US. 9/11 was in many ways a godsend to the capitalist-imperialist ruling class, and they, both Democrats and Republicans, picked up the ball and ran with it. However, the CCC knows that the only real solution to this increasingly repressive bourgeois order is for the working class to sweep away the capitalist system through a workers’ revolution led by a revolutionary communist party like the Bolsheviks and ushering in an egalitarian communist society.

Concerning Mumia, the CCC vows to do everything possible to make a contribution to the battle for Mumia’s freedom, including working to convince unionists and left leaning local organizations such as Citizens for Social Responsibility (CSR) of Johnstown, Pa. to become involved in this fight.

Concerning the issue of government harassment and spying, I, as the main force behind the founding of the CCC and organizing united front protests against the Klan scum, experienced this sort of thing on a personal level. Not only was I harassed by the local police but also watched very closely by other government agencies. On one occurrence, I was involved in a theatrical production, “The Crucible,” at St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa. The head honcho of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission called the theatre department at the University and asked the director if I was going to attend a Klan rally in Somerset, Pa. that Saturday. The director told this person, a woman, that he had no idea and the woman then gave him an 800 number for me to call. When I called her, she asked me if the CCC was associated with any national organizations. I, of course, explained to her that this was none of her concern, and then asked her how she had known that I was in a play at St. Francis and why she would call there anyway. She told me that she had been told this but she refused to elaborate.

On another occasion, I had filed for SSI benefits, due to the fact that I had a disability. It was all documented and a Medical Doctor had signed the required form. When I received a letter denying me the benefits, the letter made an unusual comment that I had taught myself to ride the bus and had used the bus as a means of transportation. I had not rode in the bus for many years, except on one occasion. I rode the bus to a Progressive Labor Party organized May Day March in Washington, DC. So I could only conclude that someone had been watching my activities.

So if the government and its repressive apparatuses would find the need to harass and spy upon somebody like me, I have no trouble believing that they would attempt to frame Mumia Abu-Jamal. Therefore, the CCC devotes itself at this time to working to win the freedom for Mumia and making his case known in the coalfields through letters to the editor of local papers, and hopefully, taking out an ad in a paper signed by local citizens.

N.B.

PS I received the May 26 issue of WV on June 3 and I also received a notice that my sub will expire after the next issue. I definitely plan to renew my sub as I do not want to miss an issue of WV. Enclosed you will find one of my letters to the editor of “The Altoona Mirror.”

By the way, I seem to be on the SWP’s shitlist, as I disagreed with their position that the counter-revolution in the Soviet Union was a positive event and that US imperialism lost the cold war. These are the ideas of Barnes and as I mentioned in a previous letter, he is a tad bit off the wall. Anyway, they stopped sending me notices for their forums.