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<h1 id="reader-title">Ramona Africa Talks Mumia, US Prisons,
Donald Trump</h1>
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<p class="subtitle" itemprop="description
alternativeHeadline">22 March 2017 - <span
style="font-size:12px">By:</span> <span
class="itacaput"><a style="width: auto" class="her"
alt="Lamont Lilly" title="Lamont Lilly">Lamont Lilly</a></span></p>
<p class="subtitle" itemprop="description
alternativeHeadline">Black activist Ramona Africa
discusses political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jama and the
repressive U.S. prison system in part two of an exclusive
interview.</p>
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<p>Ramona Africa sat down to share her experiences as a
member of the MOVE Organization and an organizer with
the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia
Abu-Jamal. The former U.S. political prisoner and
longtime freedom fighter is the only living survivor of
the 1985 MOVE bombing, when the FBI and Philadelphia
police dropped two C-4 bombs on her organization’s
Philadelphia home, killing 11 people.</p>
<p><strong>Lamont Lilly: Ramona, current U.S. political
prisoner, Mumia Abu-Jamal is an international symbol
of people’s resistance. Not only was he a founding
member of the <a
href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Want-Freedom-Black-Panther/dp/0896087182">Philadelphia
chapter of the Black Panther Party</a>, Mumia was
also an early supporter of the MOVE Organization. What
does Mumia mean to MOVE?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Ramona Africa</strong>: Mumia began his
journalistic career writing for the Black Panther Party
newspaper at 14, 15 years old. When it came to issues of
the people, Mumia always covered them. When he heard
about the MOVE Organization and began covering our
demonstrations and court cases, Mumia would actually
come to the prison and interview MOVE members, right in
prison. He was the only journalist that consistently and
accurately reported on MOVE, the truth, I mean. And
because he was telling the truth about MOVE and exposing
what the system was doing, not only to MOVE, but to poor
people, people of color, and even poor whites, he earned
the scorn of the Philadelphia police department and <a
href="http://www.phillymag.com/news/2016/08/09/take-down-frank-rizzo-statue-city-hall/">Frank
Rizzo</a>. He earned the scorn of city officials. He
lost jobs.</p>
<p>Mumia used to work for NPR. He worked for a local radio
station here in Philadelphia called WBAF. He worked for
the Philadelphia Tribune, the first Black publication in
this country, I believe. But he ended up becoming a
freelance journalist because the people he was working
for were trying to make him compromise and tell the
system’s story and not the truth. Mumia would not
compromise. He refused. He ended up becoming a freelance
journalist and driving a cab part-time to supplement his
income and take care of his family. That’s how he just
happened to be out at 13th and Locust St. on Dec. 9,
1981.</p>
<p><strong>Lamont Lilly: What happened on that day? That
particular evening is what led to Mumia’s
incarceration. Can you give us some details on that?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Ramona Africa</strong>: Mumia was working at
night, and on this particular night he was letting a
fair off at 13th and Locust. He happened to see police
lights circling. Being a journalist, he wanted to see
what was going on. He went over to where the police
vehicle was and saw this white cop beating this Black
man. He went over a little closer to see about the
brother, and if he could, to stop the cop from beating
this man.</p>
<p>Mumia then realized that the man who was being beaten
by the cop was his very own brother, Billy. So, Mumia
tried to intervene and ended up being shot by the cop.
Shortly after that, someone shot the cop. Now, of
course, they said that Mumia did it, but the conflicts
here are unquestionable.</p>
<p>They said Officer Daniel Faulkner was shot with a .44
caliber. That’s what they said. Mumia was licensed to
carry a gun because he had been robbed twice while
driving his cab, but Mumia’s gun was a .38 caliber.
Witnesses said that the person who shot the cop ran down
the street and down this alleyway. Mumia was shot,
sitting there on the curb. Shot! He didn’t run anywhere.
But when they realized who they had, as in Mumia
Abu-Jamal, who was right there in their grasp — they
didn’t look for anything else and didn’t want to hear
anything else. This was their opportunity to get Mumia
Abu-Jamal, which the Philadelphia police department
wanted to do for a long time.</p>
<p>People should know that a man named Arnold Beverly came
forward and confessed to shooting Daniel Faulkner. He
gave a whole resume about other cops who had been killed
and everything. The courts said he wasn’t credible, but
how could they know that? They never let him come into
court and testify. They said he “wasn’t credible,” and
never even entertained his confession.</p>
<p><strong>Lamont Lilly: Right now Mumia is sick with
Hepatitis C. There has been a national movement to get
Mumia the medicine that would cure it, but the state
of Pennsylvania is not allowing that. What the hell is
going on?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Ramona Africa</strong>: Well, there are two
attorneys fighting hard on this, Robert Boyle and Bret
Grote, who have been fighting to not only get <a
href="http://iacenter.org/3654/a-peoples-victory-court-rules-to-give-mumia-abu-jamal-hep-c-cure/">Mumia
treated</a>, but there is also a cure for Hepatitis C.
And that’s what they are pushing for. It’s a drug called
Harvoni. The thing is, it’s a two prong fight. Harvoni
in India and Africa is like US$4.00 a pill, US$7.00 a
pill. In the United States, it’s like US$1,000 for one
pill. The cure is a 90-day treatment. You have to take
it every day for 90 days. It is a proven cure, not just
a “treatment.” This is the cure for Hepatitis C, you
know.</p>
<p>One prong of this fight is the pharmaceutical
companies. How can you dare charge people US$1,000 a
pill (US$90,000 basically for the cure)? Yet, in other
countries, much poorer countries — they’re charging
people US$4 and US$7 for this pill. And I’m not saying
that they should raise the price of their pills. I’m
saying that these pharmaceutical companies here in the
U.S. should not be charging US$1,000 for this over here.</p>
<p><strong>Lamont Lilly: You mentioned a “two prong”
fight. What is the second prong?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Ramona Africa</strong>: The other prong is the
institution. Mumia is so well-known. The situation with
him gets a lot of attention. What the institution is
saying is that if they give it to Mumia, then they will
have to give to the other 6,000 to 7,000 inmates in the
state of Pennsylvania who also have Hepatitis C. And
yes, yes you should!! You took custody of these people!
You took responsibility for them! So yes, if they’re
sick, of course, you’re supposed to treat them! I mean,
come on.</p>
<p><strong>Lamont Lilly: I heard that the prison where
Mumia Abu-Jamal is being detained doesn’t have clean
drinking water. Is that true? You also have family
members in that prison. What have you heard about
this?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Ramona Africa</strong>: Lamont, let me tell
you. I know people have heard about <a
href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Flint-Now-Required-to-Pay-Full-Price-for-Contaminated-Water-20170301-0018.html">Flint,
Michigan</a> but contaminated water is not just in
Flint. The prison that our brother Eddie Africa and
Mumia are in is called Mahanoy Correctional Institute.
The water there is so so bad! It is so bad that they
started giving the inmates, (and this is ridiculous),
three little Dixie cups of water with each meal. That’s
nine little Dixie cups of water per day because the <a
href="http://www.wpr.org/investigative-report-sheds-light-drinking-water-problems-wisconsin-prisons">regular
water is not drinkable</a>. This is what they’re
giving them, nine little Dixie cups of water per day?
It’s unreal! Most people have no idea this is going on.</p>
<p>Where my brother Mike Africa is being incarcerated, at
Graterford Prison here in Pennsylvania the water is
really bad there, too. He convinced the “Lifer’s
Association” to sell bottled water. It’s one of their
fundraisers. But he pays like close to US$20 for a case
of water. That’s ridiculous. He’s spending 60 bucks a
month for water.</p>
<p>They were telling the guards, straight up, don’t drink
the water; bring your own. My brother Mike works in the
kitchen there, and he was telling me that in the guard’s
dining room they have filters on the water spigots, but
not for the inmates, of course. That is the state of
what’s happening in this country, not just with Mumia,
but in prisons all over this country.</p>
<p>I don’t know what it’s going to take for people to
really, and I mean REALLY, get the message that this
system and those running it are not operating in our
interests, in the interests of the people. Their only
interest is money and keeping this system going. I don’t
know when people are really going to get that, but we
can’t look to this system for anything.</p>
<p><strong>Lamont Lilly: Speaking of ‘the system’ and
those who are running it, what are your thoughts on
the election of Donald Trump? </strong></p>
<p><strong>Ramona Africa</strong>: I’m not a Hillary
Clinton fan at all, but the bottom line is, they told
people to their faces “your vote doesn’t count.” You
don’t elect the president. They say that Hillary had
over <a
href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/12/hillary-clintons-popular-vote-lead-now-2">2
million more votes</a> than Donald Trump. So, why he
is now the president? Because this mystical electoral
college selects the president, that’s why. It has
nothing to do with who “the people” elected. They tell
you that to your face, and you’re still going to believe
in this system? You’re still going to hallucinate that
you can get something out if this?</p>
<p>I don’t know what it’s going to take for people to
realize that we don’t need this system. We can’t use or
get anything from this system. It’s the system that
needs us — that relies on the people, not the other way
around. We have to let this system go and make up our
minds to do for ourselves because we sure aren’t getting
anything from this system. Nothing!</p>
<p>Thank you, Lamont. Long live the revolution! Free
Mumia! Ona move!</p>
<p><em>Lamont Lilly was a U.S. delegate at the
International Forum for Justice in Palestine in
Beirut, Lebanon. He is also an activist and organizer
in the Black Lives Matter movement.</em><span> </span></p>
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