Mumia Abu-Jamal's Radio Essays

Ona Move! Dear Friends at the Social Forum, As I write this, it has just been announced that the petro-multinational, BP, has failed at its "Top Kill" plan, and the Gulf of Mexico is being more fouled by the hour. If ever there were a time to honestly question the madness at the heart of capitalism, it is now, as people are repulsed by what they are seeing, week after week, and now month after month, of environmental wreckage, corporate greed, and government subservience. Because, in truth, this is what capitalism, unbridled, unregulated, looks like: the spoilage of the natural world for private gain. Just a few weeks ago, we saw the Supreme Court essentially write off the damages awarded to the devastated native population of Alaska, who suffered from the Exxon Valdez disaster. Their award was cut by over 90%, making it a windfall for Exxon. It's no wonder their bottom line is looking so good. Again - that's capitalism! If folks at this Forum don’t grasp this moment, to build the Movement, then this moment will pass, and the era of crony capitalism will give us all nightmarish dystopias that will make these days look like the good old days. To quote the late, great Kwame Ture, "Organize! Organize! Organize!" This is written, by necessity, several weeks before the Forum, but I'm willing to bet that even as these words are heard, either the leak will not have been fixed; or, even if it is, then the Gulf waters are still as foul, still as toxic, still as ugly: if not worse. If the struggle isn't to make such environmental crimes such as these unthinkable, then it is for nothing. Thank you all! Ona Move! Long Live John Africa! Mumia Abu-Jama

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