Live From Death Row By Mumia Abdul Jamal

Listening is ‘Not an attempt to understand something that is being said’ but ‘Just an attention to the activity of sounds’

The development of McMillian’s story is similar to Haney’s explanation that the courts dehumanize those accused of a crime, painting them as people incapable of feeling compassion or pain. In Psychological Secrecy and The Death Penalty, Haney’s main argument is that in many cases peoples social and family history is not taken into consideration to explain what lead the defendant to violently act out. In McMillian’s case, his alibies and background were not considered – just the fact that he was African American and fit the community imposed stereotype of African Americans. If looked at, background history may give a deeper insight and could explain the person’s actions – humanizing them. The framing of a story portrays a person and sets

In this essay I intend to explore the narrative conventions and values, which Oliver Smithfield presents in the short story Victim. The short story positions the reader to have negative and sympathetic opinion on the issues presented. Such as power, identity and bullying. For example Mickey the young boy is having issues facing his identity. It could be argued that finding your identity may have the individual stuck trying to fit in with upon two groups.

The United States currently has the highest number of prisoners in the world. According to Glaze and Herrmann (2013), approximately 6.9 million adults are under some form of correctional supervision in the United States. Crime in the United States is relatively equal to that of any other industrialized nation, so why does the United States house so many inmates irrespective of the fact that the nation cannot successfully manage a budget for the institution as well as manage the inmates? An inmate, Victor Hassine, provides insight as to what prisoners physically and mentally experience during incarceration as well as his ideas on the effects of prisons on inmates in his book, Life without Parole.

The Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr., the former presidential candidate, writes “Legal Lynching The Death Penalty And American’s Future”. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., wrote this book in the company of his son Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., a United State congressman from Illinois since 1995, and Nation writer Bruce Shapiro a contributing editor at National and a national correspondent for Salon.com, and the professor at Yale University. In this book Jackson’s keep his moderated argument about the death penalty. There are nine chapters in this book, each chapter tackle a different facet of the argument. This

After more than 28 years, amidst the controversy surrounding Mumia's guilty conviction and later receipt of the death penalty, there are those who are not convinced. Many Mumia supporter and some advocating for abolition of the death penalty believe corruption in the Philadelphia Police Department, coupled with a flawed judicial system, backed by racist judges, have lead to a conspiracy to commit murder on the part of the State. Abu-Jamal Mumia, a well known journalist and community activist from Philadelphia has been on death row since 1983 for the shooting death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in 1981. Because of his political views and his former involvement with the Black Panther Party, Mumia has been viewed as a hero

President and chief executive of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human rights, Wade Henderson, in his column, “The pursuit of capital punishment for Dylann Roof is a step backwards,” criticize the pursuit of capital punishment as a sentence for a racist-driven criminal case. Mr. Henderson's purpose is to emphasize the negative consequences of pursuing a capital punishment for Dylann Roof's criminal case, which would have an negative impact on the community. He adopts a moralistic tone to appeal to the community's sense of justice and equality.

In Rachel Buchan's article titled "Who killed Kalief Browder", she grabs the attention of the readers by the opening paragraph describing the date and cause of death of Kalief Browder. He was a 16-year-old, African American male, who was wrongfully accused of stealing a backpack while on his way home from a party. He was taken to one of the nations cruelest Penitentiary for three years.There he was mentally and physically abused- then placed in solitary confinement so he can reflect on his actions. After he served for three years, when he was released he wasn't the same anymore. He was struggling with mental issues that he decisded to take his life anf hang homself .

The Book is written by a former radio reporter, Mumia Abu-Jamal who, during the time in the book is in a Pennsylvania prison awaiting his execution. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1982 for the murder of a Philadelphia police officer. Live from Death Row is a collection of writings while he was in prison which tells a passionate and emotional account of the brutalities and humiliations of prison life. He explains the rules and regulations and day to day life in prison, on death row. He goes into detail about not only his feelings about prison life, but almost the feeling of life in general after being in prison compared to life out of prison. He explains what rules are enforced and which rules he violates and what is the outcome. He speaks of racism and political bias not only in America but mainly in the American justice system which he experiences first hand. He tells of instances of controversy surrounding the death penalty and freedom of speech against himself and others. This book is a compilation of the notes Mumia has taken over the years he was in prison and he highlights specific incidents to show readers what the life of a prisoner on death row is like. This volume is a collection of his writings, which documents the life in prison from his first-hand experience. I, like many I believe found this book fragmented as it is broken up into many short areas of topics and thought processes which he articulates and attempts to explain one issue after another to

In the book, Up from slavery, Booker T. Washington, the former slave who wrote the book on his experiences, spent the majority of his life in the “after emancipation” era. He was a slave only up to the 10th year of his life, and he did not experience the many beatings that many of the older slaves had. He enjoyed learning, and he “fought” his way into college to do so. He had a family, and he was able to live with his mother and siblings, but he never knew his father, who was said to be a white man. When he was freed from slavery, he still experienced the scorn and hardships of the “separate but equal” mind set of those around him.

While Malcolm was in an unfortunate situation he fell in love with learning new words and topics which helped to make him a very successful civil rights activist. Dana Stevens and Malcolm X demonstrate their differences through their choice of genre, the occasions of the pieces and the tones while still highlighting the many plights of African Americans in the United States. Dana Stevens and Malcolm X highlight the many plights of African Americans, they accomplish this through different genres. “Literacy Behind Bars” was a narrative written by Malcolm X and it is easily noticed in the beginning of the piece that he will turn a negative consequence into a positive life changing experience. Malcolm X tells his audience how people would view him as a person who had the ability to receive an education “beyond the eighth grade” (Malcolm X 640), and continues his narrative saying, “It had all really begun back in the Charlestown Prison” (X 640).

Jerome Hines once quoted, "The only proper way to eliminate bad habits is to replace them with good ones." In other words, it is pretty much impossible to get rid of bad behavior if someone is not corrected with good behavior. This is true when it comes to many convicts and criminals who are behind bars now-a-days because the only way they will overcome their bad habits, is to be shown good ones. Some people lack common sense when it comes to obeying the law and when they choose to ignore what they are told, somebody with high-power decides that they are going to put them into place. That "somebody" is also known as the Criminal Justice System.

In “My Son My Executioner” Donald Hall use of poetic language allows readers to understand why the speaker of poem referred to his son as his executioner. In one example, the speaker of the poem metaphorically compares his son to death. As the father decries, “Sweet death, small son, our instrument/ Of immortality” (Hall 5-6). The speaker also uses imagery to depict the burdensome responsibilities of caring for a child. For example, the speaker describes, “Your cries and hungers document/

In Stephen Bright’s article, “The Death Penalty as the Answer to Crime: Costly, Counterproductive, and Corrupting” Bright asserts that capital punishment does not work because it is racially biased, the quality of the lawyers and attorneys supplied by the state to poor defendants is unfair, and that the law system currently in place does not accomplish its true goals. Bright defends his claim with logos and ethos by examining the opinions of judges and district attorneys, and by describing experience within the fields of human rights and law himself in order to persuade the reader to take up more cases for those on death row. Given the language used in this article Bright is writing to an audience with intermediate to professional experience within the field of law, and a willingness to adopt a new idea on the constitutionality behind the death penalty.

In this paper I’m going to talk about Capital Punishment and the numerous ideas, thoughts, views and opinions people have about it and how they feel about this type of punishment. There are people who see capital punishment as morally wrong and committing a murder or on the side of the spectrum people see it as the right thing to do and believe that the individual receiving the punishment deserves it. I will also talk about how capital punishment can be used as a deterrent and make individuals second guess the decision they want to make and this may very well be a consequence of their actions. Another thing I will look at and talk about is how people have been falsely accused and sentenced to death or are currently sitting on death row. Also the technology and resources that are available today are so precise and extremely effective that to falsely convict someone is extremely slim and not common at all. There are numerous types of methods used to commit capital punishment and I will take a look at them and discuss them and look at some of them are inhumane and cruel. The process of getting on death row and eventually getting put to death is a very long and tedious one and it takes years to happen. I will discuss how people can make appeals, try and have their case heard again and to try and get off death row even though at times it isn’t successful at all. I will also discuss the states that still practice capital punishment and what states have outlawed