Wesley Cook (Mumia) & Wayne Cook
Wesley Cook in Junior high
Mumia, 15, Minister of Information of the Black Panther Party
Philadelphia Inquirer, 1977
Mumia and his mother Edith Cook
Stop watch in hand, budding broadcast journalist
Mumia, then reporter for Philadelphia Channel 12 WHYY-TV, interviews basketball star Julius Erving, 1980.
Mumia as the News Director of WHAT 1340 AM Radio Station
Philadelphia Magazine's profile of Mumia, 1981
Mumia speaking at the church of the advocate at Fred Hampton’s memorial, Dec 1969
Ariel View of SCI Mahanoy
Mumia with his son Mazi
Goldi, Mumia and Wadiya's daughter
Edith Cook & Mr. William Hinton, Mumia's Mother & Father
Mumia leaves death row and begins life sentence
The Cook Family
National Writers Union Press Pass
Mumia awaiting a court hearing (c) April Saul/Inquirer
Nyle Fort & Keith Cook, St. Denis France
MUMIA'S STORY
MUMIA IS A BEAUTIFUL HUMAN BEING.
It's time to bring Mumia home.
Born in North Philadelphia, Mumia Abu-Jamal chose the library and Shakespeare in the Park over basketball. He sang in the All-City Choir, served as Mayor for a Day. He was selected by his teachers to meet Lyndon B. Johnson at the White House at 14. At the same age, protesting a George Wallace rally, he was brutally beaten by spectators and police, losing sight in his right eye. At 15, he joined the Black Panther Party. He later became an award-winning journalist for WHYY and NPR’s All Things Considered, a scholar, a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. On December 9, 1981, Mumia was shot and arrested. Prior to this incident, he had never been convicted of a crime. More than 44 years later, he remains imprisoned.
Mumia was the president of the Philadelphia Association of Back Journalists in 1980. He also earned the Major Armstrong Award from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Listen to Mumia: Senior Hot Lunch Radio Interview
“He had one of the greatest voices I’ve ever heard. I found Mumia to be a superb reporter. He could have been an anchor at NPR.” -- William Bill Siemering, Mumia's boss at WHYY and founder of National Public Radio.
HEALTH
MUMIA IS A VULNERABLE ELDER; HE IS 72 YEARS OLD.
After four decades in prison Mumia is serving a death by incarceration sentence. As an elder, he has survived organ failure as a result of treatable and acute Hepatitis C; double-bypass open heart surgery; and numerous other conditions. In 2025, Mumia Abu-Jamal was needlessly blind for 9 months. The common thread has been a life-threatening denial of adequate and appropriate care.
This is what death by incarceration looks like.
a scholar, a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
For over four decades, the state of Pennsylvania has failed to diminish Mumia Abu-Jamal’s humanity, his brilliance, and his ability to reach the world. After completing his B.A. and Master's, he is now completing his dissertation for his Ph.D. He speaks French, Spanish, German, and, of course, North Philly, and in his words: "In the clear voice of a free man."
It is our collective responsibility to make sure he comes home: his physical reality must match his intellectual and spiritual freedom.
Death By Incarceration
“He had one of the greatest voices I’ve ever heard. I found Mumia to be a superb reporter. He could have been an anchor at NPR.” -- William Bill Siemering, Mumia's boss at WHYY and founder of National Public Radio.
THE CASE
A CASE BUILT ON INJUSTICE
A Modern-Day Lynching. The 1982 trial of Mumia Abu-Jamal was never a search for the truth of who shot a Philadelphia police officer. Judge Albert Sabo presided over a modern-day lynching, a political prosecution, conducted in a city with a documented history of brutally targeting Black people. The record speaks for itself.
SIX VOICES. ONE CALL
"On humanitarian grounds I urge...[the] Governor of the State of Pennsylvania to commute the death sentence imposed upon Mumia Abu-Jamal...the death penalty is inconsistent with the right to life, the right to dignity and the right to be protected from cruel and unusual punishment..."
Nelson Mandela
Activist, revolutionary, first president of South Africa
"Mumia’s voice threatens the smooth and orderly function of both state-sanctioned murder and modern slavery."
Ronald Hampton
Veteran D.C. Metropolitan Police Officer, Executive Director National Black Police Association, Advisory Member for the National Police Accountability Project
"He has withstood so much trauma, so much abuse, so much misrepresentation, and yet, he is shining, he is shining, he is shining like a star in his work, in his messages, in his complete dedication to making a wiser and clearer and more understanding of where we are...and we will continue to be sustained by his spirit. It's an incredible gift that he offers us"
Alice Walker
Pulitzer Prize winning novelist
"How many years of his life has been stolen away from him, his community and his loved ones? Mumia has been in prison longer than I’ve been alive."
Colin Kaepernick
Athlete
"Silencing Mumia would mean silencing 3000 people condemned to death in a land where the number of imprisoned people is breaking all records…the Americans do not deserve such barbarism! ... Mumia has always claimed his innocence and did not receive a fair trial..."
Danielle Mitterand
Former First lady of France
"For over two decades, Rage Against the Machine has stood with Mumia Abu-Jamal. His case is not just about one man — it is about whether this country will ever reckon honestly with its history of political persecution of Black voices."
Tom Morello
Rage Against the Machine
Kris Kristofferson
VOICES OF SUPPORT
THE WORLD STANDS WITH MUMIA.
A growing movement of faith leaders, heads of state, artists, politicians, scholars, and athletes has joined millions of people the world over to advocate for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Many have offered to welcome Mumia to their communities and homes.
FEATURED SUPPORTERS
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NEWS
THE WORLD IS WATCHING.
Mumia's case has reached millions of people through film, radio, print, and digital media. The momentum for release is undeniable.
THE GUARDIAN
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TAKE ACTION
ACT TODAY.
The Governor of Pennsylvania has the power to commute Mumia's sentence. That power responds to political will.
Your action – especially if you yield institutional authority – is critical.
SIGN UP FOR UPDATES
Stay connected to the campaign.
SIGN THE PETITION
Add your name to the growing call for freedom.
SPREAD THE WORD
Carry Mumia's story into your networks.
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MUMIA WILL BE RELEASED!
