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Mumia Abu-Jamal Loses Bid for New Trial

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AOL “Snapping Up” Seasoned Print Journalists

 

 

Supreme Court Acts; Death Sentence Still in Dispute

Mumia Abu-Jamal, the radio journalist and death-row inmate whose case has become an international rallying point against the death penalty, lost his case for a new trial on Monday when the Supreme Court let stand his conviction for gunning down a Philadelphia police officer 28 years ago.

The case of Abu-Jamal, president of the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists at the time of his arrest, has drawn heated passions over the years, but many who were unwilling to declare him innocent did support granting him a new trial.

“The central issue in this case is racism in jury selection,” his chief defense attorney, Robert Bryan, wrote to supporters last month. Ten whites and two blacks made up the original jury panel that sentenced Abu-Jamal to death, CNN reported.

“This is another terribly dark day for justice in this country!” Hans Bennett, a co-founder of the group Journalists for Mumia told supporters.

“This Supreme Court decision again underscores the ‘Mumia Exception’ where courts reject granting this inmate the same legal relief given to others raising the same legal points,” Linn Washington, a longtime Philadelphia journalist and Abu-Jamal supporter, told Journal-isms.

“Ample evidence exists documenting improprities by the prosecutor during jury selection at Abu-Jamal’s 1982 trial – the same pattern of improprities that state and federal courts have cited in overturning over a dozen murder convictions in Philadelphia occuring before, during and after the trial of Abu-Jamal . . . none of which [involve] a black charged with killing a white police officer,” said Washington, author of a book on African American judges.

Abu-Jamal himself agreed. In a prison interview posted by supporters, he said, “The law is politics by other means. The Constitution means nothing.”

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia upheld Abu-Jamal’s conviction but held his death sentence invalid. The appeals court said it would not second-guess state court rulings rejecting Abu-Jamal’s claims of bias in the composition of the jury, the Associated Press said.

“The high court considered only the conviction. The state has separately asked the court to reinstate the death sentence, but the justices have not acted on that request.”

A Philadelphia jury convicted Abu-Jamal of killing Daniel Faulkner, who was white, in 1981 after the patrolman pulled over Abu-Jamal’s brother during an overnight traffic stop. Abu-Jamal was working as a cab driver at the time.

“Prosecutors say Faulkner, 25, managed to shoot Abu-Jamal during the confrontation. A wounded Abu-Jamal, his own gun lying nearby, was still at the scene when police arrived, and authorities considered the evidence against him overwhelming,” the AP said.

While in prison, Abu-Jamal has remained active writing and speaking. So have his supporters. In 2004, the NAACP reaffirmed previous stances against the death penalty and passed its first-ever convention-approved support “of the international movement for a new and fair trial for Mumia Abu- Jamal.”

Activists had taken the issue of Abu-Jamal to the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Philadelphia in 1995, shortly before Abu-Jamal’s scheduled execution.

Then-president Dorothy Gilliam supported a new trial for Abu-Jamal in her Washington Post column, as did several black newspapers, but NABJ was reluctant to take a position on Abu-Jamal’s guilt or innocence, not only because its members are journalists and believed they should keep their distance from that kind of activism, but because members noted other cases around the country they thought deserved the same level of attention.

In the end, NABJ decried violations of Abu-Jamal’s First Amendment rights, filed a friend-of-the-court brief to that effect and urged “a full an accurate review by the judicial system of the state of Pennsylvania” of new information that might have developed.

It also decried actions by the activists. “Instead of developing a winning partnership with us, NABJ has been targeted by various groups and individuals for ridicule and scorn,” the board said in a statement. “Instead of working side-by-side with a powerful ally such as the nation’s news media, we have been used as the scapegoat.”

Smiley Getting Last Word on Conflict With Obama

“Who Died and Made Tavis King?” famously asked a headline last year on theRoot.com over a column by Melissa Harris-Lacewell. “Does Tavis realize that Obama is trying to win an election?”

Harris-Lacewell was discussing activist and broadcast personality Tavis Smiley and the failure of presidential candidate Barack Obama to attend Smiley’s “State of the Black Union” conference.

Barry Saunders wrote in the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer, “Obama turned down Smiley’s request – it sounds now more like a demand – because of that old standby, ‘scheduling conflicts,’ but he offered to send his wife to the New Orleans conference on his behalf.

“Smiley wasn’t even trying to hear that. He sounded almost apoplectic on ‘The Tom Joyner Morning Show’ syndicated radio program, accusing Obama of not wanting to appear at a black event. I swear, it was hard to tell whether Smiley was castigating the candidate for allegedly ignoring blacks – the ostensible reason for his anger – or for ignoring him.

“My money is on ‘a combination of both.'”

What a difference a year makes. Smiley left the Joyner show after listeners questioned the timing of and reason for Smiley’s criticism. Joyner said of his friend, “He can’t take the hate he’s taken over Barack Obama. He’s always busting Barack Obama’s chops. They call. They e-mail. They joke. You know Tavis like I do. He needs to feel loved.”

Now Smiley has a new book he co-wrote, “Accountable: Making America as Good as Its Promise,” and Obama is in the White House.

Stories in leading media outlets are portraying Smiley as upholding the values of journalistic accountability against a black community that doesn’t want to hear it.¬† Never mind that Smiley says he is not a journalist, and that he stages events, not just comments on them.

“In an interview this month on National Public Radio, Tavis Smiley, a well-known black radio and television host, urged journalists – black and white – to assess Mr. Obama’s performance critically,” Rachel Swarns wrote¬†in the New York Times.

“. . . But Mr. Smiley warned that criticizing Mr. Obama was not for ‘the faint of heart.”

In the Washington Post on Monday, Krissah Thompson wrote¬†of the African American punditry, “They are learning to negotiate what talk show host and author Tavis Smiley calls an ‘unfamiliar dance.’ If you push too forcefully, he says he has learned, you risk your credibility in the community.”

BET’s Jeff Johnson made much the same point about accountability, but without the baggage: “‘Black folks, in particular, get irritated,’ says Johnson, who travels the lecture circuit, hosts a half-hour show on Black Entertainment Television and has a weekly spot for social criticism on a radio program popular with black listeners,” Thompson wrote.

“Get past ‘Obama the personality’ and see ‘Obama the president,’ he says. ‘Otherwise all you’re being is a political-celebrity groupie instead of a citizen. . . . It starts with acknowledging he’s my president, and not my homie.'”

Brown Needs to Tell “Some People” the News First

“Tony Brown declined to comment on a rumor that he’s leaving his post as dean of Hampton University’s journalism school, “Cathy Grimes, Samieh Shalash and Jennifer L. Williams wrote¬†Monday for the Daily Press in Newport News, Va.

“What he did say: ‘I appreciate the interest, but there are some people I need to tell officially before they read it in the paper.’ Hmm.

“Brown was hired as the first dean of the school in 2004. He has worked as a TV talk show host, syndicated newspaper columnist, film director, television and film producer. Brown said he’s in the ‘give-back’ phase of his life and is pleased with accomplishments at HU during his tenure.”

To No Uproar, Boomer Esiason Uses the ‘H’ Word

“Here we go again.

“On WFAN Sunday morning former NFL quarterback Norman ‘Boomer’ Esiason called Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels ‘littler Hitler,” DWIL wrote on the National Sports Review Web site. “Esiason is one of the guys who is said to ‘tell it like it is,’ and who ‘spares no one with his wrath.’

“And similar positive spin blather attached to his being a verbal bully.

“So, will Esiason gat the ‘he should be fired’ treatment Jemele Hill received when she included a Hitler remark in one of her columns? Will Esiason be forced to publicly apologize as did Hill?”

The author concluded, “Thanks to the members of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Sports Task Force listserve who caught Esiason red-handed and shared his remark with other listserve members.”

 

Eric Brown and Renee Cottrell-Brown are partners in “the new” Johnson Products.

Firm Returns to Black Hands, and Most Missed Story

A black-owned company that was sold to a white conglomerate is returned to African American hands. How unusual is that?

Very, but you could never guess that’s what happened from the lack of coverage and the obfuscation in the articles that did appear.

“Once-rival families in the African-American hair care business are celebrating a deal that brings one of their companies to Dallas,” began a 300-word story by Maria Halkias in the Dallas Morning News.

“Procter & Gamble Co. has sold its ethnic hair care products unit, Johnson Products Co. The investment group includes Arlington couple Eric Brown and Renee Cottrell-Brown, former executives at rival Pro-Line International, which was founded by Cottrell-Brown’s father.”

In the Los Angeles Times, the lede of the 164-word story by Andrea Chang was, “Procter & Gamble Co. has sold Johnson Products Co., its African American hair-care products unit, to a local group of private investors including a husband-and-wife team.”

A small Web site, blacknewstribune.com, however, got it right: “Johnson Products Returns to Black Ownership.”¬†

To be fair, one had to spot the clues in the news release to understand what took place. “‘The acquisition of Johnson Products represents the renewal of a family of products that revolutionized the ethnic hair care industry starting in the 1950s, and a next stage of growth for a legendary company that has been an iconic figure and model of success for African-Americans,’ Brown said,” it read. But it helps to have those who know those clues.

When the company was sold in 1993, Wall Street Journal reporter Brett Pulley was clear about the significance:

“CHICAGO – Johnson Products Co., the black-owned hair products pioneer, sent a shudder through the ethnic personal products industry by agreeing to be acquired by a publicly held nonminority company Ivax Corp. A Miami holding company proposed acquiring it for about $67 million in stock.

“The surprise announcement immediately sparked concern among black-owned makers of personal care products for ethnic consumers. They’ve long worried that deep-pocketed mainstream consumer products manufacturers will target the $15 billion-a-year ethnic haircare industry.

“‘This company historically has been a beacon to other black entrepreneurs in the country,’ said Lafayette Jones, founder of the American Health and Beauty Aids Institute, the trade group for the ethnic arm of the industry. There are many people who are saddened by its sale to a general market company.’

“. . . The company and George Johnson¬†played an integral part in developing other successful black-owned companies. Essence magazine, Burrell Advertising and other well-known black enterprises owe some of their success to Johnson,” maker of Ultra Sheen and other products.

AOL “Snapping Up” Seasoned Print Journalists

“Ex-print journalists appear to have found a new home: AOL,” Mark Walsh wrote¬†last week for MediaPost.

“As a growing wave of newspapers file for bankruptcy, slash budgets or go online-only, the Web portal is snapping up¬†seasoned reporters and editors to staff its expanding roster of niche sites.”

Asked about journalists of color, AOL spokeswoman Alysia Lew told Journal-isms, “As you know, Sunny Wu is one of our newest hires and we are excited that he has joined the FanHouse¬†family. . . . We also have Kevin Blackistone as one of our lead columnists and Ryan Wilson, who covers the NFL.” Wu is Page 1 editor.

“We also have women reporters, including Lisa [Olson], as one of our featured columnists as well as a special section hosted by Chris Bosh, who does a series of original blogs for FanHouse.

“We expect to add more reporters ‚Äî both journalists of color and women journalists ‚Äî as we expand our original reporting and hire additional people.”

Walsh wrote, “With 70 vertical sites up and running another 30 set to come online this year, the editorial expansion will continue.”

Binghamton Newsroom on High Alert Since Shootings

Calvin Stovall, editor of the Press & Sun-Bulletin in Binghamton, N.Y., said the 50-person newsroom has been on high alert since the massive murder spree that left 14 people at a community center dead Friday morning, Joe Strupp reported Monday in Editor & Publisher.

“He said the paper did not put out any special sections or extras, but devoted increased web and print space to the coverage, with an emphasis on profiles of the deceased.

“Circulation Director Anthony Rapczynski said the paper’s single-copy press run, normally 10,000, was doubled for Saturday. The paper’s overall circulation on Saturday is 46,635.

“Web traffic skyrocketed, according to Digital Desk Editor Jeffrey Platsky, who said Friday saw 1.4 million page views, a sharp increase over the usual 200,000 to 250,000 for a Friday. But it did not top the one-day record of 3 million in 2006 when the area was hit by major flooding.

“Monday’s paper includes four and a half pages devoted just to the dead and wounded. ‘Pretty much everyone has been on it, with the exception of people in sports,’ Stovall said. The paper’s usual limited weekend web presence was boosted, as was the weekend staffing.

“Along with Stovall’s own staffers, six journalists from Gannett’s Democrat and Chronicle in Rochester, N.Y., and The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., were dispatched to Binghamton to help with the coverage, including one staffer who has been doing primarily research.”

Franklin’s Passing Reminds Us of Blacks in the West

“Reading obituaries about John Hope Franklin reminded me about a long-standing beef I have with a certain limited way of thinking about who African Americans are. For me, though, the telling biographical fact was where he was born ‚Äî Oklahoma,” Kenneth Cooper wrote¬†Friday for theroot.com.

“In its obituary, the Raleigh News & Observer said the eminent historian ‘gave definition to the African-American experience.’ That‚Äôs quite a legacy. A black Okie did all of that?

“You see, too many African Americans ‚Äî you know who you are ‚Äî believe real black folks are from the South or the urban North. They‚Äôre not from the West, not Oklahoma, not Colorado ‚Äî where I was born ‚Äî and certainly not Hawaii, though there are exceptions made for California and L.A. I‚Äôve been hearing it for the 30 years or so I‚Äôve lived on the East Coast.

“This narrow-mindedness results in part, I think, from our creative imaginations of the black experience, in fiction and film, almost exclusively in the South or North. Historically, African Americans have been concentrated in the South, but major migrations have taken us not just to the North but to the West. By taking a geocentric view of blackness, we cut ourselves off from parts of our history ‚Äî and even some of our heroes. With a black Hawaiian in the White House, it‚Äôs time to embrace an expansive view of the black experience in its full diversity.”

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