Text of speech presented at the "Millions for Mumia" Rally, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1999.

Sisters and brothers and comrades - without struggle there can be no progress. Those of us who profess to want freedom, but who deprecate struggle, are like those who want crops without plowing up the ground. You want the ocean without the roar of its mighty waters. Power concedes nothing without a demand, it never did and it never will. With these words the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass tells us that the oppressed must liberate themselves, in the pursuit of justice.

In Chicago last year, on June 19th, more than 2000 people of African descent started a new movement for black liberation for the 21st century. My organization, The Black Radical Congress, is a radical movement of black empowerment, in the struggle against racism, sexism, homophobia, class exploitation and imperialism. These are the radical values that are symbolized by the brilliant intellect and political courage of Mumia Abu-Jamal. And that is why the Black Radical Congress has joined the fight to liberate, to vindicate, and to deincarcerate the leading black radical in the world today, Mumia Abu-Jamal.

The Black Radical Congress stands for Mumia. We stand for Mumia, because our brother never received a fair trial, was tried by a racist judge, in a racist court, in a racist city, in a racist state, in a racist capitalist country.

We stand for Mumia, because we know that the death penalty is applied in a racist manner, that a black person who is convicted of a capital crime, has more than a four times greater likelihood of being given the death penalty than any white person who is convicted of the same crime. We stand for Mumia, because we know ethically and morally, that the death penalty is wrong, that it cannot be justified, and that it must be abolished.

We stand for Mumia, because justice delayed is justice denied; because more than 40 percent of all people on death row now are people of African descent, and that one third of all young black males in their twenties are in jail, on probation, parole and awaiting trial.

We stand for Mumia, because our movement for justice must seize the ethical high ground; because what we fight for is not simply the life of one individual, it is for the conscience of the entire community, and this entire country.

We stand for Mumia, in Philadelphia today, because we remember the Scottsboro boys in the 1930s, and that we saved their lives through struggle; because we remember the trial of the Rosenbergs, we remember the killings of four little black girls in Birmingham, Alabama, we remember the execution in prison of George Jackson, we remember the trial of Angela Davis; and because we say in the words of Fannie Lou Hamer, we ain't gonna let NOBODY TURN US AROUND. We stand for Mumia, because without justice, there will be no peace.

The Black Radical Congress stands for and embraces Mumia, because we share his vision of a just society. Our vision of justice, is a court system in which the death penalty does not exist. Our vision of democracy, is where black people have the right to self determination, and where the wealth is shared by all those who produce it. Our vision of community, is where there is no police brutality, no hunger and homelessness, no poverty and unemployment.

The Black Radical Congress says stop state terrorism and police brutality now. Stop all executions now. Free all political prisoners now. We demand a new trial for Mumia now. The BRC says Free Mumia Now!