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Last Revised: Aug. 1997

And what a greeting it was!! It was a long time coming for sure but the 3000 people that gathered in Mission High Schools auditorium, cafeteria and the surrounding streets went crazy when Geronimo Ji Jaga Pratt finally strode onto the stage August 18 in San Francisco.

We first realized how big it was going to be when it took 30 minutes to find a parking space. While Charla and Patty parked the car, Enid and I went to save seats and it's a good thing we did because the place was full long before the event started at 7:30. They set up speakers in the cafeteria and when that filled up people just hung around outside.

Now if you're not an activist junkie you might have been intimidated with the news that there would be 27 speakers and no music at this event which was actually held to drum up support for Mumia Abu Jamal. In fact, from the very start the M.C. referred to it as a "meeting" not a rallly or even a gathering. But when you consider that some of the speakers were Alice Walker, Angela Davis and Leonard Weinglass as well as long time activists from places like El Salvador and other local and international hot spots the crowd was respectful and involved. The speakers were all told to limit their words to one minute but the only ones who actually did were two young people, one of whom represented the youth group just returning from Cuba. Geronimo was still off stage for the first part of the program so when the organizers sensed the crowd was getting a bit restless, they finally brought him out to sit onstage.

It was at this point that the place erupted!! We were upstairs in the balcony (front row seats) and I was sure it was going to collapse with enthusiasm, love and pure joy! Geronimo" took it like a man" smiling and clapping back. And yet it wasn't time for him to speak. We still had to sit through another 10 or 15 talks including one from a rep of the Teamsters Union about the UPS strike. This movement of ours has many fronts and they were all up there!! So by the time that Geronimo actually got to say his piece we were all primed and another noisy lovefest ensued. He didn't talk much about what had happened to him over the past two decades but concentrated his words on the need for unity and what we all need to do about the future. The evening's focus was on Mumia's case and getting the next brother out of prison.

We all get different things out of these events. Obviously we all need to savor and celebrate our very occasional victories and this was certainly one of those. But for me if was good to be in the "city" surrounded by people who recognize that we are up against systemic police BRUTALITY, who don't try to minimize it by calling it a "need for accountability" (as in the recent cases here in Sonoma County). The speakers and the crowd showed that they are more than aware of what we are up against and they told it like it is as to what must be done.

Here in bucolic Sonoma County the past year should have shown us that we are not immune to these forces but there are still those among us that need to be convinced. Some of us locals will be starting a Mumia Abu Jamal support group to educate and work toward a big December 6 demonstration for him in the Bay area. This does not mean we will abandon our other work dealing with the recent spate of killings and harrassment by our own law enforcement agencies.

People like Geronimo and Mumia (and so many, many others) must be supported by people on the outside while we work to eliminate the other killings and framings that continue to this day. It is a systemic problem and it is race and class based and your help is needed in this struggle.

To quote Geronimo--"TO FIGHT INJUSTICE IS THE MOST HONORABLE THING IN THE WORLD"

Please get involved.

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