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December 10, 2014
The Heritage of the Confederate Battle Flag
As Black as They Were Expendable
Killed by Cops Who Were “Just Doing Their Jobs”
What Happens to a Dream Deferred?
September 2015, updated February 2017
DEDICATION
To the Nameless Ones, those valiant souls who fought for Freedom their whole lives long, and never lived to taste its intoxicating flavor; to the sons and daughters of Africa who lived in this strange and cruel land, yet dreamed of brighter tomorrows.
To Lydia Umyemi Wallace Barashango and her devoted husband, Rev. Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango, the renowned brilliant nationalist scholar and teacher; to the beautiful Bev Africa; to Samiya Hamida Abdullah, whose life was like a brilliant shooting star, who dazzled us all, before falling back into the river of Eternity: gone, but never forgotten, for in our hearts, in our being, she shines still.
To Ron “The Flame,” Basil Ali Abu-Jaleel, a brother loved despite the distance of time and space.
To souls who shone brightly, and were dulled by American hate; to those who struggle still; to the youth of America who dared to march, to yell, to stand on the simple Principle that Black Lives Matter, I hereby dedicate this work.
Spring is coming,
—Mumia Abu-Jamal
HAVE BLACK LIVES EVER MATTERED?
An Introduction
Does the title of this work seem provocative? If so, then good. That’s how it’s intended to be. For if the question is provocative, then what of the answer? Is not the answer, no matter how damning, far more provocative? And yet, who dares answer in any way other than the negative?
There is an old axiom, especially among journalists and journalism professors, that “today’s newspapers are the first draft of history.” Like most axioms, they hold a kernel of truth, but there is more.
Here is another axiom: “History is written by the victors.”
The
