"Long Distance Revolutionary": Mumia Abu-Jamal's Journey From Black Panthers To Prison Journalist

Amy Goodman: In this new documentary that's premiering in the United States tonight. It is called Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal. And we're joined now by its filmmakers. The film was written, produced and directed by Steve Vittoria, produced by Noel Hanrahan, as well, of Prison Radio Project. Steve Vittoria, longtime documentary filmmaker— we recently featured his 2005 documentary, One Bright Shining Moment, about Senator George McGovern. We'll speak with him in a moment, but we wanted to bring you an exclusive extended It's a very candid look at Mumia's early life in Philadelphia's Black Panther Party and as a radio reporter. In this excerpt, you hear from Mumia Abu-Jamal's sister and former colleagues.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: He was gone forever. Well, Zora, let me ask you, what did Cassius say to you when you stepped into the ring and shook hands with him before the Terrell fight?

Speaker 3: Ali, not Cassius.

Steve Vittoria: Excuse me, Muhammad Ali.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: Cassius Clay is a slave name. I didn't choose it, and I didn't want it. I am Muhammad Ali.

Speaker 5: He had a few great teachers. And one of them, who was from Kenya, taught the kids Swahili. And Mumia thought this was super cool. And so he decided he was going to take a Swahili name. He called it Mumzia at first, because he didn't quite get it right.

Speaker 3: I guess that's when I kind of gave him props. You got a new name. You know, this is really great. You dropped your slave name. I don't know what his mother thought of that.

Speaker 5: I'm not sure he insisted that she call him Mumia.

Speaker 3: I don't care nothing about that stuff. I named you Wesley Cook. That's your name. I don't care what you try to call yourself. You Wesley Cook. And she fought it for so long. But I know that Mumia went through some days where he ignored her calling him Wesley Cook. You know, I changed my name, Mom.

Speaker 6: In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny. And I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.

Speaker 5: George Wallace is running for president in '68. The civil rights movement is in full cry in the South. The country is changing. It's being led by groups like SNCC and the Panthers. Mumia wanted to be part of that.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: George Wallace was a candidate on the American Independent Party. Very, very right-wing, although he probably wouldn't be considered very right-wing in terms of America's political context today, would he? We were 4 black kids, teenagers, from North Philadelphia. And this avowed white supremacist, this racist from the depths of the South, dared to come to our city. Well, we went down to the Spectrum. There were tens of thousands of people. White people, you know, waving flags. And you had George Wallace making his standard stump speech.

Speaker 6: And I want to tell you this, that anybody who raises any money and blood and clothes for the Viet Cong communists who are today killing American servicemen are guilty of treason under the Constitution of the United States.

Mumia Abu-Jamal: At that time, we weren't very original, so the only thing we said was, Ungawa! Black power! Ungawa!

Noel Hanrahan: Black power!

Speaker 5: Black power!

Speaker 3: Black power! They shouted, Wilders for president! White power! And send those niggers back to Africa! We shouted, Black power!

Mumia Abu-Jamal: Undawa! Don't ask what undawa means. We didn't know. All we knew was it had a hell of a ring to it. The police surrounded us, you know, in a matter of moments, and escorted us— rather roughly, I should say— out of the Spectrum. There were people spitting on us, nigger this, nigger that.

Speaker 6: No!

Mumia Abu-Jamal: I remember being pummeled and being beaten to the ground. And I remember looking around, and I saw a pant leg. It was blue and had a stripe on it. So, it told me this was a cop. So, doing what I was taught to do all my life, I said, Yo, help! Police! You know? And I remember the guy walking over very briskly, and his first words were, He was going back, kicking me in the face, kicking me. And I've always said thank you to that cop, because he kicked me straight into the Black Panther Party.

Amy Goodman: That was Mumia Abu-Jamal in the new documentary Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal, that is opening around the country starting today. The producer, writer-director of the film, Steve Vittoria, joins us, as well as the co-producer, Noel Hanrahan, of the Prison Radio Project. We welcome you both to Democracy Now! These last few minutes, you just heard Mumia on the phone directly from prison, but you just visited him yesterday, Steve.

Steve Vittoria: I was there with him yesterday. It was another one of our extraordinary visits together. I know it's hard to believe that you go to a, you know, maximum-security prison, and when he was on death row, and you have a good time. It's really hard. It's not a good time for Mumia, but he makes it a good time. What we've tried to do with the film is capture Mumia's personality, the compassion, the love that Mumia has for people, because, ultimately, I think that's what true revolutionaries— that's where they come from. They come from a place of love. I made the film because, you know, you wake up in a country, Amy, and you realize that the country is being run by mass murderers, economic rapists and general run-of-the-mill psychopaths. So I started to look for some sanity. And for me, I found sanity in a dark, dank hole.

Speaker 6: Right.

Steve Vittoria: I'm Anthony Ballas. I'm a death row attorney in Philadelphia. And I'm David Yaghoubian. I have been a longtime reader of Mumia's material, listening to the incredible broadcast that you guys have broadcast. And my partner, Noel Hanrahan, at Prison Radio, has— a Herculean task— gotten his voice out all over the world. I wanted to offer some sanity. You know, John Pilger says that we have made the unthinkable normal in this world and the normal unthinkable. I wanted to offer a ray of hope and some sanity. It's the kind of sanity that Mumia, I think, offers all of us. You know, the people in this country have been offered war and violence and no healthcare and, you know, horrific contribution to the death of the planet. Mumia offers the opposite of that. And people ask me, they say, you know, well, how do you make a film about someone so radical? I don't think Mumia is radical at all. What I find radical are people that can lob cruise missiles into neighborhoods. So that's what we're trying to do. We're trying to offer sanity.

Amy Goodman: From the government. The subject of one of your films, to Mumia Abu-Jamal? What's the trajectory?

Steve Vittoria: It's a huge trajectory. George, as you know, was a— he was sort of his own—

Amy Goodman: The former senator, former presidential candidate.

Steve Vittoria: George McGovern. He was a revolutionary within the system. I don't know if that can ever work. George tried, and he made some changes. But real change comes from outside the system. And I think that Mumia is a bright, shining example of that.

Amy Goodman: Noel Hanrahan, you have been— —making possible the broadcast of Mumia Abu-Jamal's life for many years, of his voice from prison, from death row, which, as Steve said, is a Herculean task. We've run some of his commentaries. Why this film is important? It doesn't focus on his case, actually.

Noel Hanrahan: The state has always tried to minimize what Mumia means to the movements and also as Mumia as the journalist. And what we do is show you why his voice is important. And it deconstructs the right-wing narrative. If Mumia Abu-Jamal had been on the streets, had been able to be a reporter for the last 30 years, we may not be in this situation. The suppression of his voice, I believe, is directly related to what he has to say. And prison radio humanizes prisoners. It brings prisoners' voices into the public debate and dialogue. I trust that this country needs that information and that we can make better decisions if we hear these people. Mumia happens to be an extraordinary journalist.

Amy Goodman: The film opens today in New York City. It's at Cinema Village and will run through the weekend, right through Super Bowl Sunday. And around the country, Steve?

Steve Vittoria: Yes. We start in New York City. We go to Seattle. We go to Miami. We go to New Orleans. And then we open in Los Angeles, my new hometown, on March 1st. And on from there. So, it's— New York is our launch, and it's really, really important to the success of the film.

Amy Goodman: That's Cinema Village here in New York. And in Los Angeles, in March, it will be at the Beverly Hills Laemmle. This is Democracy Now! I want to thank you both for being with us. Thank you. Steve Vittoria, director, producer, writer of the film Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal. Noel Hanrahan of Prison Radio co-produced this film. Thanks so much for watching this report from Democracy Now!, your daily, independent global news hour. We don't accept advertising or corporate funding, but rather rely on donations from viewers like you. Please make your contribution by visiting democracynow.org. We need your support today to keep bringing you this hard-hitting, in-depth reporting.

Speaker 6: I'm a Democrat.