Author Archives: toddpanther
Take A Look Inside A Replica of #MumiaAbuJamal’s Death Row Cell! Fragments From Brown U. Conference On Incarceration Archive And Abu-Jamal Exhibit
JOHANNA FERNANDEZ: Can you imagine a study of slavery without the slave narrative?
ANGELA Y. DAVIS: Movements create a backlash, and backlash is part of the movement of history.
JULIA WRIGHT: I was just mesmerized by that cell.
LINN WASHINGTON, Jr.: That was his “house” for 28 years!
ME: Wow! A perfect replica!
STEVEN BERNHAUT, member, People’s Organization for Progress: Except for the window. That’s for us.
ME (Feeling Like An Idiot 😉 ): Right!
FERNANDEZ: The erosion of freedom erodes the standard of freedom for all of us.
WASHINGTON: I’m just awed by the way this exhibit has been put together. The phases of it. His activism. His literary productions.
CHRISTOPHER WEST, exhibit curator: There’s something about Mumia…It’s been magic since the beginning.
(Photos by LBWPhoto)
OCTOBER 3rd UPDATE: My article on the conference can be found here.
OCTOBER 8th UPDATE: And Linn Washington’s article is here.
OCTOBER 24th UPDATE: This audio allows everyone to hear the people behind the archive, exhibit and conference.
OCTOBER 25th UPDATE: Here’s my panel.
“Vampire Nation” (Music And Lyrics By Mumia Abu-Jamal, Part Of The Abu-Jamal Papers @ Brown University Incarceration Archives)
VAMPIRE NATION
From the very beginning
To this very day;
This country has gone–its own special way;
from placing Indians in chains and graves;
to bringing Africans–across the waves;
********
How can we call this freedom’s land?
When it was built by slavery’s hand!
From 1492 many millions were slew;
From the day Co-lumbus sailed ocean blue.
This is–this is–a Vampire Nation!
Been that way since its creation!
This is–this is–a Vampire Nation!
I sing it without exaggeration!
*********
But why call it Vampire Nation?
It ain’t Dracula’s generation;
‘Cause America was old before that story got told;
They came in a flood, to feed on each other’s blood;
They bled Cherokee, Ashanti, Arapaho & Mandingo;
Worked ’em ’till they were no mo’;
Runnin’ ’em from shore to shore!
***********
Why call it Vampire Nation?
It ain’t Dracula’s generation;
This is–this is–a Vampire Nation!
Been that way since its creation!
This is–this is–a Vampire Nation!
Call it out–no hesitation!
@ Copyright Mumia Abu-Jamal
As performed at the Brown University conference.
OCTOBER 29th UPDATE: And here’s the video of the Brown session with the song:
re: New “Doctor Who” Trailer: There Are No Words…..!!!!!! :)
Saving Nigeria’s History – Through The News | The Listening Post
In His Last Episode of NBC’s “Meet The Press,” Moderator Chuck Todd Passes His Alarm Clock To New Moderator Kristen Welker
Wait, 10 is 14 Again?!? Yeah, that’s “Doctor Who” Math For You :)
As the ultimate David Tennant-as-10th-Doctor fan, I can’t explain to you how much I am against his return. So I can’t tell you how happy this trailer makes me!!! LMAO!!!!!
(For those who need catching up: Previously…..)
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🙂
“Meanwhile, At The Hall of Justice….” Fifty Years Ago Today……
(JULY 13th, 2025 INSERT:
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(AUGUST 3, 2025 INSERT:
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…..Saturday mornings on ABC became appointment television for millions of 1970s children across America. (All this and Scooby-Doo and Schoolhouse Rock, too!)
🙂
Oh, an important societal note:
If you want to see a 1973 future-forecast prediction of Amazon.com, streaming services allowing people to stay home, etc., please find and watch all of the first-season episode “Professor Goodfellow’s G.E.E.C.” Two small excerpts:
Dr. #JaredBall And I Discuss The Book “Prophet Of Discontent: Martin Luther King And The Critique Of Racial Capitalism”
My Novel’s First Draft: Labors End, Labors Begin
So that’s what writing a rough draft of a novel is like!
Mine was easy since my novel is 80 percent true!
So I learned that all the fiction-writing stereotypes are true.
- You do get ideas when you’re trying to go to sleep.
- The characters do talk to you in your head until you write down what they are saying and/or doing.
- It does take as much time as you give it.
- It is true that the reader doesn’t have to know the whole history and background of your characters, but you do.
- You do miss your characters when you are done and it is a good idea to jump right into another project–as in “meeting someone new.” 🙂
- It does take a certain stamina and commitment to finish–particularly when you realize it’s just a first draft. (I haven’t run it through the AI yet.)
