Brown University acquires large collection of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s writing, artwork, and other materials
The collection includes writings documenting Abu-Jamal’s trial and his experiences in prison and on death row, journals, a visitor list, and a pair of glasses that Abu-Jamal wore for years.
An Ivy League university has acquired a large collection of writing, artwork, and records from Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer in 1981.
Brown University announced the acquisition Wednesday of 60 boxes of materials from Abu-Jamal that span from 1981, when he was arrested in the shooting death of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, to 2020. Among them are writings documenting Abu-Jamal’s trial and his experiences in prison and on death row, journals, a visitor list, and a pair of glasses that Abu-Jamal wore for years.
Abu-Jamal, an activist and journalist, is a controversial figure in Philadelphia. He is serving a life sentence without parole and has maintained his innocence for decades.
» READ MORE: Mumia Abu-Jamal has appealed his conviction again. The victim’s widow wants DA Larry Krasner off the case.
The materials acquired by Brown will anchor a new collecting focus at the university’s John Hay Library known as “Voice of Mass Incarceration,” which aims to help researchers understand how the “expanding carceral system has transformed American society” by giving them “unprecedented access” to first-person accounts of incarcerated people. Related personal papers from Johanna Fernández, a Brown graduate and longtime advocate for Abu-Jamal whom he has entrusted with storing his papers, will also be included in the collection.
“This collection will give scholars a rare chance to peer inside prison walls and understand how incarcerated people live, think and advocate for themselves,” said Kenvi Phillips, director of library diversity, equity, and inclusion at Brown.
Brown will make the materials available for use next year following a cataloging process, and will digitize the collection to broaden access to it, the university said. It also plans to fund research trips for Philadelphia students to handle the materials, and partner with Philadelphia organizations to raise awareness about the collection.
The university acquired the Abu-Jamal collection through a trust, and said that the purchase price was confidential. It previously had been stored in Fernández’s home in New York.
“This world-renowned imprisoned journalist and veteran Black Panther had endured 28½ years on death row before a federal court ruled his death sentence unconstitutional,” Fernández said in a release. “His is one distinct voice that, like more than 2 million nameless others, must be studied by future generations that wish to wrap their heads around the Goliath that is America’s prison industrial complex.”
» READ MORE: Pa. Supreme Court dismisses petition seeking to remove DA’s Office from handling Mumia Abu-Jamal’s appeals
Abu-Jamal was convicted of Faulkner’s murder in 1982. At trial, witnesses testified that they saw Abu-Jamal, who was then moonlighting as a cabdriver, shoot Faulkner, who had pulled over Abu-Jamal’s brother, William Cook, at 13th and Locust Streets.
He was initially sentenced to death in the case. But in 2011, former Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams agreed to not seek a new death-penalty hearing after a federal court overturned Abu-Jamal’s death sentence.
Abu-Jamal recently appealed his conviction again in January, saying in court documents that the District Attorney’s Office illegally withheld evidence in his trial that would have created doubt about the credibility of two key witnesses. Abu-Jamal also claimed in the appeal that his trial prosecutor sought to disqualify potential jurors who were not white.
Faulkner’s widow, Maureen Faulkner, also filed a petition in the case asking the court to disqualify District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office from handling the appeal. In 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a similar attempt to take Krasner’s office off the case.
“We’ve suffered setbacks in this case in the past and we’ll continue to fight for Maureen, the entire Faulkner family, and Philadelphia police officers,” John McNesby, president of the Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, said in 2020. “We are on the right side of justice in this case and we believe convicted, cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal should remain in prison for the rest of his life.”
This article contains information from the Associated Press.