By Betsey Piette
December 11, 2025
Around 150 participants filled both sides of the entrance road to State Correctional Institution (SCI) Mahanoy for a rally on Dec. 9 – the final day of the historic March for Mumia. The march demanded “Justice for Mumia Abu-Jamal, End Medical Neglect [in Pennsylvania prisons] and End Elder Abuse.”
March for Mumia at rally end outside SCI Mahanoy, Frackville, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2025. Photo: Joe Piette
The 12-day, 103-mile march started in Philadelphia on Nov. 28 and ended in Frackville, Pennsylvania, with over 65 people walking the last three miles.
Baba Zayid Muhammad speaking at rally, Frackville, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2025. Photo: Joe Piette
The seven individuals who completed the entire march included Saleemah Hadi, Lawrence Hamm and Steve Bernhaut with People’s Organization for Progress (POP); Dr. Richardo Alvarez, Mumia’s medical adviser; Baba Zayid Muhammad, a Black Panther Party cub and organizer with the New York Malcolm X Commemoration Committee; Bob Nash with Veterans for Peace; and Joe Piette, with Workers World Party and the Mobilization4Mumia.
Many others marched for a day or two, or provided food, transportation, and other critical organizational support.
A long-time supporter of Mumia, Pam Africa, with International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, reminded people that Mumia was a journalist, a teacher, and a family man, who was railroaded and never had a fair trial. She urged people to keep on fighting for justice for Mumia.
Lawrence Hamm leading the marchers on final day, Dec. 9, 2025. Photo: Joe Piette
Lawrence Hamm, chairperson of the New Jersey-based POP, stressed the demand that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections give Mumia the surgery and medical treatment he needs. He said that all prisoners should receive the medical care they need. Hamm called the DOC’s refusal to give medical care “a form of torture” that can result in “death by medical neglect.”
Hamm also condemned the development of privately-owned prisons, whose owners profit while people, disproportionately Black and Brown, suffer. He called out Geo Group which owns one of the largest detention centers for immigrants in New Jersey.
Mumia’s fight for hep C treatment benefited everyone
Dr. Joseph Harris, who served as Mumia’s medical adviser during the prisoner’s battle to receive the cure for hepatitis C, reminded the crowd that “we were able to win, not just for Mumia, but for every prisoner who needed the expensive $1,000 per each of 84 pills available at the time.”
Members of the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition on the march, Dec. 9, 2025. Photo: Joe Piette
Cindy Lou, with Mobilization4Mumia, read a statement from the United Campaign to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese freedom fighter for Palestine, who was released from a French prison in July after serving 41 years. It noted: “Solidarity with revolutionary prisoners, with Mumia Abu-Jamal as with Georges Abdallah, with all revolutionary political prisoners, is an urgent collective task that must be carried out and pursued.
“The conviction that victory is possible in this specific struggle must be based on experience, which shows that, in the long haul, resistance and mobilisation ultimately pay off. Resisting, continuing to resist, is not a tactical choice specific to one stage of the struggle, it is a strategy and a historical process.”
Dr. Alvarez said that through multiple documents and legal briefs the American Public Health Association has raised that prison abolition is a public health issue.
Some of the young activists who participated in the March for Mumia, Dec. 9, 2025. Photo: Joe Piette
Jian White, one of the younger participants who spent multiple days on the march, told the rally – that included dozens of younger activists – “We know what is necessary at this time. Time is up for this system. Time is up for imperialism. They can’t derail this movement. They can’t derail our solidarity for Mumia, who has been incarcerated for 44 years because of his strong analysis of the corporate state.”
White expressed solidarity with the “elders who have held up this movement and inspired us since day one.”
Jacky Hortaut from France representing Libérons Mumia speaking at the rally. Photo: Joe Piette
Jacky Hortaut from France representing Libérons Mumia, Schuylkill County resident Rubina Tareen, Pastor Keith Collins and YahNé Ndgo also addressed the assembled crowd. Gabriel Bryant chaired the event.
The protest march, which began in Philadelphia’s Germantown section on Nov 28, was organized by the March for Mumia coalition, which included the Abolitionist Law Center, Amigos de Mumia, The Campaign to Bring Mumia Home, le Collectif français LIBERONS MUMIA, Detroit Jericho Movement, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, Freiheit für Mumia Abu-Jamal, International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Mobilization4Mumia, The Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, People’s Organization for Progress, Philly Muslim Freedom Fund, Prison Radio, Workers World Party and more.
