The troubling case of black activist-journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been in prison for 30 years for the murder of a white Philadelphia cop in 1981, is examined in this fawning documentary. Abu-Jamal was originally sentenced to death, but his punishment was later changed to life without parole.
Did Abu-Jamal really kill the officer during a routine traffic stop, or was he railroaded because of his activism and ties to the Black Panthers? Director-writer Stephen Vittoria trots out talking heads, such as Angela Davis, Dick Gregory and Alice Walker, all of whom have nothing but praise for Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook in 1954). Abu-Jamal has his say in prison interviews, calling life behind bars “a living hell.”
The doc is unapologetically one-sided, and spends more time canonizing Abu-Jamal than exploring the murder and trial themselves. Still it raises issues of racism in America (flashback to George Wallace) that are worthy of discussion.