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Preview Clip, both segments
Brad Friedman of Bradblog.com on his report on arrest of GOP voter registration worked linked to Nathan Sproul, who was reportedly “fired” by RNC; filmmaker Stephen Vittoria on his new film Long Distance Revolutionary, an impressive look at the life and work of Mumia Abu-Jamal Friedman is the leading journalist who covers America’s election protection beat here. He returns today to report on his breaking story about the arrest in Virginia of Colin Small, a 23-year old working for Nathan Sproul–who has a history of foul play in elections–and was “fired” by the GOP weeks ago. Friedman details the charges, related to the trashing of registration forms, presumably of Democrats. We talk about Sproul’s history, the millions paid to his firm this year, and the damage control PR guy who is trying to prevent more coverage of this aspect of coordinated election manipulation tactics from GOP operatives. Following the Virginia story, he lays out similar efforts in Florida that he exposed, and efforts by the GOP to distance itself from the guy who got caught. We also talk about alleged voter fraud by Willard Mitt Romney, who used his son’s Massachusetts address so he could vote in the 2010 special election that sent Scott Brown to the US Senate–at a time when Bishop Mitt lived in New Hampshire, and Friedman ticks off the many ways that Republican efforts are trying to prevent people–most are likely Democratic voters–from voting or having their vote counted this year. He also talks about the arrest of Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein and her running mate at the Hoffstra debate–they were shackled to chairs for 8 hours–and the exclusion of 3rd party candidates from debates by the corporate-funded commission that controls the debates.
At 46:44, we hear an audio trailer for the new documentary, Long Distance Revolutionary, whose death sentence was reduced to life without parole last year. Filmmaker Stephen Vittoria joins us to talk about the life and impressive work of the remarkable man. The film takes us back to his work as a teenager in Philadelphia for the Black Panther Party, and his distinctive reporting for local radio stations and NPR. The film does not delve into his trial and conviction for the murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner in detail. If you want to learn more about that case, PBC recommends J. Patrick O’Connor’s book, The Framing of Mumia Abu-Jamal. This film is focused on Abu-Jamal’s prolific writing and radio commentaries from the decades he spent on death row, which makes him one of the most productive prisoners in America in recent years.
The film includes a number of dramatic readings from his books and articles, and comments from an array of familiar people: Cornel West, Alice Walker, Hurricane Carter, Angela Davis, Dick Gregory and many more.
Get more information, including upcoming screenings, here.