Mumia Abu-Jamal Has Congestive Heart Failure, Tests Positive for Covid-19
“We could not save Malcolm X, but we can save Mumia. We can save him, and we must save him, because we love our Brother, and we need our Brother to help us fight for our freedom.” Assata Shakur
By Jennifer Black, Noelle Hanrahan and Jennifer Beach of Prison Radio
On Saturday Mumia Abu-Jamal was hospitalized. When he put in a sick call slip and was seen by the SCI Mahanoy medical staff he was taken immediately to the hospital suffering chest pain and shortness of breath. Diagnosed with congestive heart failure he was given a battery of tests. It is unclear how long Mumia was hospitalized, but by Wednesday he was in isolation in the prison’s infirmary. This diagnosis of a weakened heart requires careful monitoring and treatment.
At the hospital his seriology blood test was positive for Covid-19. This followed three negative, or false negative COVID-19, tests and a negative antigen test administered recently by the medical staff at SCI Mahanoy.
After initial treatment for fluid build up in his body, he was discharged from the local private hospital and put in isolation in the prison infirmary. On Wednesday he was able to reach his supporters who were gathering in Philadelphia at 3 Penn Square, outside the DA’s office, demanding that he receive appropriate medical attention. He expressed his gratitude for the world wide support and attention to his and other elders with life threatening conditions in prison.
We must remember that the prison infirmary at SCI Mahanoy is the very same place that in 2014 diagnosed Mumia as having critically low blood sugar, a diabetic episode or reaction to a topical steroid he was taking for a raging skin condition. The infirmary then ignored the notation in his chart to monitor his blood sugar levels for three weeks. It was not until he fainted and went into renal failure that he was rushed to the hospital. His lawsuit in that case Abu-Jamal v. Wetzel is still pending. It took a federal civil rights lawsuit, the order of a preliminary injunction, and world wide protests for Mumia to receive the fast acting anti viral cure to his belatedly diagnosed Hepatitis C.
The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections has repeatedly failed to provide adequate care for our family members.
We, the people, must toss aside our fears. It is not the time to hesitate and we cannot give into despair. Decarceration is not a dream; it is a necessity.
Please consider reaching out to the following: Governor Tom Wolf: 717-787-2500, PA DA Larry Krasner: 267-456-1000; @DA_LarryKrasner, Prison SCI Mahanoy: 570-773-2158, and PA DOC Secretary John Wetzel: 717-728-2573
You can write Mumia a personal note at Smart Communications/PADOC, Mumia Abu-Jamal AM 8335, SCI Mahanoy, PO Box 33028, St Petersburg, FL 33733.