Last Revised:  5/2/99

Here are some tips. Use and/or adapt these ideas to your school’s situation…..

The materials you have should be shared:

       You can photocopy the articles and share them with colleagues. Give them to staff members you know well or distribute them in faculty mailboxes.

Break the ice:

       Accompany the distribution with a brief conversation or note about the case or about issues of criminal justice/police conduct/racism. For example, you may want to ask folks if they have heard about Mumia’s case or about cases like it. Or, you could also begin talking about Amadou Diallo’s case and make connections to the material on Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Follow up:

       Talk to the colleagues who received materials a couple of days later. Ask them if they read the article(s) and see if they have questions or comments. If you distributed the articles to many staff members, invite them all to a discussion after school.
        You can also follow up by using the video- A Case for Reasonable Doubt. Advertise a public viewing of the video to be followed by a discussion.

Evaluate Level of Commitment:

       Try to get a sense of which faculty members are enthusiastic about discussing Mumia’s case. This does not have to mean that they are sympathetic with Mumia Abu-Jamal. You are interested in finding people who want to raise the issue for educational purposes. The people interested in continuing the discussion should be told about the Teach In scheduled for May 11^th and the possibility of school-wide participation.
        Make sure that you are engaging people in a positive way. The goal is to develop dialogue among colleagues. Consequently, be as open as you can to all responses and address them in a way in which the person voicing concerns feels heard.

Bring People On Board:

       Faculty members interested in participating in the Teach In can get involved on a variety of levels. As a staff, you should decide whether there could be a school-wide teach-in at your site or whether a group of teachers will join others in the May 11^th after school teach-in instead. If your school can commit to running its own Mumia Teach In, think about and discuss ways in which that will come together (i.e. how you will decide as a school, your plans for the teach in itself, and your timeline for planning the event).
        If you find that an individual teacher or group of teachers want to participate in the May 11^th event, there are other steps to take. The first is to devote classroom time to Mumia’s case. We have resources and lesson plans that people can adapt for their classes. The second is to get interested teachers and students assisting in planning the Teach-In itself. A planning committee has already begun this process, but the more input the better. The third is to have as many teachers and students attend the May 11^th after-school event as possible.

Share your lessons and plans:

       Now that we are on the web, email or fax us your lessons and ideas. We can post them at this website which will allow everyone to use these resources to enrich the learning experience. The same approach applies to books, articles, links to other websites and speakers that schools can invite.
       Also, if you let us know your plans, we can post them on the page for Teach-In news. Aren't you interested in what colleagues at other schools are doing?

If you need help or have any questions along the way, feel free to contact us. Call (212) 465-3986 or e-mail us at mumiateachin@yahoo.com.

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