Tag: Black Panther
Former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal Granted Right Of Appeal After Decades In Prison
A judge in Philadelphia has reinstated appeal rights to former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal — convicted of killing a city police officer more than 30 years ago — who has long maintained his innocence as his case gained international attention.
Advocates of Abu-Jamal praised the decision by Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Leon Tucker as a significant development toward winning the freedom of a man whose case generated decades of protest and thousands of supporters in the “Free Mumia” movement.
“This is an unheard of legal victory,” said Rachel Wolkenstein, former lawyer and longtime activist for Abu-Jamal. “This is the best opportunity we have had for Mumia’s freedom in decades.”
Abu-Jamal has been incarcerated since his 1982 conviction for killing white Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner in a racially charged case. The judge who issued the latest decision called the case one of the most polarizing shootings in the city’s history. In 2011, prosecutors dropped the execution case against Abu-Jamal because of flawed jury instructions and instead agreed to a sentence of life in prison.
For years, Abu-Jamal’s attempts at securing a new trial were denied. In the latest legal argument, his lawyers argued that Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ronald Castille should not have presided over Abu-Jamal’s appeals battles. Castille was formerly Philadelphia’s district attorney whose office fought to keep the activist and prolific writer behind bars.
Castille refused calls from Abu-Jamal’s supporters to recuse himself from hearing the appeal, saying he never directly worked on the case. In 2012, Abu-Jamal’s advocates thought he lost his final appeal when the state Supreme Court rejected a claim challenging the validity of forensic evidence that was used to convict him.
In his legal opinion on Thursday, Tucker said Castille made the wrong choice, because even the appearance of being biased can be damaging to the judicial system.
“The claim of bias, prejudice and refusal of former Justice Castille to recuse himself is worthy of consideration as true justice must be completely just without even a hint of partiality, lack of integrity or impropriety,” Tucker wrote.
Jamal may be confined to a prison, but we are in a prison in our own mind, because we never know when we’re going to get telephone calls saying something like we heard last night.
Maureen Faulkner, widow of Daniel Faulkner
Tucker’s ruling has breathed new life into the hopes of Abu-Jamal’s supporters that he may one day be granted freedom.
‘An eye for an eye’
But the family of Faulkner, the slain officer, sees that outcome as a nightmare. They plan to plead with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner to challenge the ruling in favor of Abu-Jamal. Krasner, through a spokesman, said he was reviewing the decision and had not yet decided whether to oppose it.
“Does it affect me physically? It does. Am I sick to my stomach? Absolutely. I feel like going and throwing up,” said Maureen Faulkner, the widow of the slain officer.
“Jamal may be confined to a prison, but we are in a prison in our own mind, because we never know when we’re going to get telephone calls saying something like we heard last night,” she told NPR on Friday.
Faulkner, who now lives in California, said she has always believed in the principle of “an eye for an eye,” saying she wishes the original sentence of capital punishment had been carried out.
“And that way, 37 years later, you do not have the family members grieving over the loss of a loved one because the case keeps coming up in court and reminding them,” she said.
The jury convicted Abu-Jamal on evidence including three eyewitnesses who did not know one another. Authorities also recovered five empty shell casings from the scene of the crime that prosecutors said were fired from a gun registered to Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal, though, said others fled the murder scene and were never located. Perhaps one of those people killed Faulkner, his supporters have maintained.
A Supreme Court reprieve
The possibility of a new hearing for Abu-Jamal arose after a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision. That ruling found that Castille improperly took part in an appeal from a different death row inmate whose prosecution he oversaw when he was the city’s top prosecutor. The defendant in that case was Terrance Williams. The U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Williams case applied to other cases Castille heard as a Pennsylvania justice, including Abu Jamal’s.
If a judge served as prosecutor and then the judge, there is a finding of automatic bias and a due process violation.
“If a judge served as prosecutor and then the judge,” wrote Tucker, summarizing the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Williams case, “there is a finding of automatic bias and a due process violation.” – Judge Leon Tucker
Judith Ritter, Abu-Jamal’s lead attorney, said the judge’s reinstatement of Mumia’s right to appeal shows that the state Supreme Court — in its 2012 decision — was biased with the presence of Castille.
“Judge Tucker recognized the unconstitutional bias involved with Justice Castille’s sitting on the prior post-conviction appeals, and the need for a new appeal untainted by such bias,” Ritter said in a statement.
The movement to “Free Mumia” reverberated around the world over the decades, with thousands donating to his legal defense fund. Buttons and posters bearing his face became the symbols of a criminal justice system that critics view as being rigged and treating African-American with indifference.
“Mumia has made the point clear from the very beginning that he is innocent,” Wolkenstein said. “This opens the door, legally, to him finally getting his freedom.”
Tucker, in his opinion, said Abu-Jamal should be given another chance to argue his innocence in front of the state’s high court, now that Castille is no longer a sitting judge.
“The court finds that recusal by Justice Castille would have been appropriate to ensure the neutrality of the judicial process in [Abu-Jamal’s appeals] before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court,” Tucker wrote.
Abu-Jamal’s lawyers have 30 days to inform Pennsylvania’s courts of their intent to pursue an appeal.
Article vie NPR
‘Black Panther’ Theory Suggests Killmonger May Have a Son
At the end of Black Panther, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Shuri (Letitia Wright) go to Oakland, California where they establish the first-ever Wakandan outreach center at the building where Killmonger’s father N’Jobu (Sterling K. Brown) died at King T’Chaka’s (John Kani) hand for his betrayal of Wakanda by working with Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) to steal vibranium. After revealing the presence of his Royal Talon Flyer to some kids playing basketball in the parking lot of the building, one boy hangs behind and asks T’Challa who he is. It’s this kid who some fans think might be Killmonger’s son.
In general, it’s not an impossible concept. While Killmonger was a very focused young man — Everett Ross explains that he graduated from Annapolis at 19 before going on to MIT and becoming a Navy SEAL — he could have had a relationship in his youth that led to him having a son. As Killmonger has proven himself to be a very intense individual, it’s even possible that the child’s mother wouldn’t have told him leading to the son growing up without his father’s presence in his life as one could argue that Killmonger wouldn’t leave his own son without a father the way he was.
It’s an idea that works with the film visually as well. When we first meet Killmonger, it’s as a child named Erik playing basketball outside in the same parking lot noticing the presence of a similar Royal Talon Flyer before running inside to find his father’s body. The actor playing the boy who speaks with T’Challa even looks a little bit like N’Jobu with a similar physical carriage and bearing to Killmonger’s.
If Killmonger did have an unknown son, it could set up for future conflict within the world of Black Panther. Given that one of the things that drove Killmonger was the poverty and injustice endured by black people not just in his Oakland neighborhood but the world at large, if the son grew up in similar circumstances — particularly if he heard stories of his absent father’s life — he may also harbor a similar rage towards Wakanda even with their efforts to open up to the world. This is especially true considering that the state of the world and Wakanda post-Avengers: Infinity War is very different than it was at the end of Black Panther.
Captain Marvel is the next movie on the Marvel Studios slate and that debuts on March 8, 2019 followed by the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019. Spider-Man: Far From Home is scheduled for release on July 5, 2019.
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‘Avengers Assemble: Black Panther’s Quest’ Review: T’Challa and Shuri Launch into Adventure
if you just can’t get enough of Black Panther, I have some very good news for you. A brand new season of Disney XD’s hit action-oriented animated series Marvel’s Avengers Assemble is about to kick off in a big way this weekend. It not only launches Season 5 with a two-part special premiere, it also sets up the main thrust of this season’s storytelling focus, “Black Panther’s Quest.”
Over the previous four seasons, the gathered Avengers–which have included Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, Falcon, Hawkeye, Thor, Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and many more–have tackled the likes of Red Skull and Thanos before taking on the “Ultron Revolution” and “Secret Wars” storylines. Now, thanks in no small part to the smash-hit success of Black Panther and T’Challa in the MCU and Marvel Comics, the Wakandan King (and his sister) are headlining the adventure in a new globe-trotting quest. The hourlong premiere is a perfect way to set up Black Panther’s relationships with the other Avengers, establish the Disney XD version of his sibling rivalry with Shuri, and launch the duo into their own focused storyline.
Before we dig too deep into the review, here’s the two-part special’s trailer to bring you up to speed:
The Black Panther must decide his loyalties. Is he an Avenger first or King of Wakanda? As the mysterious Shadow Council rises to challenge Wakanda, T’Challa teams up with his sister Shuri to go on missions that no other Avenger can.
It’s a globe-trotting journey of espionage and mystery as old foes resurface and new friends are made. In the end, Black Panther must balance defending his home and stopping threats before they start. Is he a sword or a shield? Only he can decide.
Don’t miss the season premiere of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble: Black Panther’s Quest 9/23 at 9:00PM on Disney XD!
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‘Black Panther’ Is $99K Away From One Last Box Office Milestone
Black people showed up and showed out!
Although it lost half of its screens this weekend and now plays in just 28 theaters, Marvel and Walt Disney’s Black Panther is slowly Spectre-ing its way to $700 million domestic. The Chadwick Boseman action drama earned around $15k last weekend to bring its domestic total to $699.901m. So, it is $99,007 away from the once-fabled $700m mark. If it sticks around long enough (and presumably gets a glorified reissue for a week or two in semi-wide release), it’ll be just the latest big movie to be dragged kicking and screaming in protest across an arbitrary box office milestone.
Spectre spent two months (61 days) hovering between $199 million to $200m. The Sony/EON/MGM 007 flick was already a solid hit, earning $881m worldwide alongside The Hunger Games: Mockingjay part II and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But be it luck or happenstance, theaters kept the 007 movie around (perhaps as an adult-skewing counterpoint to the kid-targeted Star Wars and Hunger Games sequels) for long enough to hit the $200m milestone. Sometimes it’s a matter of saving face, as the underperforming Superman Returns spent 36 days between $198m and $200m domestic before ending with just $200.7m total (and $391m worldwide on a $270m budget).
In 2013, Paramount/Viacom Inc. brought Brad Pitt’s World War Z back into theaters over the Labor Day weekend, going from 239 screens to 1,242 screens. And, sure enough, the troubled but successful zombie thriller earned $1.65 million over the four-day weekend to get over the hunch. Again, the horror drama was already a hit, having countered behind-the-scenes horror stories with a $551m global cume on a $190m budget, but Paramount wanted the sexy number for bonuses and/or post-theatrical bragging rights.
Disney put A Wrinkle in Time back into 1,984 screens over Mother’s Day weekend and then expanded just a tough back into 245 screens in mid-June (the opening weekend of Incredibles 2). Allegations of magical math notwithstanding, they got the flick over the $100m domestic mark. The Storm Reid/Oprah Winfrey fantasy didn’t magically turn into a profitable flick ($133m worldwide on a $103m budget), but it did allow for the possibility that every single 2018 Walt Disney release could end up above the $100m domestic mark (if Christopher Robin falls short, Pooh gets punched), which would be a major bragging point.
This isn’t a new thing, not by a longshot. Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc. put Tim Burton’s Batman into 690 theaters in its 14th weekend to get it over the $250 million milestone. To be fair, it doesn’t always do the trick, as Disney’s Gnomeo and Juliet never did get to the $100m mark, having to settle for $99.967m. At that point, you’d think someone would just buy out a handful of theaters for a weekend. The Disney toon (not technically from Walt Disney, Pixar or DisneyToon) was already a big hit without the bragging rights. Ditto (to the 7th power) Black Panther.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/07/16/box-office-marvel-black-panther-700m-chadwick-boseman-ryan-coogler/
KENDRICK LAMAR and SZA: ‘BLACK PANTHER’ Lawsuit Over Song
Kendrick Lamar and SZA were monumentally huge artists and that’s what propelled the soundtrack for “Black Panther” … not a 19-second clip an artist claims was a rip-off of her artwork.
Kendrick and SZA just filed legal docs asking a judge to give Lena Iris Viktor the boot in her lawsuit which claims Kendrick and Co. ripped off her artwork in the music video for “All the Stars.”
Kendrick and SZA claim in the new docs … even if the artwork in the video was a rip-off, she’s not entitled to the profits they made from the song because “common sense and logic dictate that the alleged 19 second use of the artwork in the video” is not what generated the success of the song.
The duo goes on to say the success of the album is the result of his “worldwide popularity as well as numerous accolades, including a Pulitzer Prize and dozens of Grammys.”
Kendrick and SZA also give credit for the album’s success to the incredible cultural impact of the “Black Panther” flick.
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Chadwick Boseman Gives His MTV Movie ‘Best Hero’ Award To Waffle House Shooting Hero James Shaw Jr.
Yes, this is my King 😉
Our favorite superhero Chadwick Boseman gave his MTV Movie and TV Award to a real-life hero.
During his acceptance speech, Boseman thanked his fans for the honor but decided the popcorn statue should have another home.
“Receiving an award for playing a superhero is amazing, but it’s even greater to acknowledge the heroes that we have in real life,” Boseman said. “So I just want to acknowledge somebody that’s here today. James Shaw Jr. Where are you? Stand. If you don’t know James Shaw Jr., he fought off a gunman in Antioch, Tennessee at a Waffle House. He saved lives. Come on up here.”
The surprised Shaw took the stage, and Boseman handed him the award.
“This is gonna live at your house,” he said as the crowd cheered.
Shaw is widely considered a hero for fighting the gunman who shot up a Waffle House in Antioch, Tennessee, in April. After news of his actions broke, Shaw admitted to having conflicting feelings about being called a hero. He later raised $90,000 for the shooting victims’ families.
“I’m not a hero,” Shaw said days after the shooting. “I’m just a regular person. I think anybody could have did what I did if they’re pushed. You have to either react or fall. I chose to react because I didn’t see any other way to live.”
Check out the exchange below:
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Michael B Jordan Black Panther interview
This woman was so annoying. I posted this so you could be annoyed too. You’re Welcome!
For the Love of God, Stop Asking the Black Panther Cast to Do the ‘Wakanda Forever’ Salute
You can SOMETIMES overdue a catchphrase or a gesture in this case the the actors Wakanda forever salute is getting old now.
I would understand if I was them I’d be annoyed after awhile too. Oh and if you think these actors should just do the salute because they owe us thanks. You sadly mistaken. I know these actors are so grateful to us fans but dayum son give them a break.
Oraiginal article written Monday May 14th 2018
The cast of Marvel’s Black Panther has been touring the world for months promoting their movie in interviews and red carpets where they’re inevitably asked to do the iconic “Wakanda Forever” salute. While there’s a lot to discuss about Black Panther, the one question that virtually everyone involved in the movie has been asked at some point isn’t about the film’s plot at all—it’s a request to do the salute. And honestly, it’s about time that we let those poor people do whatever the hell they want to do with their arms.
Doing the press circuit is one of the most grueling parts of actors’ jobs when they’re a part of film that’s a global phenomenon because we expect them to maintain a consistent level of excitement while answering the same general set of questions over and over again. With Black Panther now out for home release and Avengers: Infinity War in theaters, things haven’t calmed down for the actors at all.
Over the weekend, Chadwick Boseman gave a commencement address at his alma mater Howard University and yes, he gladly did the salute, but anyone who watched the speech could see that on some level, the actor was lowkey over it. Not the school, not the speech—the gesture…..
READ MORE——–> https://io9.gizmodo.com/for-the-love-of-god-stop-asking-the-black-panther-cast-1826006003
Marvel Studios Avengers Infinity War Official Movie Traler
OK those of y’all that showed up and showed out for black panther need to show up and show out for the Avengers Infinity War because Black Panther his kingdom and his people’s vibranium is going to save the world ! Here’s the OFFICIAL TRAILER
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