Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook, April 24, 1954) is a political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. His sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment without parole.

Activists, celebrities, and liberal groups have criticized the fairness of Abu-Jamal’s trial, professed his innocence, and opposed his death sentence. The Faulkner family, public authorities, police organizations, and conservative groups have maintained that Abu-Jamal’s trial was fair, his guilt undeniable, and his death sentence appropriate. Once described as “perhaps the world’s best known death-row inmate” by The New York Times, during his imprisonment Abu-Jamal has published books and commentaries on social and political issues, including Live from Death Row (1995).