Note: This essay can also be found, in what appears to be Mumia Abu-Jamal’s original written text, with complete source citation, at Prison Radio with the audio file via the link below.

Her name, her incredible contralto, her audacious talent, and her scrumptious beauty have made Lauyrn Hill a legend in Hip Hop and in music generally. Her solo effort, “The Miseducation of Lauyrn Hill” earned her a Grammy in 1998 and a place in the hearts of millions. When she tired of the industry, she tried to build a life for herself and her family but the business continued to beckon. Now this enormous talent is behind prison bars, charged with tax evasion of some 2 million in income over several years.

Two million dollars sounds like a lot of dough but consider this: of the many US transnational corporations with assets of over 1 hundred million dollars, 37% take nothing in US federal taxes. That’s right. Not one red cent. That’s according to Mark Zepezauer’s “Take the Rich off Welfare.” And that’s because Congress has been slashing corporate taxes for years, while raising taxes on people. Who needs money more? A mother of 6 children or the CEOs of corporations who sometimes make over 500 times their workers’ pay. We have punished people while bowing to corporations, whom the law has granted constitutional rights of person-hood. That’s crazy, but true.

Meanwhile, schools are closing, cities are crumbling, bridges are tumbling, and good jobs are fleeing. That’s because, as Zepezauer has written, the rich are on welfare. The super-rich pay nothing and some have flown to the Cayman Islands to hide their loot and escape taxes. Even if caught, there are no jail cells for them, although they deprived their country in trillions of tax revenue. Also, how can you jail a corporation? Even one granted person-hood under the ignoble “Citizens United” decision of the Supreme Court. They throw a few farthings into the public kettle, while Lauyrn Hill, a national – no, an international treasure and mother of 6 goes to prison. This, then, is the Re-education of Lauyrn Hill. And she thought the music industry was crappy.

From Imprisoned Nation, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal. These commentaries are recorded by Noelle Hanrahan of Prison Radio. Transcribed by “Ella” Elizabeth Schwartz.

Listen to this radio essay at Prison Radio.org