Rapper / Activist M1 of dead prez speaking at the Troy Davis rally
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
NEW YORK — May 19 was a day of national action for Amnesty International and Union Square was filled with a militant spirit, inspired and inspiring — to the extent that it was almost possible to forget the rally was called to save a man’s life.
Troy Davis has been imprisoned on Georgia’s death row since 1991. Arrested for the August 19, 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, Davis was convicted solely on the basis of witness testimony - no weapon was ever found. After the trial, seven of the nine prosecution witnesses recanted or contradicted their testimony, some claiming police coercion. Davis has consistently maintained his innocence and filed several appeals asking the courts to review exculpatory affidavits — new affidavits signed by the former witnesses who have recanted. The courts have refused to review the new evidence despite calls for a new trial from President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, former FBI chief William Sessions, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Congressman Bob Barr, among others.
On April 16, 2009 the 11th Circuit Court (Georgia) denied Davis’ most recent petition requesting an evidentiary hearing and issued a 30-day stay of execution so that Davis could file a last appeal with U.S. Supreme Court. With the stay already expired and time running out, Amnesty International called a Global Day of Action on May 19. In New York, the local chapter of Amnesty responded with a rally at Union Square.
Event organizer Thenjiwe McHarris (Amnesty International)
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
The rally — held on Malcolm X’s birthday — was attended by a very diverse crowd, unified with an overarching spirit of militant resistance. Reverend Dr. Brad Braxton, minister of Riverside Church — where Martin Luther King, Jr. came out against the Vietnam War in 1967 — spoke at the rally, alongside rappers, activists, community organizers and attorneys. The Welfare Poets performed, Harlem’s academy award nominated Impact Repertory Theatre danced and rapper M1 of dead prez invoked the name of slain Black Panther Fred Hampton and demanded justice for numerous political prisoners sitting in U.S. jails.
The gravity of the event was driven home by rally organizer Thenjiwe McHarris who served as master of ceremonies. McHarris, an Amnesty International activist, read aloud several affidavits from witnesses who have recanted their original testimony — and reminded the crowd that “We have very little time for Troy.” She urged the crowd to act. “Time is literally running out for someone’s life,” she said.
The modern setting — epitomized by an expanse of digital cameras and professional sound equipment — stood in stark contrast to the primitive horror described by McHarris: Georgia as a “former slave state” that continues to execute prisoners, many of whom are African-American. According to a Georgia Department of Corrections report, dated May 11, 2009, there are presently 103 inmates on death row, 47 (46%) of whom are listed as Black. Nationwide, racism is a factor in deciding who ends up on death row. According to a Department of Justice report, issued in 2000, nearly 80 percent of inmates on federal death row at that time were Black, Hispanic or from another minority group. Minorities accounted for 74 percent of the cases in which federal prosecutors sought the death penalty, according to the report. McHarris said that Troy Davis was a victim of the system that produced this black and white brand of criminal justice.
Lawrence Hayes of the Campaign To End The Death Penalty
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
Former Black Panther Lawrence Hayes, who served twenty years in prison after having his death sentence commuted, spoke about the need for a new trial and a review of all available evidence. Hayes, a cofounder of the Campaign To End The Death Penalty, said that if the U.S. is a democracy of the people, it must listen to the people. He said that “We have heard the testimony, we have heard what went down and what didn’t go down.” Referring to the new affidavits of the trial witnesses who recanted, Hayes noted that “There are witnesses who have come forth and said that they said what they said under terror. They said what they said under duress. That, in and of itself, should be the grounds to give Troy Davis a new trial.”
Kerry McLean (NLG) and Florence Morgan (NCBL)
(Photo: Bud Korotzer / NLN)
Florence Morgan, an attorney with the National Conference of Black Lawyers agreed. Morgan, a fiery speaker, demanded that the state put “the justice back in the criminal system!” Indicating a connection between the number of African-Americans on death row and the number of African-Americans behind bars for political activity, Morgan said, “Free all political prisoners! Free Troy Davis!”
Yusef Salaam, former member of the Central Park Five
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
The greatest flaw in the logic of the death penalty — the potential for error in assigning guilt — was embodied in the person of Yusef Salaam who attended the rally to speak out in defense of Troy Davis. Salaam was imprisoned in 1990, after being wrongfully accused and convicted. He was eventually exonerated — but AFTER his release from prison. In 1989, Salaam was a member of the so-called “Central Park Five” — five teenagers who were accused of raping the “Central Park jogger” (Trisha Meili). The teenagers were arrested, convicted and imprisoned in 1990 but were cleared of wrongdoing, by DNA evidence, in 2002 — after they had all completed their sentences. Salaam told the crowd that despite his ordeal he refused to be a victim and remained “standing strong”. Salaam said that he fully supported Davis — another wrongfully accused person whose life was placed on hold by a broken criminal justice system.
Chris Peoples of the National Action Network read a statement from Reverend Al Sharpton and followed the prepared remarks with an off-the-cuff, emotional, commentary on the futility of the death penalty. “What do you do - do you rape the rapist?” she asked. Peoples argued that a system that murders the murderer does not further the cause of justice. “How do you create a system of justice and you take people’s lives? I don’t understand the logic of the death penalty at all,” she said.
After Peoples, the Welfare Poets performed, and they in turn were followed by Kenneth Cohen of the NAACP. Cohen urged the crowd to get involved, to use the new technologies, to e-mail and text their elected officials and demand justice for Troy Davis. Noting the diversity of the crowd Cohen raised the issue of unity.
“Continually they divide us on these issues. But today we are here, people of all colors, of all social backgrounds, of all classes, standing together against the death penalty — to save Troy Davis,” he said.
Cohen surveyed the crowd and led a call and response. His line, “When I say death row, you say…?” was met with a resounding “Hell no!” from the fired up crowd.
Rapper M1 of dead prez was introduced by Amnesty spokesperson and former Green Party vice presidential candidate Rosa Clemente (2008) as “the people’s advocate”. He told the rally goers “I’m very happy to be here because I see the resistance is here. This is where I want to be.” M1 said that there was a direct line from the ancestors to the Black Panthers of the Sixties to the political prisoners of the modern day. And for this reason the slogan of freedom fighters should be “Free them all!”
“Hands off Assata Shakur, hands off Troy Davis!” he said.
Rev. Dr. Brad Braxton, senior minister of Riverside Church
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
Riverside’s Reverend Dr. Brad Braxton was the last speaker. He told the crowd that Jesus Christ “…too was executed by the State for trumped up charges.” Braxton urged resistance in the spirit and style of Martin Luther King, Jr, telling an appreciative audience to “Resist in ways that never become violent.”
“Even as we raise our voices in protest, our justice rhetoric, our protest rhetoric, must never become violent, otherwise we sink to the level, descend to the level, of those against whom we protest” he said.
Wrapping up the rally, academy award nominated theater group IMPACT performed spoken word and dance routines.
The rally ran about two hours — an amazing feat of time management on the part of the organizers given the number of speakers. With the clock ticking for Troy Davis, organizers and supporters were hopeful the rally inspired some of those present to act to prevent the execution of a man who deserves a fair trial.
“For you cannot set up a court in the Kingdom of the Blind, to condemn those who see; a court presided over by those who would pluck out the eyes of men and call it rehabilitation.”
— Daniel Berrigan
View Photos/Videos From The Rally…
For more information:
www.amnestyusa.org/troydavis
Sign the petition:
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/17/investigate-the-injustice
