'Stop execution of Kenneth Foster'

Belief in Texas death row activist Kenneth Foster’s innocence is spreading from his family to abolitionists, to the community, to major newspapers, to the streets of Austin and San Antonio. Despite his innocence, Foster is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 30.

Marchers show solidarity with Kenneth Foster. Austin, Texas, July 21. WW photo: Gloria Rubac

Since being sent to death row in 1997 at age 19, Foster has educated himself about the criminal justice system, done a lot of reading and thinking, and has become an activist for all those on death row. He is a founder of the Death Row Inner-Communalist Vanguard Engagement (DRIVE) Movement. DRIVE has held several hunger strikes and organized many acts of resistance to death row conditions.

According to DRIVE, “Comrades are united in trying to change conditions on Texas death row. We have put aside all minor barriers of ethnicity, creed, color and beliefs, to focus on the injustices forced upon us by the system. By means of inner resistance, organizing, outer petition drives, protests and direct actions, DRIVE hopes to solidify our stance and remain relentless in the fight against oppression!”

On July 21, hundreds of supporters and family members gathered at the state Capitol in Austin. Speakers included Mario Africa with the MOVE organization in Philadelphia, Shujja Graham and Darby Tillis—both exonerated and now off death row—and Kenneth’s father, grandfather and daughter.

Foster’s daughter, 11-year-old Nydesha Foster, drew wild cheers of applause each time she took the stage. Nydesha spoke, then read a poem for her father and later did an African dance.

Families of other death-row prisoners also participated, including Sandra Reed, mother of Rodney Reed, and the family of Tony Ford. Media coverage was extensive. In the week following the Austin protest, three major newspapers have taken an editorial stance against Foster’s execution: the Austin American Statesman, the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram.

In the first of his two columns on Foster, columnist Bobby Ray Sanders wrote, “Another trip to Death Row. Another man scheduled to die on the gurney in Texas’ infamous killing chamber. Another human being who does not deserve this tragic fate.

“And another case that speaks to the absurdity of how capital punishment is applied in general throughout this country, but particularly in the Lone Star State.

“The case of Kenneth Foster Jr., scheduled to die next month for a 1996 murder in San Antonio, is further proof of how cruel, capricious, unjust and utterly insane our death penalty laws have become. ... Texas has become the ‘capital’ in ‘capital punishment,’ and it is time for us to put an end to the madness. We can start by making sure this one innocent man’s life is spared.”

Upcoming events include a march and rally in San Antonio on Saturday, Aug. 18, and an emergency action in Austin on Aug. 21. Activists with the Save Kenneth Foster Campaign are continuing activity just as Mario Africa said in front of the Capitol: “We have to make it politically untenable for the state and the governor to go through with this execution!”

Information can be found at www.freekenneth.com and at www.savekenneth.blogspot.com.