Demonstrations nationwide oppose Texas execution
By Greg Butterfield
Anti-racist activists and death-penalty opponents stayed
in the streets up till the moment of Gary Graham/shaka
Sankofa's June 22 execution. They were determined to do
everything possible to prevent the state-sanctioned killing
of Sankofa, who had been on death row since the age of 17.
After news came of his death, they continued to demonstrate,
hoping to lay the basis for a broader, more militant movement
to abolish death row.
New York-area activists held a 10-hour
demonstration against the execution. The protest started at
noon outside "Bush for President" headquarters in Manhattan
with a picket line of 200. Throughout the day, dozens of
youths and community activists kept the picket going,
transforming a stretch of Madison Avenue into a big street
meeting on Sankofa's case and the death penalty.
After 5 p.m. the protest swelled to several hundred
demonstrators. Led by an International Action Center banner
reading "Stop the execution," they marched across rush-hour
42nd Street to Times Square. At the intersection of 42nd
Street and Broadway, 11 death-penalty foes blocked traffic
while supporters chanted on either side of the street. They
were arrested and held in jail overnight, some for more than
30 hours.
The angry protest continued after Sankofa's death was
announced. Chants of "Avenge Shaka, free Mumia" told of the
protesters' determination to continue the militant resistance
to racism and legal lynching that Sankofa had shown before
his execution.
There were also arrests in San Francisco, where 18
people locked arms and stood in the intersection of Seventh
and Mission streets, tying up traffic for 20 minutes during
the evening rush hour. Other demonstrators cheered them
on.
Alicia Jrapko and Gloria La Riva of the International
Action Center were among those arrested. As she was being
dragged off by cops, La Riva told a reporter, "George Bush is
committing an open, premeditated act of murder."
In Detroit, 60 protesters joined a group of hunger
strikers for a last-ditch demonstration. They marched
together through busy intersections chanting, "Remember
Shaka, free Mumia! End the death penalty now!"
The hunger strikers included labor, religious and
community activists. One of them, Auto Workers Local 2334
President David Sole, said the group spent every day that
week camped out in front of the City Council offices,
leafleting, petitioning and holding street meetings. Every
night they faxed hundreds of signatures to Bush and the Texas
Board of Pardons and Paroles demanding the execution be
stopped.
In Mumia Abu-Jamal's hometown of Philadelphia,
dozens of protesters gathered at the Clothespin statue across
from City Hall to leaflet during the evening rush. Many
passersby stopped to ask questions about Shaka Sankofa's case
or express support.
Later on, a mobile street rally against the execution
marched on South Broad Street and then 12 blocks down South
Street. It lasted late into the evening. Many homeless youths
joined the march.
About 100 people rallied outside the Republican National
Headquarters in Washington, organized by the Ad-Hoc
Coalition to Stop the Execution of Shaka Sankofa.
One demonstrator read a list of the 134 people previously
executed under Governor Bush. The crowd responded with chants
of "presente!" Others read the last statements of some of
those prisoners, including those who maintained their
innocence and those who urged people to continue the
struggle.
Protests were also held in Austin, Texas,
Northampton, Mass., and many other cities.
With reports from David Sole in Detroit, Betsy Piette
and Joe Piette in Philadel phia, Bill Hackwell in San
Francisco, and Malcolm Cummins
in Washington.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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