Opponents of death penalty honor Shaka
By
Chickpea
Houston
Over 50 people gathered in the SHAPE Community Center June
22 to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Shaka Sankofa
(Gary Graham) on the first anniversary of his legal
lynching.
They talked about past experiences working together to
stop the execution of Sankofa. That struggle was brought to a
halt by the state of Texas exactly one year ago when Sankofa
was executed in Huntsville, Texas, under the watch of
then-Gov. George W. Bush.
Njeri Shakur--the tribute's chair, a personal friend of
Sankofa and member of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition
Movement--explained that the purpose of the tribute was to
commemorate the legacy of Shaka Sankofa in a way that brought
those in attendance to look in a positive light towards the
future of the movement to abolish the death penalty.
A message sent to Shaka's supporters from Mumia Abu-Jamal
emphasized, "Usually, poor folks commit crimes for money.
Politicians kill poor folks for their own political
advantage: for a promotion; for a job. Which is worse?"
Carla, a mother of two and an Abolition Movement member,
recalled the day of Shaka's execution when she stood on an
Almeda Road median and held up a poster in protest of the
execution for five hours.
A young man named Trent told those gathered that he had
been in jail until the day after Shaka's execution. When he
was released he went to Shaka's funeral and it was then that
he made the decision to work for justice and to help his
community.
Also inspired by Shaka's courage in the face of tremendous
odds were the Hunts ville 8, who were arrested at the protest
of his execution and are still facing politically motivated
criminal trespass charges. One defendant in the case, Britt
Coleman, declared that the "only future available for most
young people today is a life dominated by the prison
system."
Other statements included a personal message from Fidel
Castro, a letter from a death-row prisoner and a message from
the head of local Mosque #45, Minister Robert Muhammad, who
was Sankofa's spiritual advisor and witness to his
execution.
Two films documenting the struggle to save Shaka provided
background on his case. Footage from a BBC News broadcast
caused many in the crowd to shake their heads in disbelief
when George W. Bush came on the screen claiming that no
innocent people had been executed while he was governor of
Texas.
A brief segment of a People's Video Network piece included
rare footage from the June 22 protest.
The evening's two concluding speakers, Gloria Rubac and
Elenora Graham, firmly placed the tribute in the broader
context of the anti-death penalty movement.
Rubac, one of the major organizers in the Abolition
Movement, gave a history of how the death penalty has been
used in the United States. She explained that through
Sankofa's fight for life, people in this country and around
the world learned more about the death penalty's racist and
classist application.
Many Graham family members were present for the tribute,
including Sankofa's grandson. Sankofa's stepmother Elenora,
who took up the fight to save his life after his mother
Thelma passed away while he was in prison, shared the story
of being treated with great disrespect when she went to visit
him the day before his execution.
For example, she was forced to change into oversized
prison pants and throw away her belt. After the execution she
was held in a holding cell for no reason. The warden refused
to release her until she indicated what was to be done with
Sankofa's remains.
The theme of the tribute was a quote from Sankofa: "The
odds we face are great, but even greater is the power of the
people."
Joanne Gavin, a member of the Texas Death Penalty
Abolition Movement, raised money for flood repairs to Shaka's
mother's home with "Tributes to the Life and Legacy of Shaka
Sankofa: A Collection of Messages, Poetry and News Stories
from Those He Inspired Around the World." Copies are
available for donations of $10 or more to Abolition
Movement,
P. O. Box 595, Houston TX 77001.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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