Death row prison art and poetry electrify activists
By Gloria Rubac
Houston
Houston community activists were deeply moved
on July 10 as local poet Hitaji Aziz read the words of Tony
Ford, an innocent man on Texas death row. Ford's poetry and art
were presented here in an exhibit entitled "All Eye See,"
brought to the U.S. by Gabriella Giuliari, Ford's friend and
the head of his defense committee in Italy.
Aziz transported the crowd at SHAPE Center to the prison
cell and the mind of Ford, as his words spoke the truth of the
centuries of oppression and genocide faced by Black people in
the U.S.
Aziz explained that she had been a prison activist for
decades and knew more about the Texas prison system than anyone
would want to know. But, she said, none of this prepared her to
deal with her own son going to prison several years ago.
Singing and speaking, her voice rising and falling, she
first presented her own work entitled "A Mother's Prayer":
"I am in a battle to save my life and help save the life of
my child and the rules of this battle are unfamiliar... As I
walk forward I hear the voices and spirits of other mothers. I
will remember and give praise to those mothers who were slain
before me when they stood at the doors of illusion and fear,
slavery and deprivation, trauma and poverty; the doors of the
incarcerated; the doors of death row.
"I hear the mothers cry; their backs bent, brokenhearted and
dragged off the battlefield by a prison slave industry that
does not care and is devoid of spiritual morality. I am here,
Lord, replacing every mother that has fallen by the wayside. I
am here, Lord, planting seeds for the New America. Lord, Lord,
I am here."
Aziz's son Amil was released from prison in May and attended
the presentation.
Aziz then performed "Lost Souls." Ford's words told of the
hopelessness that squeezes the life out of those who would be
doctors, teachers, scientists and community leaders but are
entombed in the nightmarish hell of prisons and forgotten by
society.
With her voice rising into a powerful melody, Aziz captured
the pain of her people and raised the consciousness of all who
listened to the systemic racism and terror of the prison
industry.
Salute to Shaka Sankofa
The exhibit and reception was organized by the Texas Death
Penalty Abolition Movement and emceed by abolitionist Njeri
Shakur.
Shakur gave a brief history of her involvement in the
struggle to abolish the death penalty. She spoke of coming to
know many of the activists on death row, like Ponchai Kamau
Wilkerson, who was fearless in the face of the terror of
prison. Before his execution on March 14, 2000, Wilkerson was a
friend and mentor of Tony Ford.
Niya Kimble shared a powerful poem inspired by Shaka
Sankofa, written on the fourth anniversary of his execution in
June. Kimble was only 18 years old when Sankofa was killed.
"The night of his execution was seminal in my development," he
told the audience.
Sankofa was an innocent man and political activist who was
executed by then-Gov. George W. Bush despite a worldwide
campaign to save his life. As he lay on the gurney awaiting
execution, Sankofa said, "Fight on, Black people, fight on.
What we have tonight is a lynching. We may lose this battle but
we will win the war."
After the presentations, the crowd looked at Ford's art and
discussed its political meaning. Most of the art deals with
life on death row and the pain of losing friends to
executions.
Ford's federal appeal was recently denied. Attorney Richard
Burr wrote a synopsis of the case entitled "The Case of Tony
Ford: A Mistaken Identification Leads to A Wrongful Conviction
and Death Sentence." This document was presented in a packet
along with Ford's art and poetry.
Burr says, "Based on all the other evidence, the witness's
identification of Tony appeared to be a mistake, because no
other evidence connected him directly to the crime.
"Despite many troubling facts, pointing clearly to a
wrongful conviction, the federal district court in El Paso
denied Tony Ford's federal petition without ever holding a
hearing. That decision is indefensible and is on appeal to the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit," Burr
wrote.
The day after the exhibit, one activist told friends, "I
went down to SHAPE on Live Oak Street on Saturday afternoon for
the gathering about Tony Ford and got taught and re-taught a
lot of history, both ancient and recent. At times, I felt like
standing up and testifying myself... I want to do more."
More events will be held for Ford and funds will be raised
for his defense. Copies of the packet can be obtained by
emailing AbolitionMovement@juno.com.
Tony's art and writing can be found at www.tonyford.org and www.ccadp.org/tonyegbunaford.org.
Letters of support can be sent to: Tony Ford # 999075, Polunsky
Unit, 3872 FM 350 So., Livingston, TX 77351.
Reprinted from the July 22, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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