> WW News Service Digest #103
>
> 1) Interview with Ashanti Chimurenga
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 2) Houston Rally for Sankofa
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 3) Texas Prisoners' Memorial
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 4) Mumia on Shaka Sankofa
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 5) Land for Zimbabwe
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 6) Death Penalty Foes Slam Candidates
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 8, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>INTERVIEW WITH ASHANTI CHIMURENGA: "THE PEOPLE CAN
>NEVER GIVE UP"
>
>By Imani Henry
>
>"The death penalty is a challenge to our revolutionary
>spirit. The state planted this seed of terror. Regardless,
>we in the movement can't accept it. They want us to think
>that we're going to lose this battle, but it is a matter of
>who's going to blink first. And we will win."
>
>These are the words of Ashanti Chimurenga, a lawyer and
>national organizer for the Shaka Sankofa Justice Coalition,
>based in Houston. Workers World spoke with her May 25.
>
>Shaka Sankofa, formerly known as Gary Graham, is a 36-
>year-old African American death-row activist scheduled for
>execution in Texas June 22 .
>
>Sankofa has spent 19 years of his life on death row for a
>crime he didn't commit. With this new threat to his life,
>national days of action to stop his execution and to end
>the death penalty have been called for June 16-19.
>
>Chimurenga has been on the front line of Sankofa's case
>since 1993. She first got involved as a lawyer with Amnesty
>International's Death Penalty Project.
>
>"Shaka Sanfoka was sentenced to death when he was only 17
>years old," she explained. "This set off international
>protests. The United States is the only industrialized
>nation that refuses to sign off on international law
>prohibiting the executions of minors. This helped us to
>organize globally around Shaka's case."
>
>In an election year when both major big-business
>candidates, Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W.
>Bush, support the death penalty, capital punishment in the
>United States is being debated more frequently in the
>media.
>
>There is particular focus on Bush. His administration has
>executed 132 people. Another 21 people are scheduled to die
>on Texas's death row by mid-November.
>
>At a news conference held on the steps of the Capitol in
>Washington May 26, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Rubin
>"Hurricane" Carter, the wrongfully-imprisoned former boxing
>star, focused attention on Sanfoka's plight.
>
>Jackson called on Bush to grant him a stay of execution
>and a new trial. Carter said, "We must not let him die,"
>and that there is "clear evidence of his innocence,"
>according to the Associated Press.
>
>Carter also spoke that evening at Union Temple, a large
>African American church.
>
>Chimurenga, who helped to organize those events, remarked:
>"It is important to understand how racism is involved with
>the death penalty, who gets charged with capital crimes,
>who gets put to death in the United States. It is
>overwhelmingly Black, Latino, and Native people."
>
>`U.S. IS A KILLING STATE'
>
>"Every Black child born in the U.S. is born into a killing
>state," she said. "I knew I was going to have to look death
>in the eyes when I raised two Black male children in the
>United States.
>
>"Here in Texas, the majority of people on death row are
>from Harris County, which is primarily African American and
>Latino."
>
>Chimurenga said: "Shaka was convicted of killing a white
>man. In this country you are more likely to be executed for
>killing a white person than if your victim is a person of
>color. There are only six known cases of a white person
>being executed for killing a Black man in the United
>States."
>
>She added: "There are many Black and Latino families who
>have lost their loved ones to a murder, who aren't even
>contacted by the prosecutor or police. But when a white
>person is killed there is a rush to have a death-penalty
>sentence."
>
>The state of Texas, infamous for leading the country in
>executions, also ranks fifth in the country for the
>percentage of people living in poverty. Chimurenga said
>there is a strong link between those statistics.
>
>"There is a line of a song that goes `capital punishment
>is for those without capital.' The issue is money.
>Statistics show that your chances are higher of being
>sentenced to death row when you have a court-appointed
>lawyer. You have better chances with a private lawyer.
>
>"Shaka's case represents the plight of thousands of young
>people of color in the United States," Chimurenga told WW.
>"He represents the 2 million people who are in prison in
>the U.S.
>
>"But like George Jackson and Malcolm X , Shaka became
>politicized in prison. He became a political leader to
>other prisoners. And now, like Mumia Abu-Jamal, Shaka
>represents a political threat to the system.
>
>"The state wants to finally silence his voice on June 22.
>But we can never give up!"
>
>Along with the National Days of Resistance set for June
>16-19, activists in Texas urge supporters to call, fax, and
>write Bush to condemn the death penalty and demand a stay
>of execution for Shaka Sankofa.
>
>To lodge a protest, readers can call (800) 252-9600 or
>(800) 843-5789, fax (512) 463-1849, or write to Gov. George
>W. Bush, Capitol Station, Austin, TX 78711.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 23:46:09 -0400
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] Houston Rally for Sankofa
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 8, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>HOUSTON: DEMAND GROWS FOR SANKOFA EVIDENCE TO BE
>HEARD
>
>By Gloria Rubac
>Houston
>
>Texas death-row activist Shaka Sankofa faces a June 22
>execution date. But as protest marches, rallies and public
>meetings grow, supporters are optimistic that he will not
>be another victim of Gov. George W. Bush's death machine.
>
>>From the bishop of the Diocese of Houston and Galveston to
>long-time civil-rights activists, leaders have stepped up
>the pressure to force the courts, the governor and the
>Board of Pardons and Paroles to stop the execution of
>Sankofa.
>
>Sankofa, formerly known as Gary Graham, has been on death
>row since 1981, when he was only 17 years old. He has
>steadfastly maintained his innocence.
>
>It wasn't until the 1990s that he finally got competent
>lawyers and investigators and the truth about his case came
>to light. But so far no court has been willing to hear the
>evidence of his innocence.
>
>The latest execution date was triggered by the U.S.
>Supreme Court's May 1 refusal to hear Sankofa's case.
>
>Houston activists have held news conferences recently
>about prison guards gassing Sankofa for refusing to be
>moved to a death-watch cell. At another news conference a
>fast by Minister Robert Muhammad of Mosque No. 45 of the
>Nation of Islam was announced.
>
>A demonstration will be held May 31 in front of the
>Criminal [In]Justice Center in downtown Houston.
>
>Activists will converge on Austin June 3 for a
>demonstration at the Texas State Capitol called by the
>Campaign to End the Death Penalty. Protesters will demand
>that Bush stop this racist murder.
>
>On the same day in Houston, the National Black United
>Front will convene a public hearing at the Texas Southern
>University School of Law featuring Dr. Imari Obadele of the
>National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America and
>the Republic of New Africa. The purpose of the forum is to
>show that the government does not have the right to
>imprison or execute African Americans in the United States.
>
>On June 11 there will be an "Afternoon in the Park with
>Shaka Sankofa" rally featuring music and spoken-word
>support. It will begin at noon in Houston's Tranquility
>Park.
>
>JUNETEENTH ACTIONS
>
>On the evening of June 16 a protest will be held outside
>the gala fundraiser held in conjunction with that weekend's
>Texas Republican Convention in Houston. The next day there
>will be a demonstration outside the convention, which is
>hosting 17,000 delegates, guests and media.
>
>The Shaka Sankofa/Gary Graham Justice Coalition, Texas
>Death Penalty Abolition Movement, SHAPE Community Center,
>and Mosque No. 45 are calling on all progressive forces to
>join in these protests.
>
>On Juneteenth--June 19--the Shaka Sankofa/Gary Graham
>Justice Coalition will participate in the Juneteenth Parade
>in downtown Houston. The parade attracts crowds of hundreds
>of thousands. Activists will not only be in the parade but
>will distribute leaflets to the crowd about going to Austin
>in the next couple of days if Sankofa has not yet received
>a stay of execution.
>
>Radio talk shows in the African American community have
>been featuring guest supporters of Sankofa who are taking
>the facts of the case to the people.
>
>Members of the Justice Coalition have passed out leaflets
>at churches and festivals to get out the truth about this
>case. The Nation of Islam is distributing fliers each day
>when members take their newspaper, the Final Call, to the
>corners in Black communities around Houston.
>
>To join in the activities, readers can call the Texas
>Death Penalty Abolition Movement at (713) 521-0629 or visit
>the Web site www.geocities.com/tdpam/.
>
>
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 23:46:09 -0400
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] Texas Prisoners' Memorial
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the June 8, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>TEXAS PRISONERS' MEMORIAL: "STOP LEGAL LYNCHINGS"
>
>The Fifth Annual Prisoners' Memorial Day was held May 27,
>sponsored by the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement. An
>activist opened the program with the words: "We are here
>today in front of the Walls Unit in Huntsville, Texas,
>where over 200 people have been executed since 1982. It is
>a solemn occasion because we are remembering those murdered
>by the state of Texas.
>
>"But it is also a joyous occasion because we see the light
>at the end of the tunnel and know that the death penalty is
>on the way out."
>
>Speakers condemned the pace of executions in Texas,
>comparing it to the frequent lynchings under slavery.
>Innocent men killed by the state of Texas, including James
>Beathard and Odell Barnes, were remembered. So were
>juveniles like Glen McGinnis, battered women like Betty Lou
>Beets and mentally ill people like Larry Robinson.
>
>Revolutionary leader Ponchai Kamau Wilkerson, who died
>March 15, was commemorated by his companion Njeri Shakur as
>a man who fought the injustice of Texas prison slavery
>until his last breath.
>
>At the prison cemetery 130 flowers were laid on the
>graves, representing the 130 people killed during Gov.
>George W. Bush's reign as of that date.
>
> --
>G.R.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 23:46:10 -0400
>
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