30-Day Jail Sentence Given
to Death-Penalty Opponent
DEFEND NJERI SHAKUR!
STOP THE EXECUTION OF KAMAU
WILKERSON!
HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:
* Come with Njeri Shakur when she reports to jail
Friday, March 10, at 8:30 a.m., to begin her 30-day sentence. Meet outside the
new courthouse in downtown Houston at 1301 Franklin St.
* NATIONAL DAY OF ACTIONS ON TUES. MARCH
14
(Scheduled day of Kamau Wilkerson’s execution and
the Texas Republican primary)
If you live in the Houston area…
*
Come to the Walls Unit in Huntsville starting at 4:30 p.m. to protest the
scheduled execution. Cars will leave from SHAPE Center in Houston at 3
p.m.
Otherwise…
* Organize a picket line or press
conference outside your local Bush for President campaign headquarters or
Republican Party headquarters in cities
across Texas and the
U.S.
*If you are a registered voter in Texas, you can
vote in the March 14 Republican primary regardless of your party affiliation.
Write in “Ponchai Kamau Wilkerson” for president.
*Start flooding Bush campaign offices NOW with
calls and faxes demanding that Bush stop the execution of Kamau Wilkerson and
enact a moratorium. Bush’s Austin headquarters is (512) 637-2000.
* Join the Hound Bush campaign. Wherever he
goes, protest, disrupt and raise hell!
* Make a donation. We are in urgent need of
funds to print flyers, send mailings, get more phone lines and web access in our
office, and send organizers around the state to speak on the moratorium
campaign.
* Volunteer your time. We need more hands to help
out. Come to our office at the SHAPE Center or call and we’ll meet you in your
neighborhood.
* If you are a student, consider devoting some time
this summer to building the moratorium movement.
Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement * (713)
521-0629
c/o SHAPE Center, 3903 Almeda Road, Houston, TX 77004
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
***********************************
30-Day Jail Sentence Given to Death-Penalty
Opponent
DEFEND NJERI SHAKUR!
STOP THE EXECUTION OF KAMAU
WILKERSON
On March 8 Judge Jan Krocker sentenced
community activist Njeri Shakur to 30 days in
jail for contempt of
court. She will begin
serving her sentence March 10. Shakur is a
member
of the Texas Death Penalty Abolition
Movement and a founder of the Texas
Death
Penalty Moratorium Committee.
Why did Krocker decide to lock up Shakur
on
International Working Women’s Day?
As an act of repression and retaliation
against
an African American woman leader of the
movement for a
moratorium on executions.
The incident that led to Njeri Shakur’s jailing
took place Feb. 8. That’s when Judge Krocker
set an execution date for
Ponchai “Kamau”
Wilkerson, a young Afro-Asian man and a
close friend of
Shakur. Judge Krocker cut off
Kamau Wilkerson’s statement to the court.
Then she let bailiffs beat him to the floor. Njeri
Shakur stood up in
the courtroom and
demanded that Wilkerson be allowed to make
his
statement. Krocker calls this “contempt.”
However embarrassing her righteous demand
might
have been to a reactionary, racist
Republican judge, that alone is not the
reason
Njeri Shakur was sentenced to 30 days instead
of the usual 3 to 5
days for contempt.
Krocker--and through her Gov. George W.
Bush and the
wealthy rulers of Texas--want to
make an example of this outspoken
death-
penalty opponent.
Why? Because they fear the growing
movement in
Texas, across the country, and
worldwide demanding a moratorium
on
executions.
On Feb. 21-22, Kamau Wilkerson and
Howard
Guidry to a prison guard hostage for
13 hours to dramatize their outrage
about the
railroading of youth into prison. They also
demanded a
moratorium on executions. Njeri
Shakur was one of three community leaders
who met with them, presented their demands
to prison officials and
secured the guard’s
release. Now Krocker has told Shakur she
cannot be
present at her friend’s scheduled
execution March 14 or even for his
funeral.
Who benefits from locking up this mother of
six, grandmother of eight, a beloved fighter for
decent housing in her
community? Only
presidential candidate Bush and his allies in
both
parties who want to continue jailing and
executing youths, especially youths
of color,
rather than give them civil rights and equal
access to higher
education. Since Bush took
office, the number of prisoners in Texas has
grown from 40,000 to 150,000!
The movement for a moratorium on
executions
won’t be stopped by these
police-state tactics. The list of organizations,
churches, student groups, and individuals who
want an end to the racist
Texas death machine
is growing daily.
We are approaching a critical moment in this
struggle Everyone who is outraged by the
railroading of young women and
men to death
row, everyone who hates racism and injustice,
everyone who
believes the death penalty is
applied unfairly, everyone who wants Njeri
Shakur free, must take a stand.
TEXAS DEATH PENALTY ABOLITION MOVEMENT *
