-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the June 8, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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AS MORE EXECUTIONS LOOM: DEATH PENALTY FOES SLAM
CANDIDATES
Activists Tell Texas Gov. Bush: Don't Kill Shaka Sankofa
(Gary Graham)
By Elijah Crane
At a May 26 news conference held in Washington, Rubin
"Hurricane" Carter and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. called for a
new trial for Texas death-row prisoner Shaka Sankofa
(formerly known as Gary Graham). Carter, a boxing legend
who spent more than 20 years in prison for a crime he
didn't commit, told reporters that there is "clear evidence
of his innocence" and "we must not let him die."
Jackson criticized presidential candidates Gov. George W.
Bush and Vice President Al Gore for their pro-death-penalty
positions and responded to Bush's claim that only guilty
prisoners have been executed in Texas, saying, "Almost
certainly, there have been or will be innocent people
executed in Texas and elsewhere."
George "serial killer" Bush, as he is commonly referred to
in the movement to abolish the death penalty, has presided
over the state-sanctioned killings of 132 people, five of
which took place in the last two weeks of May alone. An
additional 15 executions are slated to take place before
November.
On May 25, Cardinal Roger M. Mahoney of California had
raised his voice against the death penalty in Washington.
In a speech to the National Press Club, Mahoney declared
that the death penalty is "fatally flawed and biased"
against people of color and the poor.
He then issued a letter to California Gov. Gray Davis
urging him to impose a moratorium on the death penalty
immediately. The governor refused. California holds 565
prisoners on death row, more than any other state.
The Rev. Al Sharpton will lead a group to Washington to
lobby in Congress against the death penalty on June 8. In
addition, Amnesty International has issued a call to stop
the execution of Shaka Sankofa and abolish the death
penalty.
Popular opposition to the death penalty has grown
tremendously in the United States in recent years. Mass
demonstrations such as the May 7 Madison Square Garden
rally for Mumia Abu-Jamal have broken through the media
whiteout. There is now widespread recognition that Abu-
Jamal is the face of the movement to end the racist death
penalty.
Many of the celebrities and activists who support Mumia
Abu-Jamal--like Ed Asner, Mike Farrell and Danny Glover--
have also been following Shaka Sankofa's case very closely.
Like Abu-Jamal's, Sankofa's original trial was riddled with
police, judicial and prosecutorial misconduct and coaxed
testimonies.
Both Abu-Jamal and Sankofa are fighting for a new trial,
which would allow them to enter new evidence and prove
their innocence.
Sankofa is one of 70 people who were juveniles at the time
of their arrest and subsequently sentenced to death in
flagrant violation of international law. Although Sankofa
left school at an early age, he has gained a revolutionary
education behind prison walls. "Like Malcolm X," said Larry
Holmes of Millions for Mumia, "Shaka has become very
political and revolutionary since he went to prison. He is
the one who holds classes for other prisoners, who
disseminates literature."
TEXAS' GOV. "DEATH"
It is not surprising that Texas, with the most executions
in the United States, does not have a public defender
system. Last year Bush vetoed a bill that would have helped
counties institute such a structure. Instead, thanks to
Bush's 1995 efforts to make the death penalty "swift and
sure," pro-death-penalty judges appoint lawyers they know
will expedite the process.
Every tier of the system is stacked against the oppressed.
There is no "fairness" or "impartiality" in this system--
least of all in the state of Texas--as long as you are
Black, Latina/o, lesbian, gay, bi, trans, and/or poor.
As Sankofa's June 22 execution date grows closer, the
debate in the ruling class is also intensifying. And the
pressure is on. Media coverage of the death penalty has
skyrocketed, with Texas receiving specific attention. Every
major news outlet from the New York Times to PBS to CNN is
covering the issue extensively.
"The pressure is growing," said Monica Moorehead of
Millions for Mumia on May 26. "You can see it because Bush
had to come out today in favor of DNA testing."
DNA testing for prisoners has proven the innocence of the
accused 26 percent of the time when administered during
trial.
"The movement to abolish the death penalty must take full
advantage of this situation and do everything we can to
deepen the crisis for the imperialist bourgeoisie,"
Moorehead said.
Demonstrators in support of Abu-Jamal throughout Africa,
in Italy, France, Sweden, Germany and elsewhere around the
world have also taken a stand against the U.S. death
penalty. Oppressed and working-class people everywhere are
affected by the U.S. death machine--whether it's Pentagon
bombs or execution, as in the case of two German citizens
executed by the state of Arizona in 1999 who were denied
access to their diplomatic consul.
National Days of Actions have been called for June 16-19
to demand an end to the death penalty, to stop the
execution of Shaka Sankofa and grant him a new trial now.
Demonstrations will be held in Detroit, San Francisco, Los
Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York, Houston, and
other cities. Mass support for these actions is needed. The
time is ripe for a movement against the death penalty to
strike a critical blow and build united popular support.
- END -
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