Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Crowe, Davis, Obama and You


Land of the free, home of the slave. No one can argue minorities still get the short end of the stick in America. Blacks are expected to go to jail, the Spanish are expected to take low paying jobs that no one wants and Native Americans, well no one really is concerned with them. The streets we piss and spit on outside is actually the land of Native Americans, we tend to forget. Anyway I am just writing today because I am confused on some of things regarding the late Troy Davis.



Mr. Davis has been the talk of the town for the past few weeks because of his efforts to avoid execution for a crime, which is safe to say he did not commit.  Evidence was questionable; witnesses’ testimonies were reversed yet Mr. Davis was executed by the state of Georgia.  It has been a couple of days but unlike most media binges that grabs your attention and is averted elsewhere, the death of Mr. Davis crosses my mind more than once a day.  Thing is I am so confused, why does the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles have so much power?  Why is there not a system of checks and balances set up like our "beloved" government?  Our judicial system is set in place to protect us from killers, thugs and hooligans from wrecking havoc on the street.  They felt the world was a better place though by killing Mr. Davis, it must be a regular occurrence for killers to start worldwide campaigns seeking clemency for crimes they committed?  I am not one to pull the race card but shortly after the execution I found out about Samuel David Crowe. Now Samuel also a resident of Georgia WAS going to be executed.  Why wasn't he you ask?  Well Samuel was granted clemency two hours before his scheduled execution. Samuel was on death row for admitting to the murder of Joseph Pala.  Pala who was the manager of a lumber store where Samuel use to work was shot three times, beaten with a crowbar and a pot of paint.  


"After careful and exhaustive consideration of the requests, the board voted to grant clemency.  The board voted to commute the sentence to life without parole," the parole board said."


Where was this careful consideration for Mr. Davis?  This last minute decision was made based on Samuel's good behavior and his defense argued that the crime was committed during a withdrawal of cocaine.  Again I'm not one to pull the race card but a black man was not given careful consideration with a campaign of thousands of petitioners, backing from government officials and witness testimonies reversed.  Yet a non-colored man with good behavior was able to avoid execution for a much more brutal crime he admitting to committing. Oh ok.


The other thing that has me confused is where is my man Barry during all of this?  Legally there was no way for Obama to save Mr. Davis but he has that plateau to voice his opinion.  Same way these politicians speak out on injustices occurring overseas as a fifty percent black man and the struggles of our race I feel like he should have addressed the injustices endured by Mr. Davis. Fuck the politics, Fuck the reelection.  Shit like this sways me to not even vote.  It’s pointless with the Electoral College but that’s another story.  You have a duty not only to your country but also to your race. You know how much support Obama gets from minorities just because they can relate to him based on his skin color.  It would have been an honor to tell my kids "Obama was a real nigga" (not literally with that wording lol). Think about the ambition kids would have for Obama, as a black man who worked his way up to become leader of this great country and he held his people down! Maybe its just me but the morale of our generation went down the drain just seeing injustice on a large scale.  I mean messed up shit happens to us every day; we have to protect ourselves from our own peers and the police.



We have seen the stories of people like Michael Anthony Green, Alan Newton and James Bain, a very short list of individuals wrongfully convicted.  Wrongfully convicted is probably the legal equivalent of being buried alive but Mr. Davis a jail sentence was not enough to make the family of Mark McPhail happy.  Even the McPhail family has me confused in this situation.  The supposed murderer of your family member received support from all these people, fought literally down to the wire to avoid execution so the McPhail family should have been on the front line to ensure the killer was given justice.  So you did nothing to stop the execution of an innocent man while the real killer is in Perfections slapping ass? You are no better than the real killer McPhail family, not only is Mark gone but you are an accessory to Mr. Davis death in my book.  Again maybe it is just me, but shit doesn't add up.  


How do you feel though? Do you think Obama should have issued a statement? I mean shit he is only the President and he did tell me we were going to get "Change". The situation the McPhail family has endured is not common so maybe we all cannot relate but do you think like McPhail family could have handled it differently?  I just can't image our kids reading about this in the history books.  When we were taught about the civil rights movement for 20 minutes, luckily if that long, during Black History Month, didn't it make you look at your teacher different for the day? Like your great-great grandfather did what?  With the crazy summer of violence in NYC and shit like the execution of Mr. Davis it feels like our generation is only moving backwards. Fuck Ray J’s red hoodie and lets organize before it is too late. 









2 comments:

  1. I am with you Dru. But sometimes I feel like the more we proactively attempt to make a change, the more we get pulled back down. Take Obama for instance, yeah we have a black president; a wonderful accomplishment and inspiration for our race and the nation overall. However, the system will always remain corrupt in my opinion. Like you said, most of these politicians are all about self advancement and people pleasing, especially around election time. Honestly I don't think Obama is one of these but he's not the only one running the country. And for "change" to occur he needs people to agree to the change. And that's not happening. I agree he could have said something about Mr. Davis' case but again, maybe he was "advised" about the pros and cons of doing that and the effect it would have on his presidency. Who knows?! Just sad overall.

    If only we could all listen to MJ's "Man in the Mirror" and wake up a brand new person...smh

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  2. yeah i read something how he didnt want to make it political so that why he didnt comment. If he mad a comment he would have prob threw his chances for re-election right out the window. But I def feel u change def must start on a micro scale, within our very homes. SMH our people :/

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