THE SAUDA VOICE

SHAME ON AMERICA'S "JUSTICE" SYSTEM: The Execution of Troy Davis

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JACKSON, GA - Once again, America has proven beyond reasonable doubt that it is NOT a just nation, especially if you are poor, uneducated and/or a person of color.  In America, "justice" is traditionally reserved for those who are white and can pay for it (with that skin privilege decreasing for those unlucky enough to be poor or working class). On occasion, the justice system works for the rest of us, but not often and certainly not in equal measure.  As a black woman born and raised in America, time and life experience has only served to reinforce this reality rather than dispel it.   

 

The case of Troy Davis has made headlines in recent weeks as the date of his execution grew near.  In 1991, Mr. Davis, a black man, was found guilty of the killing of Mark MacPhail, a white off-duty police officer.  In 1989, Mr. MacPhail was shot to death when he attempted to rescue a homeless man being attacked in a Burger King parking lot.  Here's what makes Mr. Davis' case unique:

 

• Mr. Davis always maintained his innocence.


• No physical evidence or weapon linking Mr. Davis to Officer MacPhail's death was ever found.


• Seven of the nine witnesses who originally testified against Mr. Davis recanted their initial testimony, some asserting they were pressured or coerced by police to finger Mr. Davis as the shooter.


• Another man allegedly committed the crime with nine people implicating him as the actual gunman in signed affidavits. Coincidentally, this potential suspect is one of the two witnesses against Mr. Davis who didn't recant his testimony.

All of the above factors taken together, especially the lack of physical evidence and recanted witness testimony, is far too much doubt to proceed with the execution of a human life.  And THAT is what most people are taking issue with, myself included.  I do not know if Mr. Davis is or is not guilty.  However, what I DO know is that the so-called "reasonable doubt" standard has been met in this case.  No one, in good conscience, can say - knowing of these recent and disturbing developments - that Mr. Davis is guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

Since his conviction in 1991, Mr. Davis' execution has been stayed four times for appeals.  Last year, the Supreme Court, in rare form, afforded Mr. Davis an opportunity to prove his innocence in a lower court, but then rejected his plea.  And this past Tuesday, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parols rejected Mr. Davis' plea for clemency.  Thus, Mr. Davis' scheduled execution set for 7 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, September 21st would continue as planned.  Then, at 7:05 p.m., a ray of hope shined through: The U.S. Supreme Court granted Mr. Davis a temporary stay of execution as it considered whether his execution should be permanently aborted. 

 

Sadly, the Supreme Court came down on the side of injustice and denied Mr. Davis a stay of execution.  Mr. Davis was subsequently executed by lethal injection and declared dead at 11:08 p.m. (EST).  Mr. Davis' last words were the following:

 

"For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls."

Yes, may God have mercy on ALL of our souls.  We should be ashamed.  Stories like this one remind me of why I am against the death penalty.  Not only do I think it's an "easy out" for the worst among us, it is also an action that we can never reverse once a man's innocence is later discovered and/or confirmed.  We can always release an innocent man from prison, but we can never give an innocent, dead man his life back. 

 

'Dark Girls' Exposes Colorism in Black Community

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In his forthcoming documentary Dark Girls, acclaimed director and producer Bill Duke sheds light on a rarely discussed, yet prevalent problem within the black community - skin color bias.

 

Rooted in slavery, colorism reflects the real-life bias some in the black community have for or against other blacks, typically women, based on the lightness or darkness of their skin.  Dark Girls addresses this bias as it pertains to dark-skinned black women.

 

Through personal accounts, Dark Girls exposes how some blacks openly (and sometimes proudly) speak of their dislike for dark-skinned black women, often describing them as "ugly" and "less desirable."  In their eyes, dark-skinned women are less than other blacks simply because of their darker hue, especially when compared with light-skinned black women.  A practice that inadvertently pits light-skinned and dark-skinned black women against one another.

 

Check out a preview of Dark Girls.

If this preview is any indication, Dark Girls is going to be a powerful and moving piece of work.  Details about where and when the film will air has yet to be released. 

 

News of Dark Girls got me reminiscing (not in a good way) about my teenage years.  This is when I first encountered colorism and skin color bias in my own life.  I was a young girl uprooted from my native California and relocated to a foreign place known as "The South," specifically Georgia. 

 

Almost as soon as I arrived, I was informed that I was "light-skinned" and referred to as "red" or "redbone" every time I left my house.  And, no, I'm not exaggerating.  These names were supposed to be terms of endearment and expressions of approval, but I couldn't stand being called by them nonetheless. 

 

I also quickly learned that my skin color instantly rendered me "the enemy" for some black girls.  It didn't matter that they didn't know me or we had no previous altercations.  I was still described as someone who "thinks she's cute" or "thinks she's better than everybody."  And God forbid if black boys at school or in the neighborhood commented positively on my appearance.  That only further proved their point that I thought I looked good or better than them.  Mind you, I had the worst self-esteem during these years and thought I was ugly until the age of 19. 

 

And then there was the issue of constantly being labeled as "not really black" whenever someone got mad at me or wanted to hurt me.  It was always the first, go-to insult other blacks used to put me down.  Apparently, the category of "light-skinned" ranked me low on the blackness scale.  For a little girl who always identified with and loved being black, this was the worst thing another black person could say to me.  Even the phrase, "the darker the berry, the sweeter the juice," was used to taunt me.  When directed at me, it meant that I wasn't "really" black, not like they were.

 

Although I was on the opposite (and rarely-discussed) side of the colorism spectrum, I was also a victim of such skin bias.  While dark-skinned black women are attacked for their "perceived" lack of beauty and attractiveness, light-skinned black women are often attacked for their "perceived" lack of blackness.  In my opinion, each is equally devastating on self-esteem.  I know it was for me. 

 

STUCK ON STUPID ALERT: Mother Jailed and Convicted of Felony Over School Residency Lie

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We've reached an all-time low in America.  We are now jailing parents who have the audacity to want their children to have a quality education and thus, a better life.  Perhaps if we had an educational system that was truly equal and not based on income and wealth (i.e. where you reside), this mother would not have faced the real-life nightmare that she did and still is living. 

 

Before I get into the details of this story, I want to make one quick personal observation.  Growing up I knew of countless families who were lying about their residency (i.e. where the family and/or child lived) in order to send their child student to a much better school, typically located outside their neighborhood.  These families didn't like to do it or even want to do it but they felt it was an evil necessity.  Sadly, these parents' choices were not uncommon.  As a community, we all knew it was happening and WHY.  We didn't fault them.  We understood. 

 

Ohio mom Kelley Williams-Bolar found herself in a sad, but all too common predicament facing many American families.  She lived in an unsafe, low-income neighborhood with low-performing schools.  After several home burglaries, Ms. Williams-Bolar had enough.  So four years ago she made the decision to send her daughters to school in nearby Copley-Fairlawn School District.  The problem?  It wasn't her Akron district of residence.  It was her father's.  So, like numerous parents across the country have done before, she used a relative's address as her children's residence of record.  Ms. Williams-Bolar has since maintained that she and her daughters lived with her father part-time.  

 

Somehow or another the school district learned of Ms. Williams-Bolar's deceit.  They were so determined to catch her committing this *heinous* crime of residency deceit that they hired a private investigator to follow her movements, videotaping her driving her children into the school district.  The school district confronted Ms. Williams-Bolar with the evidence and asked her to pay $30,000 in back tuition.  When she refused, likely because she couldn't afford to pay it, the school district filed charges against the mother. 

 

Ms. Williams-Bolar was subsequently indicted and convicted of falsifying residency records.  She was sentenced to 10 days in county jail (released on 1/26/11 after serving nine days), three years of probation and 80 hours of community service.  But, wait!  That's not the worst of it.  Ms. Williams-Bolar was charged with and convicted of a felony!  According to various news reports, the local prosecutor refused to reduce the charges to misdemeanors.  What does this mean for the single mother who once didn't have a criminal record?  It means the teaching certificate she was working on and only a few credits shy of will hold no value.  As a convicted felon, she is prohibited from teaching in the State of Ohio.  So much for pulling yourself up by the bootstraps, huh? 

 

The case of Ms. Williams-Bolar is problematic on so many levels.  Granted, Ms. Williams-Bolar should have been held accountable, but like not this.

 

First, the punishment is grossly disproportionate to the crime.  If anything, Ms. Williams-Bolar should've been made to pay a fine or serve community service, not charged with and convicted of a felony.  A FELONY!!!!  Utterly ridiculous, especially in light of the fact that she had no criminal record.   Second, why did the school district and prosecutor choose to go after this particular mother?  Out of all the possible candidates, why single her out?  Why make her the example?  Who - or what community - were they trying to send a message to?  Something just doesn't add up here. 

 

Check out two brief news clips below.

SIGN PETITIONS: Here and Here

(Asking Ohio Gov. Kasich to Pardon Ms. Williams-Bolar)

Good 'Ol Boy "Justice" Still Alive and Well in the South

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It saddens me that I hadn't heard about the plight of sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott until this past Thursday when news of their release from a Mississippi state prison flooded various mainstream media outlets. 

 

In 1994, Gladys (then 19) and Jamie (then 21) were convicted of luring two men into a roadside ambush where three male accomplices, lying in wait, hit them over the head with a shotgun and stole $11.  Although the women were very young at the time of the crime and had no previous criminal record, they were found guilty of armed robbery and each sentenced to two life sentences.  TWO LIFE SENTENCES.  Murderers, rapists and child molesters don't even get life sentences (when they should).  Meanwhile, the three men - who originally implicated the women - served less than three years for the exact same crime.  Mind you, they were the ones who held the gun on the victims and reportedly beat them about the head.  

 

Both Gladys and Jamie have always maintained their innocence.  See their plea to the public for help here.  The sisters maintain that they were never involved in the robbery, but were later implicated by the "Patrick Boys" (two brothers and a cousin) in an attempt by the teenage boys' to lessen their punishment after eventually confessing to the crime and from pressure at the hands of law enforcement. 

 

Today, many civil rights organizations are applauding Governor Haley Barbour's (R-MS) decision to suspend the life sentences of Jamie and Gladys Scott.  I don't know if I hold the same adulation for the man.  Not when these two women shouldn't have been in prison this long to begin with, if at all.  Jamie, 38, suffers from kidney disease (both kidneys have failed) and requires daily dialysis.  As a condition of his granting early release, Gladys, 36, must donate a kidney to her sister.  According to reports, Gladys offered to give her sister a kidney (understandably!) well before Gov. Barbour's offer of an early release predicated on it. 

 

In my opinion, this is both a personal and political move on the governor's part.  Personally, I'm confident he felt the sentence handed down to the two women was unjust (at least I hope he felt this way as a human being with common sense and decency).  He appealed to the Mississippi Parole Board for the women's release twice.  Obviously to no avail.  So, he took this route.  Now, he's telling the media and critics that he ordered the early release for "financial" reasons, citing the huge cost of providing dialysis to an inmate each year (i.e. $190K+).  I imagine giving this as his "true" reason for releasing the women saves political face.  By saying this, he can maintain his "tough on crime" stance - an important meme to his Republican and conservative constituents. 

 

As a black woman, I will never say that our justice system is fair because it isn't.  It is flawed beyond belief, especially if you belong to one or more of the following groups: (1) Minorities/People of Color; (2) Women; (3) Poor or Working Class; (4) Uneducated; or (5) Disadvantaged.  Anyone who says different is lying, naive or woefully ignorant. 

 

Check out a brief news segment on the case (below).

'NO WEDDING NO WOMB' FEATURE: Is the Black Community Facing a "Baby Daddy" Epidemic?

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By last count, approximately 70% of black children are born out of wedlock.  Let me repeat that.  In 2010, approximately 70% percent of black children are born out of wedlock.  That means that these children are born into a family structure where their parents are not married.  Not only that, most of these children are born and reared in single parent households.  Take one guess as to which sex is doing the brunt (if not all) of the work. 

I know.  It's not much of a guess because the evidence is all around us.  Each day we step foot outside our doors we see it.  On the street.  In the supermarket.  In the park.  On the playground.  In our very own families.  Women.  Black women.  We are the overwhelming majority of those caring for and raising black children.  Alone.  I ask you, family.  Why? 

Something has changed since our parents' and grandparents' generation.  It has become acceptable to have "baby daddies" and not husbands, to condone a man's unwillingness to commit, both to a relationship and a family.  In my opinion, women are just as responsible for this latest turn of events as men.  We've lost a piece of ourselves.  We've let society, our community and sometimes even our men tell us what our worth is; what we are and what we are not; what we deserve and what we do not. 

I know there's been one message that has been repeated so often in my lifetime that it almost feels like it is the new American anthem.  That message?  Black woman, you are NOT beautiful.  You are NOT lovable.  You are NOT wanted.  You ARE nothing. 

When this is what you are told and shown day in and day out, it is bound to take a toll.  Many of us are able to rise above these messages and still carve out a healthy sense of self amidst the negativity.  Of course, it is not easy and it takes much work but we manage to do it somehow.  In fact, it is something many of us must work on each day because self-doubt will often continue to linger just beneath the surface.  However, others of us don't overcome this low self-esteem and low self-worth, leaving it to sometimes spill over into our romantic lives and influence the choices we make. 

Many black women who want marriage and the traditional family are foregoing that dream for the sake of "keeping" a man because the thought of being alone is too frightening a proposition.  We accept and defend the excuses a boyfriend gives for not wanting to commit to or marry us (often after years of dating).  He doesn't think the time is right.  Or, he doesn't think we're ready for such a big step.  Or, he's not where he wants to be in his career yet.  Or, he wants to save money and be more financially secure before settling down.  You name it, he's said it. 

Meanwhile, that SAME man has no problem bringing one, two, three or more children into the very circumstance he claims is so problematic for a potential marriage.  Even worse yet, some of these men also have no problem creating children with multiple women.  I ask you, how is this a better picture of family than say, a married couple with children?  What message are we sending our children?  Mama's okay to make babies with but not marry?