OpEdNews » Aug. 30 execution date set for Haramia KiNassor / Kenneth Foster, Jr.

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Tag(s): Death Penalty; Prisoners; Prisons - Penal System
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June 2, 2007 at 07:02:01

Aug. 30 execution date set for Haramia KiNassor / Kenneth Foster, Jr.

by Hans Bennett Page 3 of 3 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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WI: Haramia has one appeal left, back in Texas state court. But they have never granted an appeal. And there is one more push, to ask Governor Perry for clemency, this from a governor who has never granted clemency. Haramia’s lawyer has filed the appeal and feels it is strong.

HB: What can people do to support Haramia right now?

WI I can’t stress enough how vital public pressure is right now for Haramia’s case. There needs to be a public outcry that there is no question in this case, everyone agrees that he did not pull the trigger, he never even touched the gun. He is being sentenced to die for driving a car, and that should outrage every single person that hears it.

We’re asking folks to write letters to Governor Perry:

Office of the Governor

P.O. Box 12428

Austin, Texas 78711-2428

To log onto his website www.freekenneth.com and sign the online petition, and to spread the word as far as possible to people. We have to act now while this brotha is still here with us. I know that I, personally, am heartsick at losing people in this struggle.

HB: Anything you’d like to add?

WI: One of the most powerful things about DRIVE is that it shows that for as powerless as the system tries to convince each of us, that it is simply not true. These men on death row, locked down in the heart of the biggest state killing apparatus in the world, who are supposed to be completely at the mercy of the DOC, instead are reclaiming their power and taking stands. When I am feeling depressed and hopeless, I think of all those struggling where we are told everyday struggle is impossible. I think of those who should be so warped by their circumstances, but instead are more human than those who keep them in captivity. I think of these people who make something out of nothing, and I know that not only can all of us go on, we must.

Hans Bennett (insubordination.blogspot.com) is A Philadelphia journalist and co-founder of Journalists for Mumia, whose new website is Abu-Jamal-News.com

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3 comments

I have lived in Thailand for 25 years where I run an IT and a Real Estate company. I write articles for various magazines and blogs on a variety of topics. Nearly 4,000 subscribers around the world currently subscribe to my newsletters on property and IT. I am an atheist and a realist.
MarcHoltI have lived in Thailand for 25 years where I run an IT and a Real Estate company. I write articles for various magazines and blogs on a variety of topics. Nearly 4,000 subscribers around the world currently subscribe to my newsletters on property and IT. I am an atheist and a realist.

Politicized criminals

Isn't it amazing how these black criminals who 'were just riding around and decided to commit a few robberies' suddenly become 'political prisoners' once the are behind bars where they belong?

by MarcHolt (3 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 12 comments) on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 6:40:24 PM

Hans Bennett is a Philadelphia photojournalist mostly focusing on the movement to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners. An archive of his work is available at insubordination.blogspot.com and he is also co-founder of "Journalists for Mumia," created to challenge the long history of corporate media bias, whose website is: Abu-Jamal-News.com
Hans BennettHans Bennett is a Philadelphia photojournalist mostly focusing on the movement to free Mumia Abu-Jamal and all political prisoners. An archive of his work is available at insubordination.blogspot.com and he is also co-founder of "Journalists for Mumia," created to challenge the long history of corporate media bias, whose website is: Abu-Jamal-News.com

Proud to be racist?

Well Marc, you illustrate well how many people in the media are not afraid to flaunt their racism. I am dissapointed however, that a fellow writer at this alt media website would actually say something as overtly racist as your comment. I am a new contributor here and expected something a little better from fellow writers, otherwise I could waste time with Newsweek or the New York Times.

In the interview, Walidah clearly says how he was not political when he got arrested, but has since done very positive work behind bars organizing for human rights (so we were not presenting a simplistic "political prisoner" analysis). Further, if he is executed for driving a car, can you not acknowledge that it would be unjust and would set a horrible precedent?

Or did you even notice that part of the headline mentioning that he is set to be executed at the end of the summer?

I doubt you read very far into the article before you were already foaming at the mouth, ready to criticize an article standing up for a "black criminal" who clearly does not deserve to be executed for driving a car.

If you truly cared about the content of my article, you would have noticed these simple points.

Instead, you clearly illustrate the racist lynch mob mentality that feeds off the harsh stigmatization necesary to reinforce the criminalization of poverty and the imprisonment of 2 million plus prisoners in the US (The biggest prison population in the whole world) who are disproportinately people of color. That mentality is what I seek to challenge and expose with my work, so in some sense I am glad you're "proud to be a racist," because you help to illustrate the problem.

by Hans Bennett (19 articles, 80 quicklinks, 82 diaries, 144 comments) on Sunday, June 3, 2007 at 7:40:29 PM

Mumia's essay on Kenneth Foster, Jr.

Death & Texas: The Kenneth Foster Case
[col. written 5/31/07] Mumia Abu-Jamal

For a decade Kenneth Foster, Jr. has languished on one of the worst Death Rows in the U.S. - Texas.

He now faces an execution date (of August 30, 2007) despite the fact that even the trial judge, the DA, and the jury that sentenced him to die admit he never killed anyone.

Whoa!

I know that it sound funny (or fishy), but it's not. It's just a fluke of Texas law.

In Texas, that fluke is called the Law of Parties - a variant on conspiracy law, but like most things Texas - this law takes a bigger chunk out of the accused.

In essence, the Law of Parties criminalizes presence, not actions.

Under U.S. Law, as announced by the Supreme Court in its 1982 Edmunds v Florida decision, a death sentence for one who killed no one, nor intended to, nor assisted in such a killing was a violation of the 8th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.

But again - this is Texas.

This is the same state that ruled in the Herrera case that innocence is irrelevant; that poisoned the Black activist Shaka Sankofa (born Gary Graham); that twice violated court orders from the US Supreme Court in the Miller-El cases; and that sent George W. (as in Warmonger) Bush to the White House.

These items are noted, of course, to make clear the very real danger that Kenneth Foster, Jr. faces.
A young Black man - an innocent man - on Death Row - in Texas!

If you wish to read more about his amazing case on the web, go to: www.freekenneth.com or write:

Kenneth Foster Support Group
P.O. Box 14268
San Antonio, TX 78214

Kenneth (also known by his adopted name, Haramia KiNasser) is a talented writer, poet, and father of an adorable 10 year old girl named Nytesha.

Help free her dad.