He is very loving, caring, passionate, and charming. He can light up the room when he starts smiling. When I first met him, this surprised me because so many death row prisoners have spiritually died. But Kenneth was still growing and shining after so many years on death row.

::::::::

With August 30 Execution Date, the Wife of Kenneth Foster Jr. Speaks Out

--Hans Bennett interviews Dutch hip hop artist Jav’lin Watch Jav’lin’s new video at www.freekenneth.com

Hans Bennett: What is Kenneth like?

Jav’lin: We’ve been together for two years. He is very loving, caring, passionate, and charming. He can light up the room when he starts smiling. When I first met him, this surprised me because so many death row prisoners have spiritually died. But Kenneth was still growing and shining after so many years on death row.

We both want to change the world by bringing stories of what we’ve seen and been through back to the people. He is so conscious and that’s beautiful because when you’re on death row, you don’t have to be conscious. He’s chosen to use the time wisely and really search for self.

H: How can folks help Kenneth?

J: We are making as much noise as possible, without being too outrageous, because we don’t want to offend people with it. We are focusing on the “Law of Parties”. We feel it should not have been used in Kenneth’s case because there was no conspiracy, and that alone speaks for itself.

We are collecting letters to the Governor and the Board of Pardons and Paroles, so we can let them know that people are concerned with Kenneth’s case. The Coalition to End the Death Penalty (CEDP) is organizing rallies and education events.

We don’t want letters like “this guy is innocent, ya’ll are on some bullshit.” We do want people to be honest, because that is our strength. Kenneth wasn’t always an angel, and he did get into some bad stuff. But, he’s not a killer, didn’t mean for anybody to be killed, and he feels bad about that. By law, Kenneth should have some form of punishment, but he should never have been sent to death row for it. We want people to focus on that in the letters.

Folks can email letters to Kenneth.Foster.Jr@hotmail.com and Kenneth’s attorney will hand-deliver them to the governor.

H: Anything else?

J: Most people on death row will say that they’re innocent, so I know people are very skeptical about issues like this. But, it has been proven before that innocent people have been executed. I would suggest that everybody thinks about the death penalty and that when someone is executed, the punishment is done. He then doesn’t have to live with what he did every day. Life in jail is so much harder in many ways.

Also, with life imprisonment, things can still be rectified. The authorities can admit to their mistakes, instead of executing someone who is later found to be innocent.
***
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

Also see Hans Bennett’s interview with Walidah Imarisha, following her visit with Kenneth Foster, Jr.:

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=12842

There have been several new articles written about this case:

IMC reporting on the July 21 demonstration in Austin, Texas:

http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2007/07/59931.php

Report by Free Speech Radio News:

http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2007/07/59953.php

And this July 12 report on the IMC

http://houston.indymedia.org/news/2007/07/59702.php

The Disturbing Case of Kenneth Foster: Texas Wants to Kill Another Man, the Law be Damned, By RON JACOBS:

http://www.counterpunch.org/jacobs07042007.html

Kenneth Foster and the Texas Death House, by Liliana Segura

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2007/7/express/kenneth-foster-and-the-texas-death-house

Jocks 4 Justice: Stop the Execution of Kenneth Foster. Jr.:

 

http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5611/1/32/

This is Mumia Abu-Jamal’s essay on the case:

Listen to the audio: http://prisonradio.org/KennethFosterMumia.htm

Death & Texas: The Kenneth Foster Case

by 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 sounds 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!

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

Help free her dad.

Authors Website: www.insubordination.blogspot.com

Authors Bio:
Hans Bennett is a multi-media journalist 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