IT is clear as day thatblack lives do not matter

[malaise]

'I went to death row for 28 years through no fault of my own'
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/01/i-went-to-death-row-for-28-years-through-no-fault-of-my-own-
<snip>
Anthony Ray Hinton was going out of his mind on Alabama’s death row as he repeatedly churned over the iniquities of the shambolic trial that put him there. So he started a book club.

The prison warden wasn’t keen but after Hinton told him that it was better to have inmates applying their minds to reading than to ways of causing disruption, he reluctantly agreed. The book club began with a handful of death row prisoners meeting in the jail’s law library, and for a few years the numbers grew as word spread that reading was as good an escape as any of them could expect. But then the numbers shrank again as each of the members was executed until only Hinton remained of the original group. His cell was so close to the electric chair he could smell the burning flesh of the men he’d been debating the writings of James Baldwin and Harper Lee with.

All the while, Hinton awaited his own appointment with “Yellow Mama”, the generator that powered the electric chair, as one attempt after another to have the overwhelming evidence of his innocence heard got nowhere.

“The state of Alabama had every intention of killing me for a crime I didn’t commit,” said Hinton. “They didn’t care whether I did it. They cared about the colour of my skin. As the prosecutor said: ‘Even if we didn’t get the right one, at least we got one off the street.’ And that was referring to a black person only he didn’t use the word black.”

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Institutional Racism is live and well.

[raging moderate]

1. I hope Anthony Ray Hinton will write a book.

I will buy that book.

[malaise]

5. From the last sentence of the article

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton is published by Rider Books at £16.99, or £14.44 at guardianbookshop.com

[raging moderate]

9. Yay! Thanks! The Sun Does Shine, Anthony Ray Hinton, Rider Books.

I guess my coffee had not worked on me yet.

I will buy that book ASAP.

[mahina]

2. We are monsters.

This admin has set us back past any progress made.

Alabama should pay for Mr. Hinton and his family to live in comfort the rest of his days.


The last quote made me physically ill.

[mythology]

7. No Trump hasn't

First, the very fact that the man was on death row for 28 years inherently demonstrates the problem long predates Trump.

Second, look at the longer term for our progress. We had slavery and then Jim Crow and public lynchings. We had laws saying blacks and whites couldn't marry. Yes Trump is a setback, but he certainly hasn't and can't take us back to slavery or Jim Crow.

[mahina]

8. Of course the problem predates Trump.

I didn’t say that it didn’t.

Regarding progress, we disagree.

Ta.

[mahina]

3. This is the article that finally got my wallet out for a monthly subscription to the Guardian.

Thank you Malaise.

[malaise]

4. You're welcome

I cried

[bigtree]

6. great article

...good man.

[politicaljunkie41910]

10. I'd like to keep this thread going. I read Anthony Hinton's story earlier and was overwhelmed

with emotions that this type of thing continues to go on in this country. The Supreme Court unanimously overturned Hinton’s conviction in 2015. I wanted to do something for him and saw that he had a Go Fund Me Page set up three years ago to help him with living and legal fees. That fund raised $27,000, far short of a goal of $100,000 over a period 3 years The man was imprisoned for half of his life on Death Row for a crime he didn't commit; 30 years of 61 years. I would like to keep his story going on the front page of this site and any other website that people would like to post it to.

I encourage everyone here to read the Guardian article linked in the OP. The article said that the State of Alabama denied him restitution for his 30 years imprisonment. Thirty years of imprisonment means that he has missed out on his prime working years and that would include not having a pension plan or social security to take care of himself. The article did say that he has written a book which was just been released and hopefully he will have some success with that.

Someone raised the question on his 3 year old Go Fund Me Page whether it was still considered active, and based on that was hesitant to contribute. Having contributed many times to Go Fund Me but not knowing the particulars, I hesitated as well, and considered starting a new one.

I encourage everyone who hasn't already done so, to read his story in the linked guardian article in the OP. It's a long story but worth it. The man spent 30 years imprisoned in this country for a crime he didn't commit, and the state of Alabama did everything they could to keep him on their Death Row. The fact that this stuff still happens in this country is outrageous and just proves how little black lives matter.

Hinton started a book club for Death Row inmates, to keep his mind occupied while on Death Row and it probably saved his sanity and his life, until he could convince someone of his innocence.

[malaise]

11. The denial of restitution is unforgivable

Thanks for your great post.

[ProudLib72]

12. Have you read Sister Helen Prejean's books?

I read Dead Man Walking, and that was enough for me. I can't immerse myself in book length descriptions of death row inmates' lives. It's too much!

[malaise]

13. No - haven't read it - I am like you that way

I admire people who walk out of prison after being robed of their lives and are forgiving. I wouldn't forgive them trust me on that.

How dare they deny the man the money they prevented him from earning?

[politicaljunkie41910]

14. I ordered the book today for exactly that reason. Well that was my second reason, actually.

My first reason was I wanted to help the victim, Mr. Hinton, in some small way to become a productive member of society by contributing towards his ability to earn a living through sales of his book, as a first step. Secondly, I wanted to know the hell he went through in his own words. His story is particularly relevent since the MLK documentary, "Hope and Fury: MLK, The Movement and the Media" was also on TV Sunday evening and man's inhumanity towards man was on full display, up close and personal for those of us who chose to tune in. Burying one's head in the sand does not, and will not make our racial problems go away. We have to, as a nation, confront evil, and racial prejudice, where ever we find it, head on.