The World Will Remember Troy's Name

Last night the State of Georgia killed an innocent man.

In recent weeks, we fought hard for the commutation of Troy Davis' sentence. More than one million petitions were delivered. Protests, rallies and vigils were organized around the globe. Last night, we fasted and prayed together as a community.

I have spent the past week with Troy's family. He wanted the world to know that he understood that this struggle goes beyond just one man. Troy was prepared to die last night. As he said again and again, the state of Georgia only held the power to take his physical body. They could not take his spirit, because he gave his life to God.

Let's remember and heed Troy's words: We must not let them kill our spirit, either.

Troy's execution, the exceptional unfairness of it, will only hasten the end of the death penalty in the United States. The world will remember the name of Troy Anthony Davis. In death he will live on as a symbol of a broken justice system that kills an innocent man while a murderer walks free.

The world will remember Troy's name, as the death penalty supporters who expressed doubt in this case begin to doubt an entire system that can execute a man amidst so many unanswered questions.

The world will remember Troy's name, as death penalty opponents who remained silent in the past realize that their silence is no longer an option.

The world will remember Troy's name because we will commemorate September 21st each year as both a solemn anniversary and a call to action. The night they put Troy Davis to death will become an annual reminder that justice will not be achieved until we end this brutal practice of capital punishment.

"This movement," Troy said, "started before I was born." After last night, our movement will grow stronger until we succeed in destroying the death penalty in the United States once and for all.

I know you will join me. Together we will secure his legacy, and the world will remember the name Troy Anthony Davis.

 

 

 

Follow Benjamin Todd Jealous on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BenJealous

Comments

[Dolmance]

03:01 PM on 10/16/2011

He wasn't innocent at all. He was guilty. Blatantly guilty. And his last words were a pack of lies.

[CarbonDate]

05:51 PM on 10/08/2011

Benjamin Schmidt
Danny Chen
Caleb Nelson

For the month of October, so far. There were 53 others last month.

No one will remember their names.

But we weep for a convicted cop-killer.

[Pat Pepe]

09:16 PM on 09/26/2011

Mr. Jealous you have either made a Racial/Political statement, or you are naive. First i will make a wager with you that one month hence this criminal will not be remembered, only if someone accidentally mentions his name. As an organization for the rights and well being of the African-American communities you all have been a total failure. One of the front line projects that the NAACP should be attacking is Black on Black crime, Here in NY Men, Women, Children are being shot wounded and killed to a point of making world conflicts look meek. Poor education, a lost family life with no respect between man and wife. Lack of organizations to stop buffoon shows like the Maury Show(which rivals the Roman Arenas) with the audiences getting sexual gratification on low life guests that should be ashamed to show their faces and situations for the world to snicker and make fun of. The Media in many cases is Entertainment Pimps, and should be stopped but your organizations turn blind eyes to this charade. No Mr Jealous you and the rest that showed their faces on the executions were only there for the TV cameras (not all) to be noticed. The evidence against that murderer was overwhelming read the court papers and in particular the attorneys for the defense.

[GlennWatson]

02:50 PM on 09/25/2011

Thirty-four witnesses identified Davis as the one who shot MacPhail. Among the witnesses were three members of the Air Force, who saw the shooting from the drive-in. They did not recant. The recantations were from friends of Davis.

[frankland99]

08:04 AM on 09/25/2011

hey Ben- pick yourself a better role model than this guy. I didnt see you at his trial or voicing anything the last 20 years. Is this the best race based cause you can find to attach yourself to? really?

You are making you and your organization appear even less credible than it already is....

[lshaft]

04:04 PM on 09/23/2011

Killing is Killing, be it done by a crazed individual or a crazed state. There will come a day when states engage in cover-ups to prevent the release of information that innocent people were killed by the state.

Killing is Killing. Period.

[mose joseph workman]

10:13 AM on 09/24/2011

The fact that the crazed State of Georgia exhausted 22 years in affording Davis every opportunity to prove his innocence is the perfect indication that your statement is intellectually bankrupt.

[lshaft]

01:43 PM on 09/24/2011

You death and the other killing advocates still have to address the likelihood innocent people were put to death!!!

[jemiltd]

03:15 PM on 09/23/2011

Injustice has now been done. And after the fact, we discover that the same board commuted the sentence for an ADMITTED killer. http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/05/22/us-usa-execution-idUSN2250765020080522 Angry? Remember how this moment feels. Remember that this could be YOU or someone you love.Tony Brown's Journal once reported that the FBI had done a study showing Black folks stay focused on a crisis for six weeks, then let it go. Is that you? Are you already on to the next thing? If you think this is bad, realize that unless you get up outta that armchair and do something, vote, push for a better justice system, then Troy Davis died in vain. You better be voting in 2011 and in 2012. Your life may depend on it.

[harrysmatical]

11:16 AM on 09/23/2011

This Jealous ( what a surname...) should be careful that some..."white supremacists "may destroy him ,
before he...destroys the DP in America...

[jemiltd]

03:25 PM on 09/23/2011

Yes, you must be one of those who believes people choose their names, financial means, whatever else... deliberate ignorance, however, is always a choice.

[PRONESE]

09:01 AM on 09/23/2011

Who?
More Coffee...
R/ PRONESE

[luapmi2]

05:51 AM on 09/23/2011

I am opposed to the death penalty...but if we are going to have it it must be completed within one year. These cases that go for decades are stupid.

[dupejaran]

01:32 AM on 09/23/2011

Alas, the facts do not bear out the claim of innocence. I hope that you've read the case files in detail, Mr. Jealous, because there are a few indisputable facts to the case.
1) Davis was there by his own admission, as was Coles.
2) The man in the white shirt shot MacPhail, while the man in the yellow shirt did not.
3) Numerous witnesses who knew Davis placed him in the white shirt and placed Coles in the yellow. One of the direct-identification recantations still did not recant that Davis was wearing a white shirt.

[BlackPrincess]

05:20 AM on 09/23/2011

Here's lies THE problem with your indisputable facts: 7 of the 9 so-called eyewitnesses have RECANTED. One of the witnesses who did NOT recant was infact "Coles"....




www.blackvisions.org

[Marie Jackie]

05:56 AM on 09/23/2011

BlackPrincess: You forgot to add that these witnesses recanted after lawyers got a hold of them. Why wasn't this mob in TX protesting the death of a KKK white man who dragged a black man to his death? Are you people going to defend two white men going into a home in Connecticut who brutally murdered three women? The death penalty applies to these two ghastly men. For once, I would like you guys to pray for their victims.

[SeriesSeven]

07:24 AM on 09/23/2011

First of all, there were more than 9 eyewitnesses. There were 34. Second, 7 did not "recant" their testimony. In fact, only 2 attempted to change their testimony in any material way and that was 20 years after the crime. In addition, the lawyers for Davis could have had those 2 testify during the evidentiary hearing ordered by the Supreme Court. They were sitting right outside. The reason that they weren't called (and instead submitted only affadavits) was because their new story was inconsistent and directly refuted by the other eyewitnesses. Any live testimony would not have held up to cross examination by the prosecution.

You just feel it necessary to spread lies to support your own prejudice and ignorance.

[Katherine Schock]

10:46 PM on 09/22/2011

I agree with Ben Jealous, the time is for abolishing the death penalty in the United States is now! A survey in 2009 of crime experts rejected the notion that the death penalty acts as a deterrent to murder. 88% of them! While the whole world watched, Troy Davis was executed for a crime which even the jury who convicted him said that if they knew then what has been revealed now they would NOT have convicted him. We, at the very least, need a moratorium on executions until we are sure that no more innocent people are killed. I found a good resource about which states have the death penalty, and will share it with you. Go to http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org As human beings, we owe it to ourselves to work to overturn the death penalty laws in each and every state that has one! Otherwise, we all have blood on our hands!

[Matthew E McCarthy]

02:29 PM on 09/26/2011

The problem with the article and comment is the assumption of innocence. The article doesn't touch on the 34 eye witnesses, and how the defense attornies couldn't put the seven "recanting" witnesses on the stand, either because they didn't actually recant (5 of them) or they had no credibility to begin with (2 who weren't called although one was at the courthouse). Anyone who is actually thinking and questioning when they are reading will see the overwhelming evidence the article is ignoring and will not be convinced by the comment.

As I grapple with the issue I would like to be more opposed to the death penalty than I am, but to convince me the argument will need to face the fact that things like this happen, and that knowing the person is guilty we have alternatives that are more humane and still protect others from this criminal.

[genrel1248]

10:06 PM on 09/22/2011

This will not hasten the end of the death penalty. The author is blind to the fact that we are a nation of chimps with guns.

[Big Bud]

08:48 AM on 09/23/2011

"chimps with guns", and they are chimping-out on a daily basis

[Intelligentia]

09:29 PM on 09/22/2011

That's nice; so, what's the strategy to end the madness? I do not place a credence in all these nices words without a concrete strategy to face the conditions that create a Troy Davis type of situation. Do something to stop Eliminate the conditions that allow police to pressure people to lie! Waiting until someone is facing the needle before you test the resolve of blood-thirsty barbarian is a little too late! I'll wait for the next one, because it's coming!

[Seek Itty]

08:57 PM on 09/22/2011

Yawn. There is no "movement" and selective reporting on the facts on this particular killer's case isn't going to change that. Now that Troy has rightfully been sent to a hotter place, let's now take care of Mumia Abu-Jamal.