For Troy Davis

pBrother Troy Davis. Brother, son, comrade—child of God—part of the river of struggle that flows in every corner of the earth; from the arid deserts to the coldest heights and everywhere in between. /p pBrother Troy, killed by the state—the state of mind, intertwined with pillars filled with the mortar of hatred and injustice. Brother Troy, whose breath was our breath, whose struggle was our struggle, whose name lingers in the heavy Georgia air, thick with the putrescence of white supremacy; of Billie Holiday cries of strange fruit. Brother Troy, your life belonged to God, the elders, the community. Who were they to take away your life? /p pWho were they who came to this land in 1492—religious and international social workers—who came to do us a world of good. They wrote about us in their journals, about our gentleness and how we would be ideal servants and slaves. Who were they to assume the role of God on earth and kill us indiscriminately—for pleasure and perceived vengeance—while raping our lands and our women? Who gives them the authority over our bodies? /p pBrother Troy proclaimed his innocence--witnesses recanted statements and procedural malfeasance on the part of the police was cited--casting sufficient doubt on the guilt of Troy Davis in the killing of an off-duty police officer. I am not celebrating anyone’s death. For the loved ones, the hurt can never go away. /p pFor them, there is no clarity, no moving on. But why is it that when a cop is killed, the outpouring of sympathy is expected with unquestioned allegiance wrapped in patriotism, with the calls for accountability of the perpetrator. However, when a brother like Oscar Grant gets killed, there isn’t an ounce of remorse, sympathy—much less an apology—from law enforcement—the cops, or from those communities that embrace law enforcement with unconditional patriotic support—where anthems are hummed but accountability is stalled, and justice murdered? /p pThose of us from communities where people are viewed--not as human--but as criminals, or even animals, know well the role of the police. Those agents of the wealthy shot at us—workers—when we tried to organize ourselves against the impunity of the rich, in forming unions and forging bonds with people in struggle. They shot at civil rights workers, students and those protesting various wars who said, enough. They are not our friends, never have been. /p pHoward Zinn wrote, “If the world is destroyed, it will be a white collar crime, done in a business-like way, by large numbers of individuals involved in a chain of actions, each one having a touch of innocence”. The denying of the stay of execution of Troy Davis makes the highest court in the land complicit in his murder. Two justices, Scalia and Thomas, articulated the institutional injustice of the court, indicating the prevailing attitude that “The US constitution does not prohibit the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a court that he is actually innocent”. In other words, it does not matter if you’re innocent, as long as you had a trial./p pBrother Troy, you lift our spirits as we climb towards justice, towards taking back our histories, our lives; towards reclaiming the land and the vision of community that was stripped from us a long time ago. We stand in unity with your spirit, the spirit of Idress Stelley and others killed by the injustice system, our brothers in Pelican Bay and in all prisons, migrant people, elders, youth in struggle locally and globally. Peace. /p