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First in a series of three interviews
with Minister Walanzo Shabaka,
who is incarcerated under sentence
of death in Oklahoma State Penitentiary
MIN. WALANZO SHABAKA SPEAKS:
BEING ON DEATH ROW,
Q= Questioner
Month: March
WS= Walanzo Shabaka
Year 2000
Q: As Salaam Alaeykum.
I hope this to be an enlightening three part series,
mainly of questions posed
by friends and associates who seek information as
to what life is like
on Death Row. Shall we begin?
WS: Wa Alaikum Salem. Indeed
Q: Firstly, perhaps you
should briefly introduce yourself and state what you
are in prison for.
WS: I am Walanzo Shabaka,
a native of South Central Los Angeles, California,
and a devout servant
of God Almighty. I am in prison for allegedly killing a
twenty six year old African
American. It was alleged by those who prosecuted
the case that I came
to Oklahoma to establish a cocaine drug enterprise, and
that it was my intention
to take over the streets of Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, for the production
and distribution of cocaine; and in this lied a
conflict with a neighbouring
drug dealer, whom I am accused of killing by
way of four gun shot
wounds to the torso with a handgun. This crime was
prosecuted in June I990,
the homicide occurred in May I989.
Q: This is, in fact, your first time in prison?
WS: Yes, and it is also
a grim reminder of how the young Black male is
perceived in the United
States of America, perceived as one of little worth
and a potential threat
to the stability of the government when his ideas and
politics are not consistent
or in concord with the dominant society.
Q: Would you care to explain?
WS: Sure. In this country
we see basic, major contradictions which exist
between its populace
and citizenry, one being that there is a profound
variance in perception
as to what defines a functional society, a community
of people. On one hand
we have a population that has historically and
traditionally benefited
from the labour of another people; and not to speak
abstractedly, this is
a sensitive subject, and the question deserves to be
properly addressed in
what limited time I have for this series. Please bear
with me. Those who have
been beneficiaries of slave labour have been
Americans, and they have
established criteria as to what is appropriate and
what is inappropriate
behaviour within the environmental context. And
generally speaking, their
sense of values has been well rooted in a
disturbing white supremacist
psychosis that has blinded them to the .....
Q: Min. Shabaka, this tends to stray from the simplicity of this series.
WS: I want to show how
this relates to my particular situation and how
certain conclusions were
drawn regarding the culture from which I’ve come, a
culture which regulated
vices, one of which was the manufacturing and
distribution of narcotics
(which is something I apologise for ever
participating in). The
way things happened for me, parallels will be drawn
to show that what I have
experienced is not an isolated phenomenon, but a
profound pattern of conduct
experienced by the Black and Chicano
communities. I also want
to deal with the psychological dynamics at play
which better help one
to understand the prejudices of those who functioned
in the capacity of jurors
and convicted me and sentenced me to DEATH. This
ties in with my comment
as how we’re perceived as having little worth. I say
this because, I too am
a living reality that in the eyes of the dominant
society, I as a youth
had no redeeming value as a human being. How did these
people reach such a conclusion?
This should be explored in order to expose
the racism that pervaded
my trial and subsequent conviction; not an
indictment of all Americans
but a look at the diversity of perceptions and
the two contradictions:
the communities of stability and those of
instability, and how
they have become what they are.
This no doubt will place
into context what I’d elaborate on regarding the
myth of a person being
tried by a jury of his peers, dealing specifically
with my case. And giving
a visual of how it too relates with others having
similar experiences as
me with the American Criminal Justice system,
particularly those who
are so-called African-Americans, and the Latino
Americans. This is very
important for anyone who seeks to accurately
understand how Capital
Punishment in America has been exercised; to see the
historical relationship
that Court sanctioned executions has had with the
Black community.
Q: Walanzo, there will be an appropriate time to address these concerns.
WS: Fine. But do know
that it is not my intention to turn the topic of
Capital Punishment into
a topic solely of race. Perhaps that is how it is
being interpreted. There
is no way that the issue of Capital Punishment in
America can be discussed
without reference to its patterns of abuse towards
the African-Americans.
However Capital Punishment is a system which
purported to, but never
has, deter serious crime. In theory it is to serve
as the ultimate, legalised
and established punishment having a severe
deterring effect on defined
crimes. Being that I am in prison for the first
time, and I sentenced
to be strapped to a table and injected with lethal
chemicals to kill me,
I no doubt have a need to question the fairness of the
Death Penalty and examine
its origin and primary function from a historical
perspective, particularly
in how it affects me and has affected the lives
before mine of the innocent
and guilty sentenced to Death in this country.
And perhaps my knowledge
and concerns will strengthen the viable stance of
those opposed to Capital
Punishment in the States as well as bringing to
light certain misconceptions
which might bring about a change in ones
position of support for
the Death Penalty, to that of dissent, disdain and
disfavour. Credence has
been given to court sanctioned executions as being
virtually without flaw,
not realising that it is imperfect and jeopardises
the life of the convicted
innocent, and “mentally disturbed”, for lack of
better clinical terminology.
There are many other reasons why the Death
Penalty must be examined
in the light of fairness and reasonability.
Q: It is unimaginable
what it is like being on Death Row. You are passionate
in articulating your
reasons why Capital Punishment is questionable, but
could you share with
us on the “outside world” what life is like on Death
Row?
WS: I cannot speak as
a representative of Death Row, and I can only provide
a general view of Death
Row at Oklahoma State Penitentiary. But I think it
safe in saying as a collective
we share one common entity, and that is hope.
Hope, not in an abstract
sense, but hope that the value of our lives will be
enriched by our experiences.
Faced with the prospect of dying by lethal
injection brings life
full circle in how we view ourselves and the world
around us, and how we
are to function in it. Though limited by our
incarceration to move
around as we choose or partake in activities to our
favour, we none the less
have liberty to exercise our
minds to strive toward
melioration in self discipline, courage and meekness
to the command of God
Almighty. In this we find something that may have been
absent or lacking prior
to our imprisonment, and that is our humanity and
our humility. I say this
with caution because. I do not want to delude
anyone into thinking
that this is some kind of monastery or place of new
found peace. There are
certainly some very dangerous people here in this
society we know as Death
Row. I cannot vouch for any ones sanity apart from
my own. There are others
who do not see this place as I do, but see it as a
dismal den of perpetual
misery.
Q: Are the men of this Death Row united?
WS: Collectively speaking,
no. However there are shades of unity
particularly among the
religious community.
Q: Does religion play a major role on Death Row?
WS: From my observations
it seems to have a certain sense of purpose, even
if not all men who profess
their respective faiths live according to the
tenets of their religions.
Q: Does religion help the men cope better with their situation?
WS: I definitely would
like to think so. I honestly feel that the best
investment a condemned
person can make of his or her time while in
confinement is in the
area of establishing a correct relationship with the
Lord Most High. For certainly
it is inevitable that the majority of the
Death Row population
will either be executed or spend the remainder of their
lives in prison, a bitter
pill to swallow, but it is our reality. And
without the solace and
peace that comes from loving God Almighty, and
submitting to His will
as best we can, I see that dealing with the very real
possibility of being
executed or spending the rest of ones life behind bars
daunting and really unbearable.
God Almighty gives us strength, and without
His love and guidance
people on Death Row face an immense challenge to their
will-power to overcome
the circumstances that prison life inflicts on them.
As well as establishing
a relationship with God Almighty, prisoners should
invest time in studying
the law and its functions, familiarise themselves
with cases relevant to
their own, and as a minimum have a fundamental
understanding of the
process that appeals undergo within the judicial system
at State and Federal
level.
Q: Walanzo, you profess to be a Muslim Minister, what do you mean by this?
WS: I am a representative
of the Islamic Faith. My title as a Minister is
apt, because I am a Minister
to the truth of Islam as being the perfect way
to understanding, or
shall I say, better knowing God Almighty and to living
by His commandments,
in Islam, the Divine Shariah. I am a Minister to the
authenticity of the Prophethood
of Mohammed, Salla Allahu Aleih Wa Sallam. I
am a Minister to the
fact that there is no God save the One True God
Almighty who is without
partner or equal. I am a Minister to the correct
faith of the Known Apostles
of God as mentioned in the authentic Holy
Scriptures of our Torah,
Bible and Ayats of Al-Holy Qur’an, may Allah’s
peace be upon them all.
I am a Minister to the fact that the Holy Qur’an is
the Final Revelation
of God Almighty for all humanity and the Jinn. I am a
Minister to Truth and
the Unity of mankind. The title is befitting and
simply distinguishes
me from that of a layman who has some knowledge of God.
I am not an Imam, and
in my creed the only Imams recognised by God Almighty
as legitimate are those
ordained by God Himself.
Our final Imams stem
from the seed of the Seal of God’s Apostles, the Holy
Prophet
Mohammed, Salla Allahu
Aleih Wa Sallam, we honourably and correctly refer to
them as the Holy Ahlu-L-Bayt,
peace be upon them. I am a Minister to this
fact which is not held
by the majority of Muslims.
Q: Being on Death Row, has Islam helped you deal with your situation?
WS: Being under sentence
of Death is a mental strain. Hopes and aspirations,
dreams and desires are
usually shattered by being here. There is no system
of parole for us and
every day is a closer calling to being executed. Not
only is there an everyday
reminder that the State deliberately and
purposefully wants to
have me executed by lethal injection, but it is also a
traumatic experience
on the lives of our families and loved-ones. And the
emotions and feelings
they have for us filter over into how we maintain a
sense of belonging and
worth under the precarious set of circumstances we
are subject to as Death
Row subjects. Or it can bring about, for some, acute
depression.
Islam requires great discipline
for it is easier to live of rebellion
against God’s commandments
than to humbly submit to His will. Islam has
refined my intrinsic
abilities to survive, it has helped me spiritually and
mentally. It has given
me a peace that I could not find or discover anywhere
else. Islam has governed
my life towards perfection. Having a correct
relationship with God
Almighty has helped me place my life into perspective,
and it has helped me
better communicate with my family and to have proper
relationships with others
in the human race. Islam has given me a profound
appreciation for life
and respect toward my trials and tribulations, as this
temporal existence is
a chain of tests, Islam shall help me to pass, Inshaa’
Allah ta ’aala.
Q: Does Death Row provide
inmates with educational programmes?
WS: There are no educational
programmes set up for us prisoners here. A
person can pursue a furtherance
of ones education by ordering books of his
choice from publishing
companies, book stores or receiving materials from
legitimate organisations
that provide educational services to prisoners.
These avenues should
be utilised, however it comes down to the individual
person and how he sees
fit to pulling prison time. Some men don’t feel a
need for improving their
level or quality of education; some have given up
on the return to society
and have settled with a belief that they’ll either
be executed or have their
sentence commuted to life in prison without
parole, and don't see
any purpose in studying of any sort. Sadly it is this
spirit of idleness and
hopelessness that breeds perversions and a hunger
toward unbeseeming conduct
of men. This is in a general sense, because I’m
not referring to any
particular individuals here.
Q: Do the guards give you men a tough time?
WS: For the most part
the guards assigned to this sector of Death Row are
very professional in
conduct and do not hassle us. Whereas there used to be
officers who managed
this sector of Death Row who despised we men sentenced
to death. A few, no doubt
were racists and could not disguise their dislike
for us African prisoners.
We had an incident several years back, and fifteen
(I5) of the Special Emergency
Response Team came to restore order to the
unit. Many of them called
out obscenities at us, and one in his rage called
me “nigger” several times
and from an upstairs rail spat in my face and the
side of my mouth, also
hitting the face of my comrade Imhotep Okiba Nuebuka
(Richard Eugene Hammon).
Of course, no disciplinary action was taken against
the disgusting officer
who committed this offence and who now serves as a
lieutenant of the guards.
I, on the other hand, was prosecuted by the
make-shift Prison Court
with my former cell partner/comrade Oconga Osuwo
Omutu (Bennie Jones),
and ended up doing disciplinary time for over 45 days.
This is known as the
June I6 I993 incident at H-Unit, there’s much more to
this, but this is not
the right forum to discuss it. Anyway there is a code
of conduct among all
prison populations when it comes to officers of this
type, and in this code
lies the very real potential for violence. The naive
officers take it for
granted that this is a twenty three (23) hour lock-down
facility, but it is still
a penitentiary. And there are some of us who do
not or will not tolerate
their infringing upon how we’ve grown to establish
a sense of stability.
A while back dealing
with a particular guard who was assigned to this sector
of Death Row, it had
reached a point where physical action was being
discussed in order to
alleviate the problem. Some guards and or prison staff
members fail to realise
that they determine how the community will respond
to them. If they are
decent and respectful to us, then there is no animosity
or antagonism. In the
event that the cell doors opened at once and a guard
is literally trapped
on the run adjacent to our cells, two things could
happen: if the guard
has been respectful to us, then he would probably be
unscathed; if, on the
other hand, the guard has been an agent provocateur,
then it is very likely
he would be beaten or killed. The
intensity on the block
is that great and that serious. An outsider will find
this behaviour or attitude
difficult to comprehend, and see it as one of the
many contradictions of
the prison society, environment, culture.
Death Row is not a place
where one can be at ease, and tranquility does not
exist here. Even for
we men of God, we cannot lose focus of where we are and
what potential threats
lurk among us. This is why I train and condition
myself to be able to
survive in any prison environment. I know who I am and
what damage I'm able
to inflict upon those who would dare challenge my
person, even if this
required me losing my life or having to take a life. My
self value cannot be
compromised and I’d never become a slave to fear or
cowardice. Being in prison
is in itself surviving, but it is how you survive
that matters. Do you
just get by being a victim of convict pressures, a
slave to sexual misguided
energies of perverted men; a slave to paying
protection fees to convicts
or guards; a slave to humiliation and
degradation? Or do you
survive by being alert, focussed, prepared and
capable of existing as
a dignified human being who does not give into the
barbarism of a prison
subculture. Long ago I chose to be dignified and shall
safeguard my dignity,
protect it at whatever cost. Islam forbids a young
healthy Muslim such as
myself from being an inactive soldier, defender of
the faith and of myself.
I have integrity to defend and uphold.
Q: That’s interesting.
What then motivates you to be positive and not give
up?
WS: I do not belong here.
I am a victim of a miscarriage of justice. The
enemies of my life have
deliberately manipulated the “system” to incarcerate
me, and the drive towards
killing me presses on relentlessly. The primary
enemy is Robert H. Macy,
the Oklahoma County Chief Prosecutor. He is well
respected by right wing
politicians in Oklahoma and abroad, and has been
praised by the people
of this state for his services to law enforcement.
Perhaps there is genuine
virtue underneath his coat of deception and if so,
I’d like to speak with
him personally in private. I want to see for myself
if he is worthy of the
admiration and applause given him, and to see if he
is worthy of being a
symbol of justice. I, as a man of substance who
realises who I am as
a consequential human being, can honestly say that I
uphold no forms of anarchy,
and have much respect for civil authority and
can appreciate the position
of a just Prosecutor. However, for now, Mr Macy
remains an avowed enemy
of mine, and the Courts, at his bidding, have
maintained allegiance
to his crime against me, my family and supporters by
having me in prison.
It is frustrating being
a poor man in prison, wrongly convicted and facing
the needles of the execution
party. I want to expose this man and others for
the mishandling of the
case I’m on. Sadly, there is a lack of Black
community activism in
Oklahoma, and this places me at a great disadvantage
in my quest to bring
attention to my situation. I must therefore do what I
can myself to get released
from my confinement and have my conviction
overturned.
I am also perturbed to
know that some people hate me because I am in prison,
and it also disturbs
me that people who do not know me are more inclined to
believe the false characterisation
Mr Macy has portrayed of me. He also
persuaded a jury that
I am better off executed than allowed to live. I had
recently turned nineteen
(19) years of age when he argued for the State that
the jurors shouldn’t
spare my life but sentence me to DEATH. I will be
twenty-nine (29) years
of age on April 12 2000 lnshaa’ Allah ta’aala, and I
was five (5) months into
my eighteenth birthday when I was arrested in Los
Angeles, California on
September 7 1989 in relation to this case I have been
convicted of. So what
am I to think of Mr Macy? You know, I have intentions
on producing materials
that will explore in depth the spurious case against
me. It will be more detailed
than the web-page entitled, THE CONDEMNED,
INNOCENT, which was on
the internet by way of the concerned Canadian
Coalition Against the
Death Penalty (CCADP). If I allowed the diabolic Macy
and his assault on my
life to dictate how I function in prison, I would not
have embraced Islam and
I would be consumed by anger and hatred towards him
and those who participated
in getting me on Death Row. But I refuse to allow
their cowardice, hypocrisy
and failure to be truthful and just to burden me.
I counter their imprint
on my life by being honest and caring, by being a
living contradiction
to the sinister person they have portrayed me as. I
have no room to harbour
hatred, it is too heavy of an emotion to baggage
under these circumstances.
I cannot give up!
I have a determined spirit
that knows no self-defeat. I love Allah Almighty,
I love the Holy Qur’an.,
I love the Holy Prophet of Islam, Salla Allahu
Aleih wa Sallam; I love
Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib, Aleihi As Salaam; I love the
Believers and servants
of God Almighty; I love my precious family; I love
the three closest friends
I have in the world; I love humanity too much to
submit to inactivity
and silence regarding my confinement.
There are some who work
with me who do not realise the necessity of being
persistent and adamant
in seeking involvement of communities towards helping
me. Yes it is ultimately
the Court of Law that will make a final decision as
to the disposition of
my Appeals, but if they are to make a wrong decision,
the society at large
should know about it. And actions should be taken
against those involved
in the process of killing me, in the hope that no
other innocent person
would suffer the same injustice as I have.
Q: Do you fear death?
WS: Not at all. I fear
only God Almighty, for it is He that has the Supreme
Authority to judge me
in the final analysis of my existence. It is before
Him that I shall stand
after the Resurrection Day for the Day of Judgement.
I have asked the Lord
to render mercy on me, to forgive me for all my sins,
crimes and transgressions.
I have faith in Him and that He has forgiven me.
And, of course, if my
earthly existence is to be terminated while in prison,
so be it. I shall definitely
not have liked it, but I’ll be at peace as it
is the passage from this
world into the next. Everyone shall taste death.
I will be comforted,
Inshaa’ Allah, by the Angels of God. I look forward to
meeting the Apostles
of God, and seeing the Messiah-Jesus, Muhammad and the
Holy Ahlu-L-Bayt, Allah’s
peace be upon them all. I can honestly say that I’
ve never feared dying.
Even while outside of prison I had no fear of death
or that of when I would
die or be killed. I recall on the occasions I had
been gun-shot a few people
would ask if I thought of dying, and I would say
each time that we all
have to die sooner or later and when it is my time I’
ll just be gone. Of course
back then I was a lost soul, but my point is
death is a part of life
and I acknowledge this and don’t fear its coming.
Q: OSP is in the practice
of executing its inmates. Has this had any impact
on the men at
H-Unit?
WS: H-Unit houses Death
Row, South West 3 & 4 side, and South East 8 Death
Row side and a few Death
Row prisoners on Disciplinary Segregation at South
East 7 side. The remaining
H-Unit side i.e. North West & North East, I am
unaware how executions
effect their community, if at all. I can only speak
of what I know of H-
Unit, South West side. The effect of an execution
depends on the person
executed and the relationships he had established with
the men inside here,
and to some extent with the guards as well. It also
depends on how the executed
person conducted himself. Not all executions
carry the same impact
on this community.
There are simply some
men who are more significant to us than others, and
who over the years we
were able to develop a working friendship with, and
affinity had been established.
It is with these that Death Row inmates feel
the sting of an execution
most severely from a psychological point of view.
It is the look into the
eyes of the walking dead, seeing a once vibrant and
healthy person now deal
with the reality of being put to death in a few days
which brings about our
grief. It is not for me to express how other men feel
or how they deal with
this situation. But I’ve seen in their eyes a sadness
and hurt which I find
difficult to describe. The seven (7) day execution
holding cell is four
(4) cell-doors down from where I’m residing, and I have
the chance to briefly
speak with the man to be executed as I head to the
shower or for bodily
strip search for yard recreation time.
The men I have come to
know over the years, those who have taken that last
walk to the High Maximum
Security cell have all seemed to have lost the need
to talk. They have been
reduced to a few murmurs, the exceptions being
Brother Michael Roberts,
Sean Sellars, Brother Bobby Ross and Brother Cornel
Cooks. Sean Sellars and
Michael Roberts maintained their decorum. As we
speak, the last execution
to be carried out was on February 10, 2000. OSP
killed Michael Roberts,
also known as TACK. His death has no doubt brought a
great void to Death Row.
He was one of the most enthusiastic and humorous
men on the Unit. We were
cell partners back in parts of 1990 and 1991. He
was a good person to
know. I have fond memories of him. And it still grieves
me that the so-called
“State” killed him.
People in society who
hunger for the execution of we men, who have lost
their loved ones by the
actions of another, often claim that as long as we
are alive there can be
no closure and they cannot rest. I see in them a
fiery hate and it turns
them into evil, blood-thirsty hounds! I wish to
offend no-one, and I’ve
tried to sympathise with their loss and be sensitive
towards their feelings
in this regard. But some of the victims families are
outrageous, and usually
the make-up of this lynch-mob type are American.
Some profess to be Christian,
but allow the hatred and bitterness to blind
them to the fact that
this person that they want to be killed is also a
human being, not some
abstract object. The person they want to be killed is
a live breathing person
of the human family, who, if guilty, has to live
with the fact that they’ve
taken the life of another human being, and as
such, has the curse of
society cast upon him and brought shame to his
family. And he knows
he could never give the victims family back that which
he has taken away from
them. Even by being as remorseful and regretful as
possible for his crime,
the family and friends of the victim will hate him
and pray his soul to
Hell. I find this to be shameful and disgusting. It
makes capital punishment
an instrument for revenge and not a means of
carrying out a reasonable
and responsible punishment, as it is alleged.
I have no criticism of
any victims’ families that believe capital punishment
is appropriate. In their
eyes the death penalty is reasonable and should not
be abolished. They are
entitled to hold such beliefs, but I question what is
the premise of such a
belief and what is the benefit to humanity? The Death
Penalty is the ultimate
punishment and the victims’ families no doubt have
just cause to support
it from their point of view. But what is the
significance of capital
punishment?
How is this contradiction
encouraged where on one hand, the society condemns
murder, but on the other
hand it condones murder in the name of justice? Who
in turn kills the executioner
for his so-called legal act of murder? I am
sensitive to the loss
of human life. And the families of the victims whose
murderer is on this Death
Row, I try to see from their viewpoint when they
advocate the execution
of the condemned one. And I honestly sympathise with
them. But those who exemplify
rage and hate towards the condemned, and are
antagonistic to the condemned
ones families, loved ones and supporters, I
cannot bring myself to
sympathise with them. I guess, for me, it resurrects
the images of the nefarious
history Capital Punishment has had against we
Africans in America.
And how we’ve historically been the victims of white
aggressions and Colonialist
Justice. The settlers would scream and demand
the courts for our deaths,
but would excuse the crimes of their own kind
when it was committed
against us.
Even today these Americans
disfavour discussing these sensitive and
provocative issues in
how it continues to relate to crime and punishment in
this country. Of course
this behaviour now extends beyond a particular race
in how these emotions
and sentiments are played out. I do intend to explore
this subject at a later
date, Inshaa’ Allah.
Q: When a person is being
executed do you have a moment of silence in their
honour?
WS: No. We do just the
opposite. We give a 16 bang salute on the door to the
man being led to be slaughtered.
Executions usually begin around I2.05a.m.,
and all of us on South
West 3 side kick, beat and bang on the cell doors
from around 11.45p.m..
We have the understanding that there will be no more
peaceful midnight lynchings.
Brother Yero Muriu (Paris Powell) used to beat
the plexiglass on the
cell door sixteen times after a person was executed,
and yell out their name
followed by “Rest in Peace”. From that I began the
ritual of valediction
of incessant justified noise, but also informing the
other men that this is
something we should all put into practice. We began
on December 2 1999.
The State is killing
a man from this community, and we want them to hear our
disgust toward what they’re
doing. We want them to be nervous and be
cautious, and feel the
explosive energy behind these metal doors. We want
them to hear we are bidding
the executed “farewell”. We do not cry out
obscenities, we call
out the victim of the execution’s name, then the
proverbial war drums
begin. The canard of OSP to those inquiring about the
banging said that it
was unrelated to the execution. The Unit Manager said
some of the guys being
executed said the banging was disrespectful, but I do
not believe that to be
so. Some of the men told me personally they wanted to
hear and feel that energy,
the reverberating and pulsating sound of his
community sounding off
in righteous protest to the killing. And it also
serves as a symbol of
solidarity.
Not all men participate
in this activity, in fact the 4 side of South West
hadn’t taken part in
any of our rituals the previous three executions prior
to Tack’s, but now there
are a couple of men over, there with us, such as
Yero Muriu, Torres and
Pennington; and Tack felt them strong as well. If I
am to be executed, I
would like for the men to kick the doors down, disrupt
the execution as much
as possible and let the devils in human form feel the
love held for me and
the anger toward my being put to death. I may not hear
them as I will probably
be rendered unconscious by the guards. I do not
think it possible to
freely hand myself over to be executed, this being so,
they will have to subdue
me. Let me show them the fully equipped and untamed
Tiger!
Q: Would you seek clemency from the Clemency Board?
WS: Those are pitiful
human beings, mere puppets of the Governor. They are
incapable of having compassion
and mercy. They are the enemies of clemency
and those poor souls
will never have the sadistic pleasure of seeing me beg
them for mercy. Who are
they? I have no respect for them and my life is
worth more than all theirs
combined!
The functions they carry
out sicken me to the pits of my stomach. They
represent the same system
of oppression and injustice that has thus far been
successful in keeping
me under the sentence of death. An innocent person on
Death Row will never
bear witness to the lie that there is justice in this
country, when he has
to be executed. I say prove to me that there is justice
for the wrongfully convicted,
GIVE ME MY FREEDOM! Until then, I dare not be
persuaded toward believing
otherwise. And with this statement of fact having
been said, I end this
interview.
Minister Shabaka can
be contacted at:
Min Walanzo Shabaka (Robinson),
189399 D/R
H-Unit, S.W. 3-1
Oklahoma State Penatentiary
PO Box 97
McAlester
Oklahoma 74502
United States of America
Minister Shabaka is a
former Sunni Muslim, Ahlu-’S-Sunna Wa’L-Jamaa,
embracing the Islamic
faith in 1991. He is now a devout Muslim Minister, a
Shi-ite Muslim, of the
Shiah Ithna Asheris. He is the author of “The
Selective Prison Writings
from the Diary of Minister Walanzo Shabaka”.
Minister Shabaka is deserving
our prayers, concerns and support. Let us
stand boldly in support
of saving this young man’s life. Thank you.
F.A.S.O.M.S.
(Friends and Supporters
of Minister Shabaka)
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