What
You're Missing in our subscriber-only CounterPunch newsletter
How the U.S. Army Kills Its Own Soldiers
A horrifying,
exclusive report from JoAnn Wypijewski on the grim secrets of
Fort Sill, Oklahoma. How a sadistic drill sergeant tortured basic
trainees, amid brutal indifference that led to the death on March
19,2006,of 21-year-old PFC Matthew Scarano. Dead Movement Marching? Cockburn and St Clair
assess the failures of the national antiwar groups, even as popular
opposition to the war tops 60 per cent. Stalin or Confucius? Chris Reed on
the Secrets of the Garden of Bliss, otherwise known as North
Korea.CounterPunch
Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember,
we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition
of CounterPunch. Please
support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter,
which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or
by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions
are tax-deductible.Click
here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please:Subscribe
Now!
This Sunday at 4pm, I am proud to be
speaking at an event in San Francisco called a "Civil Rights
Slam for Justice," sponsored by among others the Campaign
to End the Death Penalty. The slam will be at the Malcolm X school
at 350 Harbor Street. In addition to myself and a crew of young
artists, activists and poets, speakers will include an NBA basketball
player by the name of Etan Thomas.
Regular readers of this column
know that I'm not exactly shy about singing the praises of the
Washington Wizards forward. Etan plays a gritty, elbows-up style
of basketball, but on a microphone he is pure Jordan. In the
tradition of Amiri Baraka, his poems are sharp enough to cut
glass, and generous enough to leave seedlings that can sprout
in the cracks.
I first heard about Etan's
political poetry when a rumor started going around Washington
DC that this rather gigantic gentleman with dreads was going
to U street coffee houses reading anti-death penalty, anti-racist
verse in front of a crowd you could fit in a van. Since then
Etan has risen to every occasion, speaking out at last September's
anti-war rally, speaking out against the mistreatment of Katrina
refugees, speaking out against the execution of Stan Tookie Williams,
and speaking out through a published book of verse fittingly
enough called "More
Than An Athlete" [Moore Black Press].
Right here, for the first time,
Death Row speaks back to Etan Thomas. This comes in the form
of a letter from Illinois Death Row prisoner Stanley Howard.
Stanley, always organizing, typed his message to Etan on the
back of a fact sheet that explains his case. Here his letter
is republished with permission from both Stanley and Etan.
I pass on Stanley Howard's
letter so folks can see that athletes don't take political stands
for their own amusement or ego, but to be part of something larger
than themselves. I also pass it on to demonstrate how a prisoner
on death row has as much a capacity to inspire as any jock.
See you in the Bay Area,
Dave Zirin
Dear Brother Etan Thomas:
My name is Stanley Howard,
and I'm currently incarcerated at the world famous Stateville
Correctional Center/Warehouse in Joliet, Illinois.
I'm a 43 year old Black poor
man from Chicago who has spent the last 22 years kidnapped by
this unmerciful system -- 16 of those years were spent trying
to stop the State of Illinois from lynching me on Death Row.
I'm no longer suffering on
Death Row (fighting yet another wrongful conviction), but my
heart is still in the struggle to end the Death Penalty because
I can still hear the cries for justice and understanding loud
and clear in my ears.
I've recently heard about your
upcoming scheduled appearance at a Campaign to End the Death
Penalty ("CEDP") event, and I just wanted to send these
words of thanks to show my sincere appreciation.
I've heard so much about your
activism against classism, racism and this unjust system and
government, and you'll be surprised to know that you're a great
inspiration to many of the guys behind this 30-foot wall. Because
like the title of your book says, you're "More Than an Athlete."
I was on Death Row when it
seemed like nobody cared what happened to Death Row prisoners,
and worthless politicians were climbing on top of each other
to pass laws and rules designed to make it easier to be sent
to Death Row; harder to get off; and, faster to execute. They
caused 100s to be executed during this time period trying to
prove they were not soft on crime.
They were able to kill all
these people (some of which had to be innocent, like me), even
though we had many well established groups and organizations
fighting to abolish the Death Penalty.
Everything began to change
with the bold and aggressive grassroots efforts of the CEDP,
because they consist of everyday people whose not sitting behind
desks pushing paper, but out on the streets organizing, educating,
protesting and agitating the so called Powers That Be. Everyone
on Death Row loves the CEDP, because they changed the face of
how this life saving movement is fought -- helping to put the
Death Penalty under the national spotlight; obtaining a Death
Penalty moratorium; highlighting many cases; and, convincing
Gov. Ryan to empty out Illinois' Death Row and granting my request
for a pardon and three other pardons.
So on behalf of all the Brothers
and Sisters still fighting to stop from being lynched on Death
Rows around the country, I thank you for joining the struggle
and helping to bring this madness to an end.
THEY SAY DEATH ROW -- WE SAY
HELL NO!!!
Thank You for being More Than
an Athlete!!!
Stanley J. Howard
Reg. # N-71620
Stateville Correctional Center
Route 53, P.O. Box 112 Joliet, IL 60434
Now
Available
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case
Against Israel
By Michael Neumann
CounterPunch
Speakers Bureau Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid?
CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair
are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues,
as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call
CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org.