Monthly Archives: September 2011

Troy Davis

Like millions of others, last night I sat on my couch awaiting the SCOTUS decision on whether or not to grant a stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis. When the news finally broke that all nine justices said no to the stay, my heart dropped. I mean, I’m not saying Davis was innocent, I’m not saying he was guilty, but the fact that there was doubt is why there was uproar and why I feel the way I do.

The way I understand it, Davis was convicted of shooting an off-duty cop who was working security at a local Burger King. Davis and another man were attempting to beat up a homeless man for a bottle of beer, the officer was shot, Davis was convicted two years later and was sentenced to die. The shooting was 22 years ago. Per law, any convict condemned to die is granted appeals all the way to the SCOTUS, if necessary.

I learned yesterday that this was Davis’ fifth time trying to get a stay granted. The closest he ever came before last night was 2.5 hours before it was time to be executed. For the past week, Twitter and Facebook have been ablaze with people who either just learned of the case or who just started to give a damn. “I am Troy Davis” t-shirts, icons and hashtags started showing up. Support for him swelled to full on activism. Folks signed petitions. They called courthouses, the offices of lawmakers and ever the offices of the SCOTUS. Even after all that, not a single person in a position to do so spoke up to save this man’s life. As an American, this saddens me. As an African-American, it frightens me.

As high school students, we’re taught lessons about the three branches of government (executive, judicial and legislative) and all these documents that supposedly guarantee “liberty and justice for all,” “the right to a fair trial” and the “right to be judged by a jury of your peers.” As Americans, a lot of us are likely able to regurgitate this information yet we don’t have an understanding of what it is or how it works.

There were folks on Twitter who were actually disappointed that the POTUS didn’t intervene. There were folks who were calling for the SCOTUS to not only vote for a stay of execution but to have the sentence be commuted and/or exonerate Davis. Add to that the fact that people who were trying to help by having folks call these officials to express their opinions had no idea of who was in charge. While I can certainly sympathize and empathize with everyone involved, I have to say my disappointment goes well beyond the justice system.

I’m disappointed in us as a people who managed to mount a full-on social media revolution to save the life of a man you’ve never met and you have no idea of his guilt or innocence. I’m disappointed at folks who stand boldly on Twitter, Facebook, their blogs and the likely who have no clue as to what they are saying. I’m disappointed that it has taken a man losing his life for people to remember that we have the power to make a difference.

And I am disappointed at my journalism colleagues and the way this story was covered. With the popularity of such sites as TMZ, Media Take Out and all the other trashy sites, my colleagues have developed the nasty habit of Tweeting and putting out information with reckless abandon. The field of journalism by nature is one where competition is not only healthy, it’s on HGH. We’re constantly trying to one-up the competition by having more information and seeing who can put it out the fastest. Now that technology has grown to feed our impatience, it has encouraged people to put out unconfirmed and at times, pointless, information that serves no real purpose other than besting the competition.

So, what now? How will this army of impassioned people channel its energy to fight unjust causes? What issue will it now move on to because, trust me, there is a plethora of things from which to choose. We have a history of organizing to exercise our rights to free speech, assembly and petitioning the government for a redress of grievances.

My hope is that we don’t go back to our respective corners of the earth and put on the cloak of apathy. If we retreat, let us go only to make a plan for how we will use our powers to call further attention to the flawed justice system. Let’s huddle about how we will vote out the politicians and lawmakers who insist on robbing our children of a good education. We have to use this energy and this momentum to do something other than run our mouths about what’s wrong. Now is the time for us to actually DO SOMETHING!

What are your thoughts?