Before I could ask anyone to forgive me or themselves, I first had to forgive myself. I had to forgive myself for all the years of being stupid and doing and saying nothing about the death penalty—despite the fact that I, myself, am on death row. I think it’s safe to say “I ain’t a dummy no more”.
Many of you people need to forgive yourselves, and your ignorance, for either supporting or ignoring this historic and horrific crime against humanity known as the death penalty.
I, as a member of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, and the organization as a whole are steadfastly against this state-sponsored terrorism of capital punishment. We also oppose it in all of its forms, including life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
If I can forgive myself, maybe you can forgive yourselves and become involved in the fight to end the death penalty. If so, you’ll find that you’re no longer stuck on stupid, as I and others once were when we sat by and did nothing while our fellow human beings were murdered by the state.
Get smart and don’t be a dummy anymore. In the words of the late Godfather of Soul, James Brown:
“Everybody over there get on up. Everybody right here get into it. Everybody everywhere get involved. Get involved, get involved.”
