I have to admit that I woke up this morning not feeling particularly confident that the Georgia Board of Parole and Pardon would give clemency to Troy Davis. I was hopeful but not confident. Then came the news that the Board has indeed denied clemency to Troy.

Blogger Emily Hauser wrote this in response to hearing the decision:

I’m beside myself, so full of shame of my country and my countrymen. That people engaged in the administration of justice, entrusted with upholding our laws and protecting our lives, could allow the death sentence to go forward in a case that is so thoroughly riddled with doubt is beyond me.

I feel such ache and horror for Mr. Davis’s family, and find I am suddenly glad that his mother died last spring, of a broken heart her daughters believe, because at least she won’t actually see her boy killed. I thought of this as I sent my boy to school today: Troy Davis was once a boy, on his way to school. And tomorrow, at 7:00 pm EST, he, too, will be a murder victim — only the murderers will be the people meant to protect him.

I am ashamed, ashamed, ashamed. What is wrong with this country? What is wrong with us?

Emily asks “What is wrong with us?” That is indeed the right question. James Baldwin wrote to his nephew: “…you will discover, people find it very difficult to act on what they know. To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger.” These words ring with so much truth. At every level of the Troy Davis case, people should have acted on what they know. They should act on the evidence that doesn’t support Troy’s guilt. But that would mean that they would have to be committed and therefore in danger. In this case, the danger in the minds of the Board must be their fear of being seen as “soft on crime.” Perhaps there is some other danger lurking for them that I can’t identify.

So we are left with two options: resignation or continued struggle. I always choose struggle over resignation. Troy Davis has reportedly rejected a “last meal.” As I see it, this is a sign that he hasn’t given up the fight. We shouldn’t either. Once again, James Baldwin provides us with the reason not to give up:

“If we know, then we must fight for your life as though it were our own – which it is – and render impassable with our bodies the corridor to the gas chamber. For, if they take you in the morning, they will be coming for us that night.”

My liberation is bound with yours. Troy’s liberation is bound with all of ours. So please move quickly from despair to action. You can still do something to help save Troy Davis’s life:

Please call or fax the Chatham County’s District Attorney’s office – phone: 912-652-7308 / fax: 912-652-7328 and demand that Chatham County (Savannah) District Attorney Larry Chisolm “seek a withdrawal of the death warrant and support clemency himself.”

Let’s also heed the words of JasiriX about this case: