Troy Davis Lives Forever

Troy Davis Lives Forever

Before Davis was killed at age 42, he told his sister Kimberly and other family members “that he wanted us to continue the fight to clear his name and end the death penalty.”

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Today is the first anniversary of the killing of Troy Davis, who was executed by the state of Georgia for a crime many believe he did not commit despite a massive international campaign for clemency.

Before Davis was killed at age 42, he told his sister Kimberly and other family members “that he wanted us to continue the fight to clear his name and end the death penalty.” Kimberly Davis is heeding her brother’s call. Next month she will be in California campaigning on behalf of the SAFE California Act that would commute the death sentences of all 725 current death row inmates in the state to life without parole. The proposal will be decided by California voters on November 6 as one of the state’s many referendums.

The video below was created by Rebel Diaz as a tribute to Davis. Sampling Billie Holiday’s classic ‘Strange Fruit’, the song highlights the parallels between old-fashioned, traditional racism and the modern systemic repression in which black people can be legally lynched on the orders of appointed officials.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x