Death Penalty makes redemption impossible
by Steve Champion a.k.a. Adisa Kamara - incarcerated on death row since 1982 age 18
Below is an excerpt from a chapter of the memoir “Dead to Deliverance: A Death Row Memoir” written by Steven Champion, a former member of the Crips street gang who is on death row. Tom Kerr, associate professor of writing at Ithaca College, edited and published the book.
The public, with its hunger for revenge, does not want to hear about personal acts of atonement by people who have been sentenced for a crime. Acts of atonement by the condemned are usually viewed as a ploy to save his or her own life — not as a genuine act of redemption.
People on death row are deemed the lowest of the low. Many people believe death-row prisoners cannot be “reformed” because they are “unformed” as human beings. Executing the condemned is not viewed the same as killing a human — it is chalked up to society’s attempt to rid itself of its toxic waste.
Proponents of capital punishment freeze condemned-to-die criminals at the worst moments of their lives; to justify their execution, they must be barred from redemption. But history is full of individuals who have made major mistakes but manage to turn their lives around and make significant contributions to humanity... read more
The public, with its hunger for revenge, does not want to hear about personal acts of atonement by people who have been sentenced for a crime. Acts of atonement by the condemned are usually viewed as a ploy to save his or her own life — not as a genuine act of redemption.
People on death row are deemed the lowest of the low. Many people believe death-row prisoners cannot be “reformed” because they are “unformed” as human beings. Executing the condemned is not viewed the same as killing a human — it is chalked up to society’s attempt to rid itself of its toxic waste.
Proponents of capital punishment freeze condemned-to-die criminals at the worst moments of their lives; to justify their execution, they must be barred from redemption. But history is full of individuals who have made major mistakes but manage to turn their lives around and make significant contributions to humanity... read more
Execution Day (San Quentin Prison)
by Steve Champion (Adisa Kamara)
It doesn't matter if on the day of an execution, the morning forecast is sunny and warm. A turbulent storm is brewing on the inside, and humidity on death row is always high. The feeling is both eerie and sickening, as if some mysterious, awful sore is about to discharge itself.
Execution day is the quietest day on death row. The usual early morning banter, pots and pans being hustled about by guards preparing to serve breakfast, the morning ritual of "roll call" as someone shouts good morning to friends, sounds of TVs and radios being switched on—all are stilled: the impending doom sucks sound right from the air.
The silence on death row can be deafening. And on any other day, silence is a welcome break from the monotony of the screeching noise. One would assume the silence is a result of people becoming more introspective, more contemplative about the reality of their situation. In some cases this is true, but the opposite is more likely. Most people are in bed asleep trying to escape..read more
Execution day is the quietest day on death row. The usual early morning banter, pots and pans being hustled about by guards preparing to serve breakfast, the morning ritual of "roll call" as someone shouts good morning to friends, sounds of TVs and radios being switched on—all are stilled: the impending doom sucks sound right from the air.
The silence on death row can be deafening. And on any other day, silence is a welcome break from the monotony of the screeching noise. One would assume the silence is a result of people becoming more introspective, more contemplative about the reality of their situation. In some cases this is true, but the opposite is more likely. Most people are in bed asleep trying to escape..read more
From Gary Graham to Shaka Sankofa (executed June 2000 in Texas)
by Steve Champion (Adisa Kamara)
A few days before the murder of Shaka Sankofa, I had this intense feeling of dread. I couldn't shake it. It was like witnessing a horrible accident or being told a catastrophic secret and then told to forget what I'd seen and heard. I felt nauseated, as if I needed to purge myself of something fouling up my insides. I always get this feeling when something sinister and insidious is on the horizon. I know what was bothering me. I know the source of my feelings. But I was thinking maybe, just maybe, this time I was wrong. I really hoped I was.
June 22nd 2000 was probably the longest time I had listened to the radio without interruption. I was glued to KPFA and transfixed to the announcements like a person waiting to see if his lotto numbers would be picked. What I was listening for was news about the pending execution of Gary Graham. Every time his name was mentioned, along with tidbits about his case, I could feel the moisture condensing in the palms of my hands. I was in a state of high alert and every piece of news only heightened my sense of anxiousness....read more
A few days before the murder of Shaka Sankofa, I had this intense feeling of dread. I couldn't shake it. It was like witnessing a horrible accident or being told a catastrophic secret and then told to forget what I'd seen and heard. I felt nauseated, as if I needed to purge myself of something fouling up my insides. I always get this feeling when something sinister and insidious is on the horizon. I know what was bothering me. I know the source of my feelings. But I was thinking maybe, just maybe, this time I was wrong. I really hoped I was.
June 22nd 2000 was probably the longest time I had listened to the radio without interruption. I was glued to KPFA and transfixed to the announcements like a person waiting to see if his lotto numbers would be picked. What I was listening for was news about the pending execution of Gary Graham. Every time his name was mentioned, along with tidbits about his case, I could feel the moisture condensing in the palms of my hands. I was in a state of high alert and every piece of news only heightened my sense of anxiousness....read more
The Faces I See
Whenever I enter the Death Row yard I always try to see it from a different perspective, and after 34 years you would think I’ve seen it from every angle. But I haven’t… no one can. A person can spend almost an entire lifetime somewhere and come to think they know everything about the place and faces. Then one day, all of a sudden, like gunshots shattering the quiet calm, the person realises they don’t know the place or its faces at all. Death Row and its faces are like that....read more
On Redemption - Tribute to Stanley Tookie Williams
Our friend and colleague Stanley Tookie Williams, was executed at San Quentin State prison on December 13th 2005.
What I want to talk about is a subject that was important to my brother. A subject that he, Ajani and I discussed at length, and that is redemption, which was instrumental and deeply linked to his transformation.
As a former gang member, Tookie understood that gang members who grew up in the ghetto, the slums and impoverished neighbourhoods across America were conditioned to be desensitized as a survival mechanism and as a way to cope with the daily conflicts and crisis that permeated their lives. As a result of being desensitized, the conscience becomes supressed and numb in order to not feel because feelings can be antithetical to gang life.... read more
What I want to talk about is a subject that was important to my brother. A subject that he, Ajani and I discussed at length, and that is redemption, which was instrumental and deeply linked to his transformation.
As a former gang member, Tookie understood that gang members who grew up in the ghetto, the slums and impoverished neighbourhoods across America were conditioned to be desensitized as a survival mechanism and as a way to cope with the daily conflicts and crisis that permeated their lives. As a result of being desensitized, the conscience becomes supressed and numb in order to not feel because feelings can be antithetical to gang life.... read more
The Abuse of Authority - San Quentin Adjustment Centre - 2007
The Abuse of Authority – San Quentin Adjustment Center
by
Steve Champion(Adisa Kamara)
On 21st March, 2007, an incident occurred inside the Adjustment Center. A prison guard was allegedly assaulted by an inmate. Never ones to miss an opportunity for retributive and repressive punishment, San Quentin prison officials exaggerated the nature of this threat posed to guards and declared a State of Emergency. It was as if Homeland Security had upgraded the Terror Alert. A memorandum was swiftly issued to every prisoner stating, hyperbolically, that an inmate attempted to murder a guard....read more
by
Steve Champion(Adisa Kamara)
On 21st March, 2007, an incident occurred inside the Adjustment Center. A prison guard was allegedly assaulted by an inmate. Never ones to miss an opportunity for retributive and repressive punishment, San Quentin prison officials exaggerated the nature of this threat posed to guards and declared a State of Emergency. It was as if Homeland Security had upgraded the Terror Alert. A memorandum was swiftly issued to every prisoner stating, hyperbolically, that an inmate attempted to murder a guard....read more
The Light Within Me
The Light Within Me
“You are the Light of the World”
(Matthew 5:12)
I have often asked myself if given a chance would I erase the singular episode leading to my death row experience? Perhaps so. But if I could erase my unpleasant and bad experiences, would it not cancel out an essential part of who I am? I believe so. I know life isn’t reduced to a single event, but is an accumulation of events that produce who we are no matter where we are.
The same stream of consciousness that existed twenty thousand years ago still exists today. It is still accessible to the human mind if we tap into it....read more
“You are the Light of the World”
(Matthew 5:12)
I have often asked myself if given a chance would I erase the singular episode leading to my death row experience? Perhaps so. But if I could erase my unpleasant and bad experiences, would it not cancel out an essential part of who I am? I believe so. I know life isn’t reduced to a single event, but is an accumulation of events that produce who we are no matter where we are.
The same stream of consciousness that existed twenty thousand years ago still exists today. It is still accessible to the human mind if we tap into it....read more
Breaking the Conditioning
2016 Essay “Breaking the Conditioning: The Relevance of the Prisons Information Group” – for Michel Foucault’s book compiled of interdisciplinary collection of essays about the Prison Information Group (GIP) “The Prisons Informations Group, and the future of Abolition”. Published by Palgrave Macmillan US, January 2016 http://www.palgrave.com/us/book/9781137510662