I don’t know how America slept last night. I know for a fact that I couldn’t rest. To think that there was nothing we could do to stop our court system from murdering a man and label it ‘punishment’ makes me want to cry. I am crying. I weep for us all. How helpless are we? How unimportant were our pleas? All across the country men and women spoke out, begging for a delay in the execution of Troy Davis, a man who was convicted of killing an off duty policeman in 1989.
Yes, I grieve also for the family of the slain officer. Their loved one was taken from them in an act of violence and I do believe in justice, just not this way. The rumor mill alleges that there was not sufficient evidence to uphold the 1989 conviction yet, for some reason, the Supreme Court overturned the final appeal.
In the final four hours as we waited for the Supreme Court decision I asked myself- What kind of country are we? What kind of people govern us? Do the laws that were put in place to protect us really serve us in this modern day?
Our prisons are filled with men and women who are snatched away from their lives. Isn’t that punishment enough not to be able to live, work, play and grow and then to be released and stigmatized for the rest of your lives? Wouldn’t that have been punishment enough for Troy Davis? Who are we to play God? Who are we to decide who lives and dies?
I would expect this kind of behavior from rebel forces who did not understand the power of love and light, but not from the greatest country on earth. I guess we’re unstoppable. I guess we have to answer to no one. I guess this is a sign that we are no different than those we label terrorists when we terrorize our nation too.
America, watch out. There is a universal principle in progress that is best described by the yin and yang symbol. Nothing is permanent- not our pain, not our struggles, not our weaknesses nor our failures. Everything in life has to balance out. There can not be constant power and domination because nothing in life is constant. Instead of believing that we are invincible disregarding the mercy that our Creator granted us, we must remember to remain humble even at the height of our greatest conquests because through all of our might, all of our glory, all of our successful ventures- this too, shall pass.
In Love,
Te-Erika Patterson
Publisher
My Savvy Sisters