“US-ers are strange people indeed. Each time a convicted criminal assumes a funny name, he instantaneously becomes a cult figure surrounded by supporters whose faith in his innocence approaches religious conviction, unshaken by any knowledge of facts. Is it a re-enactment of that old cult figure Jesus Christ, or what?”
I think Sokolowski is misinformed, to say the least.
In my opinion, it is a strength of the U.S. left, and not at all “strange” in the cynical sense he sought to convey, that it is participating in a movement opposed to the death penalty in general and to the execution of Shaka Sankofa in particular.
Aside from the principle of opposition to the state’s use of the death penalty, it is also hardly a secret that execution is deployed with extreme disproportion against the poor and people of color in the United States.
As far as Shaka Sankofa’s “funny name” is concerned, I suppose Sokolowski also thinks the names of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal or the extraordinary Malcolm X are likewise “funny.” As such, he betrays a racist ignorance of the historical and social factors which lead some African-Americans to adopt African, Arabic or symbolic names.
I strongly suggest that Sokolowski, rather than aim his main blow at a man scheduled to die tomorrow and those on the left who are demonstrating to save him, redirect his energy toward (a) learning the facts of the case, which have convinced many of us that Sankofa must receive a new and fair trial to prove his innocence, (b) supporting the left and the anti-death penalty movement instead of mocking and opposing it, and (c) and joining the fight against racism and the barbaric use of the death penalty by the bourgeois state.
Jack A. Smith, Highland, NY