The Huntsville Item, the daily paper in Texas’ execution city, published
a front page story on Anti-Death Penalty Spring Break students coming to Huntsville

Next year Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break is March 12-17, 2007. Join Texas Students Against the Death Penalty to get involved.

You can also watch our own homemade video of 2006 Anti Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break. This video includes the bus trip to Huntsville Texas to protest the execution of Tommie Hughes and also the talk by Rev. Caroll Pickett who witnessed 95 executions during his time as the Chaplain of Texas Death Row.

Texas Public Radio interviewed Audrey Lamm when she was here for spring break. They did the interview by cell phone while she was standing outside the prison in Huntsville protesting an execution on March 15. The interview was aired on the same radio stations that carry NPR in Texas.

Here is the link:
www.tpr.org/programs/texasmatters.html

Click on show #290, March 17, 2006. It starts around minute 16 and 34 seconds and goes for about seven minutes.

From 1924 to 1964, there were 361 executions in Texas. There were zero executions in Texas between July 30, 1964 and December 7, 1982. Since 1982, there have been 360 executions in Texas. On March 22, 2006, Robert Salazar, Jr is scheduled to become the 361st person executed in Texas since 1982.

It took Texas 40 years to execute 361 people from 1924-1964. It will have taken Texas 24 years to execute 361 more people, if Texas carries out the execution of Salazar on March 22.

Urge Texas Governor Rick Perry to Stop the Execution of Robert Salazar, Jr.

Texas kicked off executions in Huntsville on February 8, 1924, when five African-Americans were executed on the same day. From 1924-1964, 63.4 percent of the people executed in Texas were African-American.

Gloria Rubac, who has been working against the death penalty in Texas for decades, praised the spring breakers in an email she sent to various lists. Gloria was in Huntsville on March 15 protesting alongside the group of students from spring break. You can hear her voice in the background on one of the audio blogs below.

A big hat’s off to Scott Cobb with the Texas Moratorium Network and Hooman Hedayati and all the youth with the Texas Students Against the Death Penalty for their hard work this week. These young folks made an enthusiastic abolitionist statement yesterday in Huntsville outside the Walls Unit where the state of Texas murdered Tommie Hughes.

The young folks energized everyone with their continuous chants and optimistic enthusiasm for the abolition of the death penalty. They were also very respectful of the family and ended the protest right before 6:00 PM and requested that the crowd remain silent during the execution.

Tommie’s family had around 60 people in Huntsville and they knew that we were all there for them. Tommie’s mother and grandmother both witnessed the execution and Tommie was blessed to have two such strong women in his life. Tommie’s two uncles who joined the large protest thanked everyone for being there and for supporting the family.

The students weren’t only from Texas, but from several other states, including as far away as Oregon. While other students were heading to South Padre and other beaches, these young people were showing all of us the best of their generation. They are participating in all week in activities, workshops, lobbying, seminars, petition-signing and yesterday’s bus trip to Huntsville. They were organized, prepared, disciplined and energetic. And most of all, their seriousness about fighting the racist death penalty was contageous.

As always, it was great to see Renny Cushing with Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights who is forever ready to lend a hand here in Texas. Renny will be speaking with the youth today in Austin. Check out the students’web site at: www.texasabolition.org.

From the Abolition Movement, we say to you young people, “You are the best! Stay serious and committed and abolition will surely be a reality, even in Texas!”