Austin
I drove to Austin. I was really on the fence as to whether or not to go for a myriad of reasons but I knew I would feel bad if I didn’t. Even as I was starting the drive on wednes. Morning I was still unsure. It was one of those things one could never tell the value of until after the event. I did go and the 3 hours passed quickly with the mamma mia cd I talked my husband into as an early bday gift. I had to remind myself not to sing too much as I wanted to testify at a hearing and last time I sang myself out of a voice with this CD. A very dear family friend met me at the capital and showed me around, introduced me to some people working there and we went to lunch. After which he helped me find the room where the hearing would be and showed me how the yellow form process worked to alert the committee I would like to speak. There is a self glorification aspect to speaking as if anything I had to say could change someone’s mind and in addition I was basically preaching to the choir and following the truly heroic and shakspearran(sp?) stories of the exonerees before me. But what put me over the edge to make the drive and to stand up there was to include in my moment at the mic the fact that Ben Spencer is still waiting a year after a judge in the 283 rd district court in dallas county proclaimed him to be actually innocent. I thought if maybe one of those state reps on the committee was as incensed as I was they would go back to their office and look him up and investigate what the hold up is. No way of knowing if this happened but I had to try.
Apparently there is video. I haven’t watched it yet but I will include the link below. Not sure how long they archive it for. I felt like the day was definitely worth the 6 hours in the car and hopefully somewhere a seed was planted that will bare fruit.
That is the type of courage that is needed. I want to thank you Kristina for very boldly making a stand in the cause of justice. It is too often in our society today, that we as individual citizens are aware of an injustice being done, yet are to faint-hearted to take any action at all. If we are aware of an injustice, and within our means we can redress that injustice in any way but fail to do so, than we surely become part of that injustice being implemented. The question may be asked “why should we remain silent” at this time in the actual innocence cause of Benjamine John Spencer? Attempting to answer the question from the clear and plain truth of the facts, if you would close your eyes for just a moment. . . and attempt to place yourself in the situation of having been wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for well over 21 -years for a henious crime that you knew from the very beginning that you absolutely did not commit. . .and in those 21 years you were forcibly subjected to viotile conditions and actions on a day-to-day basis such as ‘ coerced homosexual activities’,'indecent health-care by unlicensed and unqualified personel’, ‘killing, stabbing, maiming, raping, and wounding without cause or purpose’, and ‘blatant subjection to slavery as defined by being forced to work in the fields, industries, and factories of the State of Texas- making a profit for the State of Texas from the services and labor(SOAP FACTORY< BOXED BEEF PLANT<PRODUCE<LIVESTOCK,COTTON-picking,etc.) and absolutely not being compensated for the forced labor in any way?. . . and after 21–years of being subjected to these conditions, the very trial court that wrongfully convicted you, after holding an extensive evidentiary hearing weighing all of the evidence that was presented to the courts by both the Office of the District Attorney and the Defense Counsel- had made a ruling that you were actually innocent of the crime that has absolutely robbed and stripped you of your dignity for the last 21-years tarnishing your name(to include the ireparable wrongs of being denied of your human right to rear your beloved son, to be a father to him). . . and you do not have any financial means to positively reintegrate into society into becoming a productive citizen . . .upon all of these things brought forward, would you as a decent human-being remain silent after the trial court having already established that you were actually innocent of the crime, yet you still remained wrongfully imprisoned without absolutely no law, rule, regulation, statute, or ordinance in which could possibly justify such an injustice being done to you? Yes, Dallas, we can do better!!!!!It is the talents and gifts that God Almighty has blessed us with that should be utilized to help our fellow human beings for the betterment of mankind. If we are to consider ourselves to be that great country by the name of America-the ONE NATION UNDER GOD- then we as a people need to take positive pro-active actions to display the peace and unity of that great ONE NATION UNDER GOD without any references to any creeds, any dogmas, or to any preference or indifferential treatment because of the hue of a human being’s skin.
Dear GOD,
help us to be bold peace-makers and to show that our true love for justice and humanity to be a “verb” and not just a mere “noun”. Let us not be afraid to help our fellow human beings with the intangible and tangible things in which you have blessed us with.
In the name of Jesus,
AMEN.
DALLAS, YES WE CAN AND SHOULD DO BETTER.