THE MURDER OF WILLIE SHANNON
11/09/06 was the date that Willie Shannon was murdered by the state of Texas, or better known as Texecuted. Shannon is a friend that I had just met among the summer of 2005. I’d seen him around before, and through other comrades of mine that he was friends with; we’d met and would greet each other when we saw each other. However, we never got the chance to really just be around each other until summer of 2005.
Shannon was a big and tall man that if you saw with a serious face, he looked intimidating (that is until you got to be around him and saw his soulful smile and was blessed with his spirit). Shannon was a giant with a heart of gold (the kind of individual that you leave in a house full of a bunch of cranky children, and when you get back home Shannon has them all laughing, smiling and having the time of their lives). He was just that kind of individual. He had a bright spirit, an almost child-like innocence about him, wore his heart on his sleeve almost to a fault sometimes: spoke with a passion about things you rarely ever see in this day, and was funny as I don't know what. He was so passionate that he’d get carried away at things that I thought were minor, and when I’d see him carrying on in his passionate manner, listening this reverend-like voice that gets carried away, sometimes I would crack up laughing.
Shannon was a person that you just had to love—his loving personality was infectious. It was genuine, a compassion that you rarely see in prison, or even in the so-called civilized free world. If he wasn’t talking about something progressive then he was trying to put a book in my and others hands to educate ourselves spiritually, to find ourselves, to live for something, to educate ourselves politically, socially etc. To know our rights, stand up for our rights etc. His every moment was spent trying to inspire, uplift and educate, bring joy and laughter and healing. You rarely saw him angry at anyone, and when he did get that way he was the type to pull him self back into himself to quell the situation immediately. Dignified he was. Egoistical he was not. It saddens me to see that the state would murder such a wonderful man, husband and father.
He often spoke to me of his wife, his children, and his dreams of making a better world and felt responsibility to do so. He had so much to give his wife, his children, the world. He tried his best; and it is sad that the state would kill all of that love, compassions, joy, inspiration and everything that he had to offer the world. But that is the sadistic, evil and murderous nature of the state of Texas. Sad to say that Shannon is not the first and will not be the last.
The morning of 11/09/06 I felt Shannon heavy on my heart. I knew he was facing state-sanctioned murder and I was hoping he would get a stay even though I knew his chances were slim to none. I’d been preparing myself all week for this situation—for months, actually. The morning of 11/09/06 I awoke heavy-hearted and did not talk to anyone. When I went to recreation I spoke to comrade Amun about it. He felt my pain, especially since his best friend Charles was scheduled to be executed next week (11/16/06).
After recreation I got cuffed, came out of the dayroom and sat on the run in protest of Shannon’s murder. I let them know that’s why I was refusing to walk back to my cage. Sergeant Horton then came to speak to me; asked me what the problem was and my response was “This is a protest against the state-sanctioned murder of Willie Shannon. We have nothing to talk about. Go get your team and your camera and do what you do—I’m not moving.”
His response was that Shannon had received a stay. I said “Where you hear that at?” He says “That’s what I heard.” Right then I felt it was a lie on his part, so I say, “That’s your word?” He says “That’s my word.” I got up and went back to my cage telling him that he can’t get away from me, that if it’s a lie they’re still going to have to face me when I find out the facts.
He uncuffs me, closes the bean slot and leaves. 45 minutes later he comes back to my cage and says, “Man it’s not looking good for him.” I said “Yeah, I heard on the news.” Shannon did not receive a stay, so the sergeant lied to me. You see what we deal with in here? These people will do anything to get us to stop—lie and everything else. Shannon was murdered 11/09/06!
November 10, 2006 (after Shannon’s Murder)
I woke up in an anti social mood. I was angry knowing such a great man was murdered, such a good friend. I went to recreation 2nd round and the officers working the pod knew something was going to happen. After recreation I got cuffed, made it to the gate of B section and sat don in protest of Shannon’s state-sanctioned murder. Sergeant Thompson came and spoke to me and I told him what I told Sergeant Horton the previous day and I'm not letting up. He tried talking me out of it but there was nothing for me to say.
Captain Dickens came and spoke to me and I told him the same thing as I told Sergeant Thompson—“Go get your team and camera!” They suited up and brought the camera. Well, actually they did not suit up. They simply went and got 4 officers, a female guard with a camera; shackled my ankles and carried me to my cage and as I spoke on camera of the injustice of Shannon’s murder I also addressed the inhumane conditions.
I was laid on the floor and left cuffed although they removed the shackles from my ankles. After they removed the shackles they all backed out of the cage, closed it, opened the bean slot and asked me to get uncuffed. I got uncuffed, they bought the nurse to see if I was ok and that was the end of the use of force.
Captain Dickens came to my cage after the use of force and tried to discourage me by basically telling me that our efforts are futile, that this does nothing but breed hate. I asked him. “Hate where? With whom? A lot of people feel and support what we do.” He says “No. I mean hate between staff and prisoners.” My response was: “First of all, if you want to get to the root of that problem that keeps conflict going between prisoners and staff in this or any prison, go to the root of it: the way TDCJ trains its officers is where the barrier is created. You train your officers to never trust us, to never associate with us, to never speak to us on a personal level whatsoever. Your whole training of prisoners is basically creating a wall between prisoners and staff. You train them to think that we are anything but human beings. You train them to treat us as criminals, as unworthy individuals who are not worthy of human rights and equal treatment as anyone in the free world simply because we are imprisoned. The hate was bred in how you trained them. So when they come in here and treat us like anything but a human, you can’t blame this nonviolent protest on us and say we breed hate between staff and prisoner because the whole training consists of that hate said this protest breeds. That’s what bred the hate and caused this protest—how you train your officers to treat us. That’s the action that causes the reaction, so go to that root and change how you train your officers. How can we have a meaningful and genuine connection with staff as prisoners if you train them to remain indifferent to us, to never get personal with us, to keep an impersonal interaction that consists only of speaking to us about basic necessities that you are all responsible for providing for us (and which you often fail to provide for us)? You want the hate to end that you say exists—change how you train your officers. Let's all have open and genuine relationships where we all care about each other's well-being and connection and development of each other individually and collectively, because the truth of the matter is that I, as a prisoner here, do not hate you or your staff. I may hate some of the things you all do, but I don't hate any of you as a person. You are all human just like I am human. We all have the worst and best of humanity in us. When I see you all, I often get sad because I see how you as part of the lower class are victims of this oppressive system as well although you may not realize it. I realize it. When I see you all, I see men and women trying to survive and live just like I am trying, trying to be mothers, fathers, husbands, brothers and humans as best they can be under a very oppressive system that often threatens your own sense of financial and social security if you don't help it oppresses people of your own class: The oppressed, the poor. Some of you, many of you do not realize this, and I understand that. I can’t fault a person for what they are unenlightened to -- it would be like hating your child for not knowing better about something. When I look at you I see myself, my own brothers and sisters of humanity (even through some of the indignities some of you inflict upon us for seeking to have our human rights). I don’t seek to breed hate. So if you don’t want to see hate either, then let's do what we have to do to ensure we have meaningful and conductive interaction between prisoner and staff. Beginning by treating us humanely is a great start.”
Dickens went into statistics about criminals in prison, ad/seg etc... But never gave a solution to the barrier that exists between prisoners and staff, a barrier I would certainly love to see eradicated. He basically veered off to other issues regarding conditions and how our efforts are futile. I saw his attempt to try and change the subject. I saw then he wouldn’t give a solution because they don’t want a solution. They simply want us to bow down to the oppression and accept being treated less than human, and basically claiming that by us simply following their oppressive and extremely controlling and degrading rules, that there will be no conflict between staff and prisoner. Well, of course there wouldn’t be any trouble as long as the oppressed bows down and licks the oppressors’ boots. I refuse. And let him know that as long as this oppression exists, as long as state-sanctioned murder exists, this protest will continue. He left.
Wherever Shannon may find himself, I know that on this day he is proud knowing that when he was murdered by the state, his friends were in here protesting his murder and fighting against oppression as he would want it. May he rest in peace and may his memory always live. May his ideas and ideals carry on in the people and all those who loved him, because in that way he never dies and in that way his dreams will eventually come true. Even if he was not physically around to see the fruits of his labor. I can imagine the suffering his family is going through. How can the justice system call that justice when a wife and children, a mother and siblings are victimized by the system, cut out their hearts and spit on and stepped on it when they murdered their loved ones? My hope is the same as Shannon’s: That one day the world, and especially this country will come to see that violence only begets violence. To eradicate hate you must fight it with love and compassion – Shannon did that until his last day (even in his non-violent resistance against his own murderers.)
D.R.I.V.E.
DEATH Row INNER-COMMUNALIST VANGUARD ENGAGEMENT
