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YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Cruel Justice Episode 14: Kwame Ajamu and Derrick Jamison discuss their work with WTI

Cruel Justice Episode 14: Kwame Ajamu and Derrick Jamison discuss their work with WTI — Transcript

by Witness To Innocence · 11,193 words · 1,895 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:02okay
0:04i want to welcome everybody to this
0:06week's show of crude justice empowered
0:08by women's students
0:10my name is herman lindsey i'm florida's
0:1223rd deaf world
0:13sonori i'm also the secretary of border
0:16with students
0:18today we all have a nice show where we
0:20go actually
0:22for those that don't know who and what
0:24with mercedes and ears
0:26about i brought um actually i have three
0:29colleagues
0:30the first one is the co-host her name is
0:33julia sheets
0:34and she is the director of communication
0:36and development
0:38how you doing today jenny hey herman
0:41hello everybody
0:42i'm so glad to be here with y'all hey
0:46the second person is uh the chairman of
0:48the board
0:49which is our granny i don't i don't
0:53really say it's that name to be a
0:55german a german but i'm sure he obtained
0:59his name uh and this third person
1:02today is derrick jefferson one of the
1:04declaration of release
1:06wow that's uh been a great part of what
1:10he's
1:10missing over
1:25certainly um kwami kamau ajamu
1:29is how you say that brother
1:32i am uh chairman of the board of
1:35directors of witness to innocence
1:37a great organization i happen to find
1:40near and dear to my heart
1:43and there give give uh i'll tell you
1:47a little bit about yourself who you are
1:52uh you hear me
1:56yeah okay uh hi my name is uh
2:00derek wayne jameson i'm the 119th death
2:03row examiner in the united states
2:05i'm a member of a witness to innocence
2:08i'm the peer specialist
2:10and um i enjoy uh
2:13my work i do with witness to innocence
2:15man you know
2:16it's a uh i love how the exonerees
2:20are doing things especially with you
2:22herman i'm proud of you herman
2:24lindsey what you doing with your uh
2:26podcast
2:28oh my man i love the great work that our
2:30organization
2:32is achieving around the country you know
2:35thank you
2:36now this organization for most people
2:38don't know is
2:40uh built around uh different exonerees
2:43around the united states
2:46we also have connections uh with uh
2:49depth or exonerees
2:51around the world uh we have an
2:54organization
2:54that um is the executive director
2:58he is actually a deaf examiner i am the
3:01secretary of the board
3:03i am the doctor alexander lee he's the
3:06chairman of the board
3:07which is their exotic so we have a lot
3:12of
3:12experienced uh
3:17death royal exonerees uh leading the
3:20leadership
3:20in this organization and playing a big
3:23role
3:23so we take we take that we are serious
3:26uh
3:27but climbing this is a question for you
3:30can you give the viewers a description
3:33of witness to innocent and what they are
3:36about
3:38certainly um first and foremost um this
3:41organization
3:42is about um the abolition of the depth
3:46of penalty
3:47capital punishment that is our main
3:50objective is to get rid of
3:51capital punishment uh in doing so that
3:54we have a mission
3:56in place to empower our members and our
3:59family members
4:00and the families of our members to um be
4:03able to litigate in a conducive way
4:08even to the community as well as to
4:12various um members of congress and uh
4:16all of the leaderships in in the the
4:18acts of congress
4:19uh that we could uh perpetuate um this
4:22understanding of
4:23um witness the innocence which is as i
4:25said uh definitely
4:27abolition and
4:30how long have you actually been uh party
4:34witness tennessee
4:36um wow uh let me see
4:39since 2014
4:44how are you enjoying your membership so
4:47i i was exonerated i'm sorry
4:49i was exonerated uh officially on
4:52december 9th
4:532014 and uh i had um
4:56prior to that um got a uh
5:00membership uh calling from um someone
5:03who was actually not even in
5:05witness innocent uh or a bonowitz
5:08actually uh suggested that i should uh
5:12be waiting to hear from when it's
5:13venison and i'll be doggone the very
5:15next day
5:16uh magdalena rose avia who then was the
5:19uh
5:20director of the organization uh gave me
5:23a call
5:24and uh from that point on i have been uh
5:26diligently
5:27uh involved with the organization um i
5:30was a foot soldier all the way up into
5:32uh 2016
5:34and i couldn't tell you um
5:37the um the progress to which took place
5:40in which i became
5:42the chairman but i do know that uh one
5:45day i was uh
5:46just a brother in the ranks and the next
5:48day i was saying well
5:50i'll try it you know so here we are
5:54gary this is the question for you how
5:57long
5:57have you been a part of uh witness
6:00citizen what your
6:02experience well it's been an amazing
6:05experience for me
6:06because uh like since i missed like
6:10since i've been with witness to
6:12innocence since like
6:1419 i want to say to
6:182006 a year after
6:21i got off the death row
6:24i've been with witness to innocence and
6:26we i was with him from the start because
6:28i think
6:29they had like one gathering before i
6:31came to witness the innocent and
6:34uh i i met some amazing people and i
6:37i miss the amazing exonerees from all
6:40over the world
6:41you know they're joined witness
6:43innocence and we've
6:44lost a lot of my brothers and sisters
6:46since i joined
6:48witness to innocence and you know and
6:50and i'm so proud of the work they did
6:53but they're no longer with us you know
6:55but i was there from the beginning
6:57herman you know
6:58i've been through all the different uh
7:02all the different gatherings we didn't
7:04had over the years and we had lost a lot
7:06of people man
7:08before we had started this art uh
7:10interview
7:11man you were talking about my girlfriend
7:13tanya she was a member of witness
7:14witnessing
7:16too and we lost her like four years ago
7:19she passed away like four years ago and
7:22she was one of my biggest supporters too
7:24you know she was a member of witness to
7:26innocence
7:26but like i say a lot of them are no
7:28longer here but
7:30they did great work while they was here
7:32with the organization
7:33and i'm so proud of it mr enesis
7:36thank you you know i i came in
7:40to i was exonerated in 2006.
7:44and it's like immediately after
7:47i received a welcome package a welcome
7:49letter
7:50um and asked me would i be a part of
7:52witness to innocent
7:54at the beginning when i i first got home
7:57i
7:58i really didn't want to uh be bothered
8:01really or
8:02anything and i didn't know anything
8:04about speaking or telling my story or
8:07that even people want to hear my stories
8:10so i was like
8:11back but then i um
8:15the the first letter i really got was to
8:17come to a gathering
8:19and when i came to the gathering and i
8:22seen that
8:23it was so many devil exonerees from all
8:27around
8:28the world i feel comfortable i felt like
8:30okay
8:31i can deal with this you know because it
8:34made me feel like
8:35okay this is not just happening to me
8:38you know because i don't really didn't
8:40really know about the death penalty and
8:41things like that
8:43and when this happened to me you know i
8:45never thought there was so many more
8:46people that actually
8:48uh was going through what i went through
8:50so when i i came to the gathering and we
8:53had fun you know
8:55we had our witnesses
9:02very good he was one of the first ones
9:04to greet me with suji
9:06you it was amazing
9:11it was amazing and to know that this
9:13organization was
9:14um existed and made me feel like
9:18i'm a part of something so now it gave
9:21me the strength to go out and tell my
9:22story it gave me
9:24the the strength to you know uh
9:28hold my head up you know and the thing
9:30about it
9:31is that being here so long and
9:34um you know it's
9:37it's been it's over ten years now
9:41so it's been here so long and you know
9:45all the progress and all the changes and
9:47all the things that we have now which
9:49we're going to talk
9:50about a little bit later about all the
9:52great programs that we have now
9:54and watching this organization grow and
9:56being a part of it
9:57is is so amazing
10:00um and it's something
10:04i i didn't add which i should have added
10:05when i introduced
10:07uh uh one of the common things about
10:10youtube
10:11today is that vocal y'all was exonerated
10:14from ohio correct
10:16right yeah i got
10:19to is it any other broader exotic i
10:22can't get double team with these two
10:24right now
10:27i can't win but yeah the thing about it
10:31is that it
10:32it it represent that you know uh
10:38to to to be a part of this organization
10:41and to actually have people around the
10:44world
10:44i mean there's so many people around the
10:47world that we're connected to
10:48that we can call on that we can feel at
10:51home we have
10:52conversations and you know
10:56an empowerment to actually be a part of
10:59this organization
11:00and to sit in the front seats of this
11:02this organization
11:04and being able to learn and to um
11:07experience being in
11:13executive uh position you know it
11:16has been real warning because you know
11:19it kind of filled my dreams up
11:21that you know when i was younger you
11:23know i really
11:24i mean when i'm younger than running the
11:27streets today
11:28i didn't feel i could be you know
11:31again in such an important position and
11:34to be in those positions now
11:36it is it's like a strength
11:39to put some strength inside and that is
11:42one of the things that what the citizen
11:44has done for me
11:45they over the years making me feel like
11:48i'm not alone and making me feel like
11:51you know i have family it has given me
11:54strength inside to
11:56battle my issues
11:59with issues and things like that that's
12:01been caused by my wrongful conviction
12:04so my question to derek
12:08i ain't picking on you i'm just that's
12:10how i do when i i just
12:11pick a question yeah yeah this question
12:15is for you
12:17now we've known each other a long time
12:22uh we don't have our battles just like
12:24that
12:25but i know um you've been very
12:28uh closely with mr henderson
12:31how has this organization uh
12:35uh maybe changed you to
12:38to to to be able to deal with
12:42uh what happened to the wrongful
12:46completion
12:49well it helped me a lot because like you
12:51say
12:52it gave us a voice and we put in the
12:54face to that voice you know
12:56uh i'm able to speak all over the world
12:59now you know
13:00uh i did a commercial me and three other
13:04deafer examiners we did a commercial for
13:06coca-cola
13:07over in spain i'm able to do things like
13:10that
13:10but basically i'm able to reach out to
13:12these young law students
13:14i love talking to these law students you
13:17know
13:18telling my story and and tell them what
13:21goes on
13:22in an unjust system you know that i
13:25watched so many of my friends suffer you
13:27know
13:28in this i'm from ohio uh
13:31i watched 56 of my friends get executed
13:34them guys you know most of them were
13:36kids
13:39yeah well i'm from the state of ohio
13:43where you know we
13:44since 1999 we didn't have 56 executions
13:47and i watched and all of them were my
13:49friends there were guys i grew up with
13:51you know i did 20 years
13:53on ohio defrost you know and
13:57uh the same day i was sent to die
14:00october the 25th
14:02october the 25th 1985
14:05uh i walked off the death row the same
14:08day
14:09in october the 25th of 2005
14:13and that's kwame birthday and quantity
14:16from ohio
14:17that's his birthday his birthday became
14:20the worst day of my life
14:22and also the best day of my life you
14:24know but
14:25i like i like what witness the innocence
14:29has been able to do
14:30with getting the exonerees voices heard
14:34all over the world it's making a big
14:36impact on
14:38what's happening with this abolition
14:40movement we need it right now you know
14:42people need to hear
14:43our voices and we put a faith to it so
14:46i'm grateful for that i'm always
14:48grateful for that
14:49and i and and i'm and you know i'm
14:52always
14:52witness to innocence that's what i do
14:54you know i love the guys and i love the
14:56staff members and the great work they do
14:59you know like you a staff member i love
15:02the great work you've been doing since
15:04you've been home you know i watch you
15:05evolve brother
15:07you know i watch kwame evolve i watch
15:09what it done you know i've watched how
15:11evolved over the years how strong
15:13y'all get stronger and stronger you know
15:15i love it man
15:16and i'm always got y'all back and i'm
15:19always supporting y'all
15:20and that's what we do the organization
15:22we there to support one another
15:24and that's what we do and i love it and
15:26we're going to continue to do this
15:28amazing work
15:30thank you go ahead man
15:34this birthday coming up soon yes
15:39my new one 25th
15:43your new your new birthday yeah
15:46your 25th the 25th
15:50okay yesterday i come home herman that's
15:53the day i walked up out of it i walked
15:55up
15:56walked out of here october the 25th i
15:58walked out of here
16:01so you got exonerated on this birthday
16:04what a question
16:06yeah yeah so that means i i think
16:10me personally i mean he's the chairman
16:11of the board i think he's just
16:13you were kicked on your uh
16:48how did witness the innocent i mean
16:51when we're when we're uh exonerated
16:55bro uh we we come out yeah we're happy
16:59that we're at home but we have so many
17:01issues
17:02and you know
17:04[Music]
17:24and you know being able to
17:27kind of like block or change those anger
17:44hey man everybody never asked me that so
17:46that
17:47kudos that that's an excellent question
17:50now i said i'm not trying to put you on
17:52the spot no
17:53no i i really appreciate you
17:56i really appreciate you asking that
17:58question because that question
18:00actually speaks to um
18:03at the association both of the human
18:06part of the person
18:07and and the organization you know so
18:09yeah um
18:10i have to go back to what you said about
18:12i mean what derek has said about
18:14being able to speak and this and that uh
18:16up until
18:18um i uh actually spoke with
18:21uh abe bonobits i had no idea that
18:24uh witnessing innocence did the things
18:26that they they were associated with
18:28doing right
18:29on on such a great scale now before i
18:33say another word that way i want to go
18:34back
18:35in 2007
18:38uh a member of witness the innocence a
18:41very good
18:42friend of mine was on death row with me
18:43by the name of tim howard
18:45came to my house i had no idea that he
18:48had been
18:48exonerated as such and was a part of the
18:50organization he just came to my house
18:52because he got off death row right
18:54and and we hopped it up man and had fun
18:57all the way to his death he he uh
19:00subsequently died
19:01right so fast forward uh seven
19:04years and bam here comes witness the
19:07innocence and the first thing
19:09that i see on the picture of the nine
19:12ohioans who have been exonerated
19:14is my dear friend ken howard and that's
19:16something
19:17so that there's a connection you see i'm
19:20saying there's a human connection there
19:21that innate connection already um
19:24when i was on death row as a child a
19:27young man child
19:28i um had was consumed with
19:31hatred and vengeance you know and
19:34but i allowed myself through education
19:38first through just the reading of books
19:40that second hand knowledge that comes
19:41firsthand to you when you
19:43in isolation of books because you can go
19:45all over the world
19:46uh and then later through the
19:48educational system throughout
19:50the one two three uh you know
19:51institutions that i would be in prior to
19:54i actually got paroled i didn't get
19:56exonerated and then to freedo i actually
19:58got paroled
20:00and fought the rest of my case for 11
20:02years
20:03prior to the exoneration coming so you
20:06know
20:06there was a whole lot of struggling and
20:09and you know and
20:10eating roman noodles even in the real
20:12world you know uh
20:13up until this exoneration in
20:162014. so that that uh ambitious
20:20and and um and craving to to stuff
20:23out the wrong that i had suffered has
20:26always been it's been you know in me
20:28uh and you can see that through me
20:29fighting for my case as
20:31diligently as i did when i could have
20:33you know i made a parole i could have
20:34known about my business you know
20:36but the point was i was innocent and
20:38then there were two people still
20:40innocent in prison you know so that
20:42that had to be made manifest you know
20:44that was something i did alone by myself
20:47but once i found out about this great
20:49organization man
20:51you know that teams up and and i mean
20:53man i haven't been in
20:55in colorado california new york
20:58everywhere you know san francisco you
21:00name it i haven't been there you know
21:02cause you guys have been there too uh um
21:05feet on the ground making a physical
21:08uh uh attribution towards uh getting rid
21:11of this this uh
21:13ill uh capital punishment you see so
21:17it was always that and then uh
21:20i got uh invited to come out
21:24to like you to um the uh gathering
21:27which was fundamentally done for uh
21:31i thought it was just for me personally
21:32because guess what it happened right
21:34here in the city of cleveland
21:36it happened right here in the city of
21:37cleveland ohio you know
21:39and i was able to fall in love with the
21:41entire organization
21:43right here in my home state uh feet on
21:46the ground
21:47those brothers i never forget what we
21:49want justice when we want it now
21:51you did feet on the ground demonstrating
21:54in my hometown
21:56in my city and welcoming me into their
21:58organization
21:59so this is very powerful at that time
22:02you know we cut a video about it and
22:03everything
22:04you know man this is something that uh
22:07i've been wanting to happen ever since
22:09may of 1975 when
22:12those uh uh boogie mans came and got me
22:16out of calls
22:17you did because i was just a child man i
22:19was scared to die
22:21you know they came and did that to me
22:24you know and for the next 43 years
22:28and and probably until i get in the
22:30grave will i have the pain and suffer
22:32the mental anguish
22:34you know the retardation of of both
22:37principle
22:37and and and and enter anguish you know
22:41until i get in the grave that i happen i
22:43know that
22:45i know that all for not
22:49so yes i am a soldier
22:52i am sold on witness to innocence this
22:54organization is the powerful
22:56organization of its kind not the only
22:59one
23:00but one of the most powerful of its kind
23:02and this is what i came into this
23:03organization with the ideology of
23:05that it should be the foremost as we are
23:09the only living example of why
23:12you should not sentence someone to die
23:16good enough little brother amen
23:19so what on point brad
23:22but now we let's let's get into it
23:25because
23:26you know i jump in with a question too
23:28herman excuse me
23:30can i jump in with a question just real
23:32quick because you guys have mentioned
23:34the gathering but i'm not sure our
23:35viewers know what the gathering
23:37is and it's such a fundamental part of
23:40what we do as an organization and how
23:42you create that
23:43community and um camaraderie and
23:47you know mutual support among exonerees
23:49so can someone
23:50tell people what is the gathering
23:55mr don't look at me because of nicole
23:59no oh and jenny you know you you lucky
24:02because i was just going to call upon
24:04you
24:04i was just going to call you so you can
24:07look for it next
24:08uh the gathering it took to me
24:12is a place where um
24:15what it is once a year uh who's trying
24:18to do two
24:19twice a year but once he at least once a
24:21year uh all the deaf alexandria in the
24:24united states and a part of
24:25uh wouldn't stand gather and retreat
24:29we uh actually have uh the
24:32counseling sessions and stuff like that
24:35with each other we
24:36uh talk about things that's going on um
24:40we actually it's like a
24:43educational but therapy um at the time
24:47that's the time we get to hang out and
24:49get to know each other
24:51and um you know things like that so
24:54uh to me the gathering is a place where
24:58it is the welcome home party
25:01it's the welcome to being uh exoneration
25:05exoneration party to me and
25:09actually um give us a time
25:12to get away from all of that that we're
25:14going through at home
25:16and we can leave it behind for the
25:18weekend and come
25:19and we just hang out and and that also
25:22brings to me
25:23where uh uh uh derek and tony
25:28you know um where i met tony is
25:31you know that's the good thing about uh
25:34witness to innocent it's not just
25:37democracies but it's also
25:40a family members you know
25:43family members that deal with exoneree
25:46support
25:46and like for instance um derek spoke
25:49about tanya
25:50he was a great woman uh back then um
25:54you know it gives them an opportunity to
25:57run
25:59with us and see uh take one of the
26:01classes that's there
26:03or the the session as i was saying
26:06that's there uh to to learn how
26:10to try to help cope with us exonerees
26:14is it's a class that you know kind of
26:18put things in perspective of why
26:21this why did you design is
26:24um reacting this way reacting that way
26:28and if if it's a problem they can also
26:32modify with this innocence so
26:34that we're just saying probably give
26:35them the proper
26:37mental mental or medical
26:41help that they need you know so to me
26:45the gathering is not on the educational
26:50retreat but it's also a retreat where
26:53you know it's smooth and relaxing and
26:56therapy
26:58you want to add to that question uh
27:01somewhat yeah um it's a great it's a
27:03great uh experience of time
27:06uh for our organization as he said for
27:09relaxation
27:10and uh but uh one of the really good
27:12things about it
27:13is that we get to go uh different places
27:17and
27:17the very first time i went to puerto
27:19rico in my life was because of lincoln's
27:21innocence in our gathering okay the very
27:24first time i went to arizona in my life
27:25was because of this organization
27:27gathering so you know we get to go
27:29places you know
27:31in the world that we pick for that one
27:33time of the year
27:34where we all can come together and be
27:36brothers and sisters to be family
27:38uh all with the same understanding you
27:40have to remember that
27:41not only do we you know fight to uh end
27:44capital punishment but we also
27:46fight to continuously empower ourselves
27:49to be leaders in our own community
27:51this is an organization of empowerment
27:53as well and so we want to go back home
27:55into the communities feeling good
27:57where we can have an aspiration to you
28:00know meet and greet and deal and
28:02say hey you know come and listen you
28:03know if not find a link
28:05if you're not familiar with kwame ajamo
28:08in the city of cleveland you know look
28:09for his car
28:10because my tag said wti.org
28:14okay and a lot of people want to know
28:16what that is go type it up
28:18it's witness to innocence.org this is my
28:20organization
28:21not for say mine but yes mine because
28:24each and every one of its memberships
28:26is a part blood sweat and tears of this
28:29organization is
28:30ours from the bottom to the top we love
28:33you for
28:33listening to us and we're going to come
28:35into your community
28:37real soon
28:40i see that that's what i'm saying i
28:42believe that what makes me feel so good
28:44and you put the words right on right
28:49that was perfect amen hey and then
28:53over the years you know like i said i've
28:55been with
28:56the innocent since 2006
28:59right when i come home yeah i come home
29:02right
29:03hey man we lost so many exonerees
29:06man but we used to have so much fun we
29:09used to do
29:10two journeys a year we used to do i mean
29:12two gatherings a year
29:14we used to have two gathers a year man
29:16we we came up with the fun
29:18to have two gathers a year and we used
29:20to be so much fun
29:22man all our exoneree friends was
29:25alive man we got a chance to hang out
29:28with them
29:28enjoy them go to concerts and have
29:31picnics and
29:33hang out on the beach and on the lake
29:36man it was a beautiful thing man and it
29:38empowered us we went home feeling good
29:40about ourselves with
29:42our butt our heart our hearts flooded
29:44with love cause we love one another man
29:47and we showed it
29:48because we showed so much love to one
29:50another man over the years because i
29:52miss them guys man
29:54like he said tanya man tiny with my
29:56heart you know
29:58i missed them days man and them some
30:01amazing memories thank you so much kwame
30:04for what you doing
30:06and herman man i remember mary herman
30:09man we used to hang out man
30:11when he first uh joined the organization
30:14man me and herman were tight
30:16bro we used to uh hurry to get a rid of
30:19it cover the riddle man we had so
30:21[Music]
30:34yeah oh no no
30:37bruh i really like that though but we
30:40used to have so much fun
30:41man it was a it was a it was a blessing
30:44man it was a blessing and like i say
30:46everybody was alive dude man
30:48you know so i'm so grateful man and i'm
30:52always thankful that we're able to
30:54empower one another
30:55and uplift one another and be strong for
30:58one another you know
31:00thank y'all man i appreciate the work
31:03that the staff does
31:04on our organization and all the staff
31:07you know and i appreciate y'all
31:09what y'all do and what y'all stand for
31:11you know
31:12thank y'all man i love you out to the
31:14moon and back brothers
31:15and sisters thank you yeah we have a
31:18staff that can go run any
31:20organization in the world you know
31:23that's exactly what i was going to touch
31:26on not exactly what i was putting in
31:28touch on
31:28our staff you know is is so amazing you
31:32know and
31:32they they they work real
31:35hard you know i don't call six o'clock
31:38in the morning i'm not gonna say no name
31:40jenny
31:43because this is like in the board and
31:44preparing me and i got in the hotel
31:46three and four o'clock in the morning
31:48and uh another one have to make sure the
31:50hotel is right there
31:52you know they did they they worked so
31:54hard to
31:55actually uh make sure that uh when we
31:58were doing the event that
31:59uh is very uh comfortable for us and
32:02we don't run into no problem so i i want
32:05to
32:06give a round of applause to our staff
32:09remember
32:10that that's there and um
32:13and speaking of style uh jenny
32:16i i i was wondering you know
32:19we're we're talking about the fun things
32:22you know and how it it makes us feel and
32:26how important it is
32:28how this organization made a big
32:30difference in our life
32:31but you know some of the people don't
32:33understand the depths of work that
32:35is actually put out behind the shadows
32:40right well actually uh put out the wti
32:44they don't actually know a lot of things
32:46that we've been involved
32:47with so you know um i was wondering
32:50uh could you uh kind of give us give
32:54people a a view of
32:57some of the like campaigns we worked on
32:59on our
33:00letters like we did for julius jones or
33:03you know
33:03tell them about the abolition that we're
33:06actually
33:07doing as an organization i know you'll
33:10know from first hand
33:12sure yeah definitely thank you well so
33:16the whole concept of what witness
33:17innocence is like you all have said
33:20right is
33:20that through the empowerment of death
33:22row exonerees to be
33:24leaders in the abolition movement we're
33:26going to powerfully
33:28end the death penalty right and so
33:30there's all kinds of you know statistics
33:32and research that you can tell people
33:34about why the death penalty isn't
33:36working why it's biased or
33:38just why it's morally wrong but those
33:41statistics might go in one ear and out
33:43the other but an exoneree story nobody's
33:45ever gonna forget
33:46and so the way to end the death penalty
33:49at a very
33:50like base level is that you have to
33:52change public opinion away from the
33:54death penalty
33:55if public opinion moves away from the
33:57death penalty
33:58then people won't elect da's that want
34:01to use the death penalty
34:02then the supreme court if we know when
34:04we get a case there
34:06can really bring uh the argument that
34:09it's
34:09unusual the the unusual part of the
34:12cruel and unusual
34:13element unusual is that it's not being
34:16used anywhere and that public opinion
34:18has turned away from it i mean and we've
34:20talked on past shows about juries
34:22you know and so the more jurors
34:24understand the reality of the death
34:26penalty and
34:27and remember some of these folk stories
34:30um
34:30then the less so they're going to you
34:34know
34:34be willing to go for death in a
34:36conviction and so
34:37public opinion plays a really big role
34:40and there's no better way to sway public
34:42opinion
34:43than with a personal story and a
34:44firsthand testimony that you can't ever
34:46forget
34:47and so the the exonerees of witness
34:49innocence go around and they tell their
34:51stories
34:51anywhere and everywhere and so that
34:53could be on the floor of legislatures
34:55that could be to prosecutors and da's
34:58that could be
34:58to law students who later go on to be
35:00governor or whoever
35:02you know so it's it's a very widespread
35:05way that we do that work anybody and
35:07everybody
35:08um and when i'm not talking i'll go back
35:10to the facebook and post the link for
35:12how you can host a speaker
35:14but the campaigns that we've worked on
35:16when we work on abolition state by state
35:19um we partner with the local abolition
35:21organization so
35:22every state that has a death penalty or
35:24most of them have
35:25some people on the ground who in that
35:28state who are trying to abolish the
35:29death penalty
35:30through legislation and so we support
35:32their efforts by having exonerees come
35:35in
35:35testify before the legislature do op-eds
35:39do media interviews whatever it takes
35:41during that campaign push when they're
35:43trying to get the legislators to vote to
35:45abolish the death penalty
35:47and okay here is the fact that i
35:48absolutely love about witnessed
35:50innocents
35:51in the last 15 years or well it's
35:5416 or 17 years that we've been around
35:56the entire time witness innocence has
35:58been around
35:59death row exonerees of witness innocence
36:01have been pivotal
36:03in every single state that has abolished
36:05the death penalty so most recently
36:07colorado and new hampshire we were there
36:10washington state we were there we were
36:12there in force we were there multiple
36:13times
36:14over multiple years testifying doing
36:16op-eds doing speaking tours around to
36:18everyone
36:19and so we see direct evidence that the
36:23involvement participation and advocacy
36:25of death row exonerees
36:26is having impact then you were mentioned
36:29in julius jones's case what we've been
36:31doing just more recently in the last
36:32couple of years
36:33is to get more involved in the cases
36:35where people are on death row right now
36:38but have very strong innocence claims
36:40the the flaws in their cases really
36:42mirror and match
36:44the same stories of what happened to so
36:47many of our members and so
36:49we see that as a place to where we can
36:50both uh
36:52you know still be exposing the need for
36:54abolition by raising up their story
36:57but at the same time trying to save
36:59somebody's life whose life is on the
37:00line
37:01because the death penalty hasn't been
37:03abolished so those are the major
37:05campaigns we've been involved in
37:07we also have over the years off and on
37:10fought for the issue of compensation
37:13a lot of people don't know it but when
37:15people are exonerated from death row
37:17that doesn't mean
37:18they get anything at all in terms of you
37:20know well you lost 20 years of your life
37:22here let's
37:23make that up to you oh you didn't have a
37:25chance to go to college or
37:26build a career over those 20 years let's
37:28make that up to you with some
37:30you know financial con you know
37:32compensation to help you rebuild your
37:33life that doesn't happen
37:34and so we've been involved in advocating
37:37um for laws
37:38on the federal and local level for that
37:40over the years as well
37:41so and let me just say real quick like
37:44the beauty of what i think witness
37:46innocence is as well
37:47is in order to be able to go out and be
37:50those leaders
37:52right and and do everything that you
37:54guys do testifying on the floor
37:55legislature and abolishing the death
37:57penalty state by state
37:59you need the support of what witness
38:02innocence is at that foundation to
38:05to you know book that travel and make
38:07sure every detail is set for you
38:09to have social work services so that
38:12your basic needs at home are taken care
38:14of so you're not worrying
38:15about your electric being cut off and
38:17therefore you don't have the available
38:19space and time in your life to go out
38:21and advocate to abolish the death
38:22penalty
38:23and that peer support among each other
38:25so because it can
38:26you know i can imagine it can get pretty
38:29um
38:30discouraging to be seeing the executions
38:33that are still happening and seeing
38:35hearing the arguments of those states
38:37that want to keep
38:38killing people um in this country
38:40through execution
38:42and to be able to keep telling your
38:45story and
38:46facing that discouragement i think takes
38:47the the peer support community that you
38:50all have built
38:51so that that would be my answer to that
38:54herman unless you have
38:55a follow-up question i do have one other
38:58question
38:59and i'm not trying to put you on the
39:01spot with this but
39:03i i i think people should know uh like
39:06for instance
39:08uh first of all to say that
39:11i am a executive on the executive
39:14committee for representative justice
39:16in the movie just mercy i'm also a
39:18ambassador in ceremony
39:20and um we have a little joke over there
39:22uh
39:23like uh my jimmy you know
39:26my jenny because you know it's like when
39:29i when i'm on the go and i'm i'm trying
39:32to
39:34take care of things i can hit jenny at
39:36any time she is a very very hard worker
39:39very very hard working i'm not just
39:41talking about them because she's on the
39:42show
39:43i'm serious yeah our conversation gonna
39:45keep going and going and i think she
39:47contributed to a lot of my
39:48success right now so i do want to thank
39:51you jenny
39:52uh for your support you have given me
39:54and uh many others
39:56but i have i want to ask a question for
39:59those people
40:00that don't know about a witness to
40:02innocent i just wanted to know
40:04when you first came working from witness
40:06to innocent
40:07you know this is sort of like a new ball
40:10game for you
40:11uh how did you feel fitting in with miss
40:14anderson was it
40:16a a peaceful you know
40:19excited excitement you know what what
40:22what it is because right now it's like
40:24you like a ball of energy for witness
40:26innocent
40:27and i just want to know what it is
40:30that when you first change that just
40:33just trigger this big ball
40:35well that's a deep question herman all
40:37right so
40:38um
40:43you know i had a loved one who was
40:45executed in north carolina who was
40:47guilty of his crime and was executed
40:50and so that made the death penalty you
40:52know dear to my heart and something that
40:54i wanted to fight on
40:55but before i came to witness to
40:56innocence i also was working
40:58you know mostly with people who were
41:00guilty of their crimes and
41:02you know reintegration and support after
41:04exoneration
41:06and um i think the thing that
41:09i had to get used to here was like
41:12this the specific um trauma of being
41:16innocent
41:17because i was less familiar with
41:18innocence than i was with
41:20what it was to do a bunch of years or
41:23what it was
41:24to um you know be especially with a
41:27family and you know walk in
41:29with a friend who was facing execution i
41:31got to see a lot of those horrors but i
41:34didn't understand the horror of being
41:36innocent being not being believed right
41:38being told
41:39that you were that you were wrong about
41:41the fact that you were innocent
41:43um after so many years the
41:47and you know having experience you know
41:49having nothing to do with the crime and
41:51being
41:51arrested out the blue and then thinking
41:54oh well there's no way they'll convict
41:55me because i didn't have anything to do
41:56with it and then boom here you are
41:58convicted and
41:59sentenced to death all of that was um
42:01very very new for me
42:03um but if we're gonna get real personal
42:05with it the thing i really didn't expect
42:07was to have my
42:09my own memories um and you know
42:11heartache of
42:13my friend being executed come back to me
42:15because it had been a while
42:16um he was executed in 2002
42:19and um i i'll be working at witness to
42:22innocence it'll be four years now in
42:24february
42:25so you know it had been a long time
42:27since that happened and when i came to
42:29witness
42:30to innocence and started reading all of
42:31your stories right and hearing your
42:33stories and reading your stories and
42:35and all of that i started having
42:37nightmares and dreams
42:38of being back in central prison in
42:41asheville north carolina in the visitor
42:43room during the execution like
42:45all of that really flooded back for me
42:47in a very real way
42:49and it went away after a while but one
42:52of the things that people
42:53probably have no way to know is like
42:55what a strong
42:56mutual support team there is among the
42:58staff members at witness innocence so
43:00you know we really support and take care
43:02of each other
43:04as much as we support all of y'all and
43:07so
43:07um my co-workers really supported me
43:10through that time period and whenever we
43:12bring on new staff members
43:13we make sure to talk about that and to
43:15say listen you're going to be reading
43:17all these stories and hearing all these
43:18stories and listening to all this
43:20horrible stuff that's happened
43:22and that's going to have an impact on
43:23you so take care of yourself
43:25take a break when you need it reach out
43:26to us when you need it you know give
43:28yourself space
43:29for all of that so that was definitely
43:32my reality i did not expect all those
43:34memories to come flooding back
43:36in the way that they did so
43:39and you know that's that that's one of
43:41the most negative thing
43:42being a part of this organization you're
43:45going to be touched
43:46if you're not being touched then it's
43:49something that's wrong with you
43:50uh something is definitely wrong with
43:53you
43:54and i i i mean i
43:57i've been exonerating myself
44:00but yes sometimes i hear some of the
44:02stories that's been talking about
44:04and i go into a kind of slump because
44:08i'm like this is so painful to hear this
44:12story because
44:13it's not right for what this person went
44:16through
44:16and so it's a it's a custom mental
44:20battle
44:21and most people don't know you know
44:24for us exonerees especially that's in
44:27the front line like this
44:28we have to be example we go through a
44:31lot
44:32a lot of trauma a lot of
44:35emotions you know because every time we
44:37tell our stories we have to
44:39um relive that moment and not only do we
44:42love that moment we have to when we're
44:45not telling our stories
44:47and we have to listen to other stories
44:49we are also
44:50uh feeling that that that brotherly love
44:54that brotherhood in in uh
44:58in each other so is is
45:01this is not an easy job or easy subject
45:04to deal with
45:05period period you know
45:09but you know something you know i'm
45:11gonna pass the mic right here
45:13to quentin because i think kwame king
45:17elaborate on this a little bit better
45:20about how it
45:23important it is that we have to put
45:26what we're going through through the
45:28side of
45:30being exonerated to be a strong
45:33leadership so let me
45:36can you elaborate on your feelings about
45:40how you have to be strong for other
45:43exonerees and
45:58you know actually in in uh
46:02in this particular um uh
46:05part of the conversation uh that we're
46:07having
46:08uh guys uh being candid uh also
46:11um is a asking for
46:14revealing informations as well so
46:17let's get to it um i i uh
46:22just like every one of my brothers and
46:25sisters who
46:26have been uh subjugated by uh
46:29these mental health atrocities of having
46:32been
46:33wrongly incarcerated and isolated uh
46:35isolation is what brings on the worst
46:38of the longevities of these mental
46:40health issues
46:42um they take you and they put you um in
46:44a room
46:46away from other human beings and slowly
46:49but surely
46:50your mental health starts to deteriorate
46:53um so with that understanding i'll move
46:56forward just a little bit and say that
46:57uh
46:58over a matter of time uh does it get
47:02worse or worse since and then um
47:06ultimately depending on the human being
47:09the person him
47:10or herself uh is how drastic
47:13um these particular uh situations will
47:16be
47:16right uh so dealing with myself
47:19personally
47:21um i am a sufferer too of ptsd
47:25as well as like i said i know uh for a
47:28fact
47:29anyone who has been uh pitted against uh
47:32as such and uh for so long
47:36it took me 28 years of my life to gain
47:38physical freedom
47:40uh from the uh the enslavement of which
47:42i was in
47:43and another 11 years thereafter uh
47:47to be um alleviated of the charges
47:51and the stigma that was uh in the world
47:54against me
47:55uh so um the pain and the suffering
47:59uh goes deep uh into my bloodstream some
48:02forty uh three or uh 44 years
48:06which actually uh is longer than the
48:09time in which i had been alive
48:11once the beating started okay i was just
48:1417 years old
48:16okay so i'm 63 years old on the 25th of
48:19this
48:20month so you do the figuring i have been
48:23alive and suffering from um the uh
48:27disproportions of
48:31fair treatment by a government who i
48:33believed in entrusted
48:34uh to the point to where uh mental
48:37health issues are now a problem for
48:39me as well as all the people who have
48:41suffered the things i've suffered
48:44what i do uh sometimes a lot of times
48:46and
48:47this is the part where i say it becomes
48:49uh being candid
48:51is a lot to ask for revelation as well
48:54um you might get a call a phone call
48:56from me
48:58just out of the blue just out of the
49:00[ __ ] blue and i'm sure you have
49:03see herman laughing over there i'm sure
49:05you have well
49:06that's when the chairman is going
49:08through one of his episodes as well
49:11but the ability to utilize the
49:14understanding that i have of this
49:16this uh mental health issue
49:19gives me also the presence of mind to
49:22reach out to one of my brothers
49:24or one of my sisters who too suffers the
49:26same
49:27uh contaminations in life and
49:30and we talk and and we have a
49:33conversation and sometimes
49:34they might tell me that uh you know
49:36they're on the edge you know they're
49:37feeling pretty bad you know
49:39and then we work out their situation and
49:40guess what mine doesn't exist anymore
49:43either
49:44you see each one teach one is a process
49:49an understanding of which i have been uh
49:52developmentally uh educating this
49:55organization with since the very first
49:57day that i have come
49:58into your uh acquaintances
50:02you always have to be able to have the
50:05presence of mind and realize that
50:07if something doesn't work for me it
50:10might work for my brother or my sister
50:12and together we can make it work as one
50:16each one teach one is a good ideology
50:18and principle
50:19and a practice for everybody not just in
50:21this organization but the world over
50:24to utilize at his time either in crisis
50:27or in happiness and peace you see
50:30so now you know the secret of the
50:33chairman too when he have
50:34a mental health issue if you get a phone
50:38call
50:39[Laughter]
50:44i'm glad they can't see me laughing but
50:46you know um
50:47the seriousness of it is that you have
50:51to have an ability to find an outlet and
50:53utilize it up
50:55you know it just so happens that you
50:58know i have so many different
51:00uh ways in which that i can turn and i
51:03also have you know
51:04professional counseling that i see uh
51:06once a week as well
51:08and i speak to that issue you know
51:10throughout the organization and
51:11you know um just tell you how it goes
51:14and you know it's up to you if you want
51:15to
51:15reach back and make those type of uh
51:18inroads into your life
51:19but we have to always have support
51:23of good mental health always and you
51:26always have to be conscious that
51:28you know sometimes you can be slipping
51:30be it anger
51:31you know don't always have to fall into
51:33depression you don't always have to fall
51:36into
51:36a monster uh a way of being and thinking
51:41you know
51:41you can get kicked off as well you know
51:43and that is a form
51:45you know of of your suffering of your
51:47your crisis so
51:48you know you always have to just have a
51:50presence in mind and uh
51:52just find an outlet man you know that's
51:55what the chairman do
51:57and you know that's one of the great
51:59things that witnesses to have
52:01it has a peer line uh
52:04cara is over there and she works greatly
52:06at heart trying to find new
52:08ways to uh assist the different
52:11exonerees and believe me she does a
52:13great uh
52:17helping out and getting things done
52:19trust me that she's helped me out a
52:21whole lot
52:21you know um and and many others
52:25uh you know she finds the medical
52:28programs the health programs
52:30uh in all disability programs
52:34uh housing uh assistance
52:37uh food assistance uh she's
52:40she's dedicated to that particular uh
52:43field to um help us
52:46with this trauma and the issues that
52:48we're going through
52:50uh in life you know um
52:53she does an amazing job and i've got an
52:56applause to
52:57her and i also want to say a rather than
52:59a pause to
53:00allison and i knew uh chloe is alison
53:04still here
53:05she's still there he's not gonna show
53:07her face she's in the background she's
53:09not here
53:11but yeah she's here so uh
53:15she takes she just texted the chat yep
53:17correct
53:19[Laughter]
53:22so you know like i said we have a great
53:24staff you know it's no doubt
53:32yeah and we can't forget about trisha
53:35tricia
53:36jenny's got a hand raised you remember
53:37that thing about the hand raised
53:39yeah i just i had a i had a question i
53:41was hoping we would be able to
53:43ask um because i think one of the things
53:45most unique about witness
53:46innocence and is actually why i wanted
53:48to work here
53:49um is that it is run by death row
53:52exonerees right so kwami is the board
53:55chair kirk bloodsworth is our executive
53:57director
53:58herman is on our board ron kiney's on
54:01our board derrick jamison's on our staff
54:03randall padgett is on our staff
54:04you know we have the leadership of death
54:06row exonerees running this organization
54:09and my question is what how do you think
54:13that makes our organization different or
54:15better i have my own answer to it too
54:17but i i'm
54:18i'm throwing it back to y'all i i
54:21actually want to hear your
54:22question i and see her answer first
54:26let's so i would like to hear your
54:30your answer on that first let me know
54:32who me
54:33no jenny jenny oh yeah okay yeah
54:37but i i i think because the reason i'm
54:39doing this is not to put her on the spot
54:41but because
54:42i've worked with jimmy and and we when
54:45we're putting together things it's like
54:47her mind is so amazing she touched to
54:49touch on things that you would
54:51that make you say who you know and it is
54:53it's amazing and she got a way to make
54:55your energy just go
54:56so i want to hear her answer
54:59to our her question because she says she
55:02ought to have her own answer
55:03i want to hear your answer to the
55:05question because it's coming from exotic
55:07reasons one thing
55:08but coming from someone that was outside
55:11and came back in
55:12this is totally different they're
55:13totally different and i think it's
55:15better
55:15to hear from someone from coming from
55:18the outside into this
55:19this type of world yeah well
55:22i mean just my answer is watching
55:25watching your leadership and watching
55:26how you guys run this organization and
55:28and do the mission of this organization
55:31i've seen ways where you make
55:33different decisions and different
55:34choices than i think someone who wasn't
55:37an exoneree
55:38would make and often i especially see
55:42that with kirk bloodsworth our executive
55:43director
55:44making decisions where the well-being of
55:48death row exonerees
55:50is at the core right so we want to
55:52abolish the death penalty and we want to
55:54work on this or that
55:55but nothing at the expense of
55:58a death row exonerees well-being and
56:02um someone who isn't a death row
56:04exoneree might not
56:05always be able to know exactly
56:08what is going to hurt a death row
56:10exonerees well-being and so being able
56:12to
56:13be really sensitive to what are the
56:15things that actually is going to cause
56:17pain or suffering or stress or anything
56:19for a death or anxiety and making sure
56:22not to do that as an organization i
56:23don't want to get into specifics but
56:25there have been
56:26you know panels we were invited to be a
56:28part of or
56:29events we were invited to be a part of
56:30or decisions we had to make
56:32where me and some other people were like
56:34yeah this looks great and then you know
56:36kirk or kwame or somebody be like
56:38no no no no no because and and really
56:42knew what the consequence of being
56:44involved or
56:45do or be doing whatever the thing was
56:47was going to have
56:48on the ptsd and the well-being of the
56:51member and so we
56:52you know we didn't do it and i've seen
56:54that happen before and i've just seen a
56:55lot of choices made where
56:57the death row exonerees well-being is
56:59centered above all else and i have
57:01the most respect and appreciation for
57:03that and i can tell that you're
57:04that it's different than someone who
57:06hasn't walked in your shoes because it
57:08it makes me question my assumptions so
57:10there have been places where i thought
57:11it was a good thing let's do it come on
57:13and then one of y'all like no this is
57:15not a good idea and i was like okay well
57:16let me
57:17let me back off and understand where
57:18you're coming from and i always learn
57:20things and really appreciate the the
57:22insight that y'all bring
57:23so that's my little secret answer
57:26well we we all remind you that
57:29we don't we don't prove this time too so
57:32uh remind you we only have a few minutes
57:34but
57:35this is the our organization you know we
57:38go over a little bit um
57:41would you like to add to that or derrick
57:44so i can i can touch it real briefly and
57:46just that
57:48uh ditto what uh jenny said uh
57:51however it's also the uniqueness of the
57:53organization
57:54is what that's what makes a jive so much
57:57um
57:58and and i'll give you an example
58:01um when deborah milke became a part of
58:05the organization
58:06uh she was rather um reserved
58:09to to say the least uh and then uh i saw
58:13her
58:14the next year after she had put in some
58:16hours and time with
58:18uh the affiliations of going into
58:21you know the the neighborhoods and
58:23putting down the stump you know
58:25and uh and she made a statement that is
58:28ever present in my mind which uh speaks
58:31to
58:32values to what we're talking about now
58:33and she said that
58:35she said guys when i first came she said
58:38i was so
58:38so shy and timid and i didn't know what
58:41was going on and you know
58:43she said but the minute i stepped in
58:45that room with all of those death roll
58:47exoneries
58:49we were brothers and sisters i wasn't
58:52intimidated you know and and that speaks
58:55volumes to
58:57to um any uh thing that would
59:00circumvent uh uh our having a great uh
59:04unification as an organization is the
59:06fact that
59:07as a unique volume uh a unit
59:11we we uh we jive
59:14and it's simply because the
59:16understanding of what you have been
59:18through
59:18is there the minute you lay eyes on the
59:20next person
59:22you know yeah
59:25so with that being said i i i
59:28totally agree with you and it's like i'm
59:30saying before it's like
59:32it's like a comfortable community
59:37when i first started wanting to speak i
59:39didn't want to speak to nobody
59:40you know but it it suited me
59:58i want to go into a couple of things
1:00:00that we
1:00:02we haven't touched on right with them
1:00:04i'm going to try to touch on the brief
1:00:06um alison can i have this slide please
1:00:12i want to touch on some of the things
1:00:13that um actually
1:00:15witness innocent uh does
1:00:19but um first of all you know
1:00:25we have down here at the bottom where
1:00:27you see the link say host them
1:00:29exonery and you see the link that says
1:00:33learn about accuracy and justice okay
1:00:36what these two
1:00:36does and you know you're welcome to go
1:00:39on witness anderson.org um
1:00:42and actually look at it and do it
1:00:45yourself
1:00:46but what this does is it provides uh
1:00:49a sort of income for uh examiners
1:00:52also but the most powerful thing about
1:00:55it is that
1:00:57here it is you have the ability to
1:01:01bring in a dental examiner
1:01:04at your church at your school at your
1:01:07job
1:01:08you know um i've been used in cases
1:01:11people so you know you have the ability
1:01:14to reach out to witness tennessee
1:01:16and get your very own death row exactly
1:01:19and have them come to speak
1:01:20at your at your event you know and one
1:01:23of the things about it is that
1:01:25you can sit and tell um
1:01:28someone about development or
1:01:31you know just go up to somebody in in
1:01:34the grocery store and talk about
1:01:49actually exonerated from death row
1:01:51believe me you have
1:01:52more of their attention and you can get
1:01:56a lot of things done and that's that is
1:01:58one of
1:01:59our our top priority at witness citizen
1:02:02and that's another reason why we do this
1:02:05show is because
1:02:06education is one of the most very
1:02:09important things here and when we fight
1:02:13because we have a lot of people that's
1:02:15out there don't really know what's going
1:02:17on
1:02:17don't really have no idea that people
1:02:20are actually being tolerated from death
1:02:22row
1:02:22and they don't even have to know the
1:02:24difference between the state
1:02:25death row and federalist death row uh
1:02:28you know
1:02:29they may have questions or things like
1:02:31that
1:02:33that you cannot ask and that's why it's
1:02:36so great to have
1:02:37uh a deaf horizontally uh come in and
1:02:41you can speak at your office so with
1:02:43this link
1:02:46witnessing.org
1:02:48slap backslash uh host a speaker
1:02:51you can have your very own speaker at
1:02:54your next
1:02:55forum or whatever and if you call
1:02:58us call witness edison to line this up
1:03:01we can accommodate you to do it
1:03:03uh through zoom or through social media
1:03:07and things like that and we also help
1:03:10you promote it
1:03:11you know by sending out messages over
1:03:14our uh
1:03:15network email blast to save
1:03:18about the event so people can also tune
1:03:22in
1:03:22now the next one is the accuracy and
1:03:25justice the advocacy of justice
1:03:27program is an amazing program in this
1:03:30program we have been so
1:03:32successful the most amazing thing
1:03:35that when i first heard about it i was
1:03:38like nah i don't want to do it but then
1:03:40i thought about it
1:03:42when they tried it but it's an amazing
1:03:44experience because now
1:03:45you have three dental exerteries
1:03:48and a defense attorney who's
1:03:50facilitating
1:03:53putting on a form for the state
1:03:56attorney's office
1:03:57police departments and people that is
1:04:01on the opposite side when you're
1:04:03actually being
1:04:04sentenced uh to death and things like
1:04:07that
1:04:08and you it is very soothing to see
1:04:11that when we do these accuracy of
1:04:13justice the people involved
1:04:15the police officers the criminal law the
1:04:18state attorneys
1:04:19you know it's amazing to see that these
1:04:22people
1:04:22are actually trying to work with uh
1:04:25exoneree to find out what they can do
1:04:29to make the justice system better to
1:04:31prevent from having wrongful convictions
1:04:33to prevent from um you know uh
1:04:37prosecuting misconduct i haven't
1:04:40prosecuted misconduct
1:04:41and things like that they want to try to
1:04:43fix their office
1:04:44uh so you know it's an amazing accuracy
1:04:48and justice for
1:04:49um those um that's out there that's fits
1:04:52arrested
1:04:53and uh again you call witness anderson
1:04:56for that
1:04:58our social media is here also i tweeted
1:05:01our facebook our instagram
1:05:03we we constantly putting out information
1:05:06from across from the united states
1:05:08all the time what's going on with the
1:05:10death penalty cases that's going on
1:05:12you know all the information that we can
1:05:15uh provide
1:05:16to our uh our
1:05:19people that uh subscribe to us or become
1:05:23members on our website you know um
1:05:25connects with us
1:05:26on social media we try to give them all
1:05:29the update information that we care
1:05:31you know we even got a newsletter that
1:05:34goes out every month you want to go on
1:05:36witnesses
1:05:37and actually uh sign up for membership
1:05:40or receive the new stuff
1:05:42also as as we all
1:05:46know every this is a non-profit
1:05:48organization
1:05:50it says support the welcome witness
1:05:52business
1:05:53representative.org donate
1:05:56you have to understand as a nonprofit
1:05:59organization we
1:06:00are not able to go out there and make
1:06:02money to
1:06:03to to to keep things running you know
1:06:07we have to raise money and sometimes
1:06:09that is very difficult especially when
1:06:11this program 19
1:06:12uh situation is going around
1:06:16and uh that eliminates our programs and
1:06:18things that we're
1:06:20able to do you know and uh
1:06:23it is very important that if you are in
1:06:26a position that you can support our
1:06:29organization that you also because we
1:06:32have
1:06:32programs such as the emergency plans the
1:06:35emergency fund
1:06:36is for the deaf examiner when they have
1:06:39been a
1:06:40bad situation where they need cars right
1:06:43away so
1:06:44for instance the lights go off or water
1:06:47go off
1:06:48you know something in that nature where
1:06:50it's it's a time where
1:06:52you need something to be able to survive
1:06:55in that instead of uh
1:06:56you know i mean it's it's it's it's
1:07:01it's very helpful it's gonna help me
1:07:03with my wife and kids
1:07:04a lot of times because the my state
1:07:08of being in the house with my lights on
1:07:11and i got the kids
1:07:12i'm stressing it it intensifies my ps2
1:07:16they intensify my depression my anxiety
1:07:19and things like that but
1:07:20it's comfort to know that i can call
1:07:23witness to medicine
1:07:24and you know they'll try to help me out
1:07:27you know and get those lights back on
1:07:29you know they've
1:07:30done a great job doing that before and
1:07:34the last thing i would like to talk
1:07:35about is connect with kearney and that's
1:07:38me
1:07:40hmm the reason
1:07:43i have this video is because i want
1:07:46people to start reaching out
1:07:47you want to talk
1:07:49[Music]
1:07:51especially your students i support the
1:07:53kids in education
1:07:55i support the kids in education they may
1:07:56be doing a book report
1:07:58or anything like that and have any
1:08:00questions they can email me directly
1:08:02you know you have questions about the
1:08:04healthcare or anything like that
1:08:06you know you're gonna email me directly
1:08:08i have an
1:08:09open uh policy and i try to
1:08:12uh i want to i want to make a difference
1:08:15every way i can
1:08:17you know and that is my conversation uh
1:08:20i didn't get compensated for uh the
1:08:24miscarriage adjusted that done
1:08:26but my conversation comes from you know
1:08:28being
1:08:29able to be in a position to help those
1:08:32that really want to know
1:08:34what what things really is and i do uh
1:08:38answer back as quick as possible uh
1:08:42my staff also have access to that email
1:08:44so if it's about an event
1:08:46or anything like that one of those will
1:08:49get right back with you
1:08:51so feel free to email me at h lindsey
1:08:55or now we went over
1:08:5910 minutes and uh i would like to say
1:09:03uh that was so perfect you see why i
1:09:06like my stuff
1:09:08i just i don't know what i said um we're
1:09:11over 10 minutes and guess what the
1:09:13screen stopped sharing
1:09:14you know like i don't know that girl was
1:09:17like
1:09:18hey
1:09:28yeah no i'm saying i said if her video
1:09:31was showing you can see she back that
1:09:33laughing but
1:09:33yeah as soon as i finish talking this
1:09:36like
1:09:37it's gone so but uh
1:09:40with that said we got it in the show so
1:09:43i was wondering
1:09:44is there any last words that either one
1:09:46of you
1:09:47i would like to uh say before we in this
1:09:50session uh thank you that was so
1:09:52powerful i think it was a very powerful
1:09:54message that
1:09:55uh you were able to convey today brother
1:09:57i appreciate that
1:09:58uh and uh to the world um thank you so
1:10:01much for tuning in
1:10:02and uh give witness and innocence
1:10:04another chance
1:10:06uh every day you get up give witness to
1:10:08innocence another chance
1:10:10and every day that you get up give
1:10:11witness to innocence
1:10:13another chance because we're out here
1:10:15fighting
1:10:16to give the young ones another chance
1:10:19thank you there you have anything you
1:10:22say
1:10:23yes indeed amen i love y'all and thank
1:10:27y'all for tuning in live
1:10:29and thank y'all so much herman you and
1:10:32kwami
1:10:33and jenny and allison and all y'all for
1:10:35all the great work y'all do and the
1:10:37great work y'all accomplishing
1:10:40doing this pandemic you know thank y'all
1:10:42man i love y'all and i'm proud of y'all
1:10:44and i'm
1:10:45always you just quit y'all man and you
1:10:47know i'm always the phone
1:10:48call away brothers and sisters i love
1:10:50y'all so much man
1:10:52what's that ring on your finger let's
1:10:54never bring it in
1:10:56yeah what is that that's my jeffrey
1:10:59johnny ring
1:11:00kurt bloodworth my brother kurt
1:11:02bloodworth sent these
1:11:03out to 172 different exoteries
1:11:07all over the country brother my man
1:11:10thank you hey man i love y'all man y'all
1:11:13stay
1:11:13safe man and keep your head up and stay
1:11:16focused on
1:11:17good and put out good karma to the world
1:11:20and then it'll come back to your full
1:11:21baby
1:11:22i love y'all man stay up man stay prayed
1:11:25up and stay
1:11:26safe god bless you all right
1:11:30before i end i just want to say this one
1:11:32last thing that
1:11:33uh you can we are also on youtube you
1:11:36can go on youtube
1:11:37type up witnesses that's right you can
1:11:39see some of the videos of the
1:11:41democrats on the reason their stories um
1:11:46if you can look at those things and you
1:11:48can walk away
1:11:50ignore witness to innocent then i have
1:11:52to say
1:11:54um you you are personal
1:11:58because those stories are very touching
1:12:01and
1:12:01it's reality it's not stories that
1:12:05uh been made up of them who's the to
1:12:08to manipulate you it's the stories of
1:12:11true
1:12:11people speaking about the experience
1:12:13that they have and i encourage you to go
1:12:15on
1:12:16a youtube site and to look at some of
1:12:18those videos
1:12:20don't take worried about how things are
1:12:23you
1:12:23actually look at some other videos and
1:12:25you put the common denominators together
1:12:28and you would yourself see that this is
1:12:31a
1:12:31this is a terrible problem a terrible
1:12:34problem
1:12:35but we have to live with it
1:12:38so with that being said i want to thank
1:12:40everybody for another week
1:12:42of uh crude justice next week we'll be
1:12:45talking about
1:12:46a great organization represent justice
1:12:49and what they have done they've done
1:12:51some amazing things to change over
1:12:53uh how uh things are are
1:12:58they just putting this way they marketed
1:13:01abolishing the death penalty and other
1:13:05issues in a way that
1:13:08is remarkable but i'm gonna save that
1:13:10for next week
1:13:11and um i thank everybody for coming i
1:13:14thank my style
1:13:16see you later

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