The President's Corner

from SCLC National Magazine - King 2022 Issue

Like a Thief in the Night…..The Demonization of the Black Vote in Small Town Georgia

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

Free Pervis Payne- A Black man like ME. Justice must be served for Pervis Payne.

By Dr. Charles Steele Jr., SCLC National President & CEO Sweet tea, blues, rock-n- roll and barbeque are a few things I love about Tennessee! The mountainous plains of the state the and the beautiful weather in summer and winter make Tennessee a beautiful place. Yes, there are many things to love. However, like most states in this country, Tennessee has it closet of bones. Memphis is where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the co-founder and first president of the SCLC, was assassinated on April 4, 1968. He was killed by a sniper’s bullet as he stood outside his room of the Lorraine Motel. Yes, in Tennessee you can also be guilty for being Black and in the wrong place at the wrong time. It is not uncommon for this to happen. We’ve seen it throughout history.

Remember Emmett Till, a 14-year-old AfricanAmerican boy from Chicago, Illinois. He was brutally murdered for Allegedly flirting with a white woman four days earlier. The only thing Emmett was guilty of was being Black and at the wrong place at the wrong time. Emmett was killed August 28th 1955.

Pervis Payne was convicted of his crime on June 27th 1987. Here we are in 2021 and we are still fighting for the release of Payne and for Tennessee to right the wrong that has been placed upon Mr. Payne for the last 53 years.

In 1987, Pervis Payne was accused of killing a 28-year-old white mother and her twoyear-old daughter. He has been on death row for 33 years. Since his arrest, Payne has maintained his innocence. Payne discovered the bodies, but, fearing for his own life, fled the scene upon arrival of police. A new investigation into Payne’s case reveals numerous errors in the investigation, a staged crime scene, hidden evidence, destruction of evidence, information that Payne is intellectually disabled, prosecutorial misconduct and a racially motivated prosecution. The trial prosecutor, who has a history of professional misconduct,

played on age-old racist tropes: painting Payne as a super-predator who was drugged up on cocaine and looking to have sex with a white woman. The prosecutor went so far as to emphasize the victim’s white skin and Mr. Payne’s dark hand. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Why is this happening in 2021? First, let me say that I am thankful that Mr. Payne was removed from death row after three decades! Mr. Payne had been facing execution in Tennessee for three decades, despite living with an intellectual disability that makes it unconstitutional to execute him. In September of 2021, I spent two and a half hours speaking with the District Attorney (DA) in Shelby County, Tennessee asking the DA to take Mr. Payne off of death row and for him not to be executed. Mr. Payne was facing execution this December. I told the DA we needed to start the healing process because of the history of the enslavement of African-Americans for over 400 years. This execution of Pervis Payne (an innocent man) is unimaginable! I consider capital punishment as one of the most sinful acts to date! Thank God Mr. Payne can rest easy in knowing he doesn’t have to die by capital punishment for a crime he did not commit. However, this fi ght is not over! Mr. Payne is not free and he is still serving time for a crime he has always maintained he did not commit!

Let me leave this thought with you…don’t get complacent in these times that we are living in. I know the past two years has been one of the most exhausting and heartbreaking years in the history of this entire world. We are in a pandemic…I understand [not...]. However, please remember that we have been in a pandemic for a long time. We have been in a pandemic and epidemic of racism that has touched every corner of this world. This racial pandemic we have faced has killed countless African-Americans for hundreds of years. Yes, I agree this Covid-19 pandemic is horrifi c and yes, we are all in this together. BUT…are we not all in this together as we fi ght the pandemic and epidemic of racism and injustice? Is this not a crisis? Yes, it is!! We need to fi ght this just as aggressively as we are fi ghting to fi nd a cure for Covid-19! We can’t become complacent, we can’t! too many innocent lives have already been lost. Lift your voices and speak out when there is injustice and right now Mr. Payne needs our voice. FREE Pervis Payne NOW!

SUMMER 2020 Real Conversations FOR REAL CHANGE

HERSHEY INCLUSION

In All of Us

JANUARY 2020 Celebrating Martin Luther

King Jr. Day 2021 as employees around the company shared what his legacy and vision for a brighter future means to them and how we can continue creating change.

As long I can remember, every Martin Luther

King Day I start my day by watching his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech and I feel thankful.”

JANUARY 2022

Enterprise-wide Listen & Learn Sessions

with teams coming together to share experiences and feedback to make Hershey more inclusive.

JUNE 2020

Honest conversations on race are key to creating an inclusive

environment. Inclusion is the underpinning of a diverse organization and a requirement for a brighter, more equitable future.”

First all-employee Juneteenth Town Hall

for a discussion on race with Hershey Leaders.

Michele Buck

Chairman of the Board, President & CEO

JUNE 2021 All-employee Juneteenth

Town Hall with Hershey leaders and speakers with From Privilege to Progress for a real, honest conversation on personal experiences, learnings and actions.