The Independent Collegian

Issue date: 4/9/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Sarah Alfaham Elaine Brown, former chairwoman of the Black Panther Party, talks on Thursday in the Student Union Building.

A former chairwoman of the Black Panther Party, Elaine Brown, encourages everyone to petition against the death penalty.

America is still fighting racism, and blacks' education level is "lost," Brown said, adding that one percent or less of black people own a business.

"Either there is something wrong with black people or something wrong with America," she said.

Brown told some of the history behind the "law of the land," which was basically a "slavery constitution."

"It was a crime to be free, a crime punishable by death, a crime to try to be free," she said.

Brown spoke of Lincoln and how he was "so slick" by wanting to send the slaves to Hispaniola, but the blacks wanted to stay, and the South started losing the war.

Brown mentioned the 13th Amendment and how there were still black codes and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.

"[Blacks] tried to find how to live in this strange, barbaric land," she said.

Siddique Abdullah Hasan, another person Brown touched on, was sent to prison in Lucasville, Ohio, although he was innocent. Brown also said the jury was all white.

"'Try to be free' is the death penalty," she said.

The death penalty is a state-sponsored murder, Brown said. "Crime is a political question."

Brown said the prisons had bad health conditions and the prisoners were abused.

"Prisoners weren't in control - the state was in control," she said. "Crime is a political question."

Brown said these were the last days for Hasan, and they wanted to try to keep the date back.

"It's a pro-life, pro-war, pro-death penalty," she said.

"We're not free, but we lost the will to fight," Brown said.

"If you want [freedom], fight for it," Brown said, encouraging the audience of more than 150 people to sign a petition against the death penalty. "Make a commitment. Get the death penalty off the table. This is state-sponsored terrorism, and they both have to go."

The goal is to have 1 million people sign the petition in Ohio, she said.

Students found the speech to be powerful and inspiring.

"She was really intelligent," said Patrick Zangardi, a freshman majoring in business. He added that Brown brought up points he "never really thought of before."

Rachael VanBuskirk, a freshman majoring in communication, agreed.

"[It] kind of opened my eyes a lot more than before," she said. "She gave perspectives that are different views than what I'm used to hearing, more important things to look at to get bigger picture."

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