On April 30th at 6:00 PM, the State of Texas has scheduled the execution of James Broadnax. After two decades on death row in the Polunski Unit for a crime he continues to claim he did not commit, James’s case has become a symbol of the distortions of the American justice system: from systemic racism to the use of rap lyrics as evidence of guilt.
James has been locked up on death row in the Polunski Unit for twenty years. He entered as a young man when he was 19 being convicted of a double homicide in Garland in 2008. Today, at the age of 37, James is no longer that confused young man, marked by an abusive childhood. He has become a man who, in the silence of his incarceration, has transformed himself into a mentor for younger inmates, a role model who has received recognition for his maturity and commitment. Yet, the system seems to ignore the man he has become,
preferring to remain anchored to a trial that many define as profoundly unfair.
The case against him, in fact, is a house of cards based on fragile foundations. Everything revolves around a confession obtained at a moment of extreme vulnerability: James was under the influence of PCP, a dissociative drug, suffering from hallucinations, and had shown clear suicidal tendencies. In that altered mental state, without any psychiatric stabilization, he made statements that became his conviction. But science tells a different story. DNA tests performed on the murder weapon and the victims’ clothing have excluded James, drastically weakening the case for his guilt.
The jury selection (11 whites men and just one afro american man) made the situation getting darker and darker: an imbalance that raises heavy shadows of racial discrimination. But what has transformed the case into a battle for freedom of expression is the unscrupulous use of James’s music in the courtroom. The Prosecutor, infact, used 40 pages of his rap lyrics (written when he was a boy) as evidence of his “social danger,” transforming metaphors and artistic jargon into a
premeditated criminal plan.
This criminalization of art has pushed American rappers to take action. Artists such as Travis Scott, Killer Mike, Young Thug, T.I., and Fat Joe have filed legal documents with the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS). Their message is clear: art cannot be used as evidence in a criminal court. No actor is executed for the crimes of his character, yet for James, his rhymes have become a noose around his neck.
Today, his wife, Tiana, joins the voices of the Community of Sant’Egidio and thousands of activists around the world.
“James feels the love and appreciates everything you do” Tiana writes in a heartfelt plea, praying that she will not have to bury her husband prematurely. The battle for James Broadnax’s life is a race against time. Signing the petition is not only an act of solidarity with a man, but a strong “NO” to a system that uses skin color and artistic creativity to decide who can live and who must die.
HOW TO HELP US STOP THE EXECUTION
The Community of Sant’Egidio, along with thousands of activists worlwide , is calling for clemency. It’s not just about saving a life, but preventing a man from being executed basing own convictions on racial prejudices and distorted artistic interpretations.