Statement from Wayne Williams:
During the years since my arrest and conviction, a considerable amount of information has come forth that can no longer be ignored. It not only shows my innocence, it sheds light on the truth about the Atlanta Murders.
This includes withheld evidence and information authorities had on suspects who committed many of the murders. Yet, politics and concern over image have denied justice for all of us directly touched by this continued tragedy.
Failure to act has compounded this tragedy and affected every black community in America. The effect has been the literal genocide of black youth.
I have witnessed this for over 30 years as our communities fell short of responsibilities to help our young people to overcome tremendous challenges.
The prisons are full of young black males who have yet to see a 20th birthday or face a lifetime of incarceration. We have let the system effectthe virtual death sentence on an entire generation seen as undesirable by society.
It is not a matter of justice by snuffing out these young lives who have not been given a real chance to make it or even enjoy life itself. How can we, as a proposed civilized nation, condemn our children to life imprisonment with no regard for redemption?
America cannot criticize any nation for the crimes it commits daily in the name of justice. It surely seems that our police, justice system and society have declared open season on young black males.
How many more Travon Martins’, Ramarley Grahams’ and Jonathan Ferrells’ will it take for our black communities to say “enough” and not continue with the same apathy shown since the Atlanta Murders of over 30 years ago.
Continued silence from our black media, politicians, religious, educational, and community leadership only condones this pattern of genocide. We must likewise address the atrocities and oppression inflicted on our young people by the courts and prison systems which are out of touch with the notion of restoration and forgiveness.
I ask your support in helping to bring forth truth about what happened in Atlanta during the Missing and Murdered Crisis. This is the least that can be done to help the families and those of us whose lives have been forever devastated.
I also ask you to end the cycle of talk and to act now in addressing the attitudes American society has towards black youth. We must end the branding of young black males as thugs simply to be gunned down and change the mindset of a criminal justice system that is out of control from police and courts to the prison system.
Now is the time to speak up, march, protest and vote. We must act collectively in the manner as our black leaders of the Civil Rights Era did to bring these issues to the forefront of American and world consciousness.
If we don’t, an entire generation of black youth could be lost to the same forces we saw in Atlanta nearly three decades ago.
