source: Workers World
published: 25 October 2022
It was a perfect weather day at the Texas Capitol in Austin Oct. 22, for hundreds who participated in one march and two rallies against the racist anti-poor death penalty.
In three emotional hours, love, solidarity, determination, anger, heartbreak and resilience filled the crisp autumn air as activists held the 23rd Annual Texas March and Rally to Abolish the Death Penalty.
A carload of people came from the Rio Grande Valley near the Texas-Mexico border and others from nearby cities.
The Kids Against the Death Penalty led a {very} loud and militant march around the capitol to the governor’s mansion and through downtown, totally disturbing the peace.
Austin’s progressive singer/songwriter Sara Hickman warmed up the crowd early on with her vocals. Seven-year-old Marilyn Santoyo thrilled everyone with an acapella version of Andra Day’s Grammy-nominated hit, “Rise Up.” It is an anthem of protest and empowerment that Marilyn sings outside the death house in Huntsville as an execution is taking place inside.
The voices of the mothers, brothers, sisters, spouses, cousins and children of people sentenced for execution painted a picture of the pervasive and cruel injustice of the death penalty, as they spoke in front of a state capitol built by incarcerated workers who were not paid.
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