“I have something to say, but not at this time.”
— Grover Cleveland Redding, convicted of murder, hanging, Illinois.
Executed June 24, 1921
Redding had claimed that he was the prince of Abyssinia and was just trying to bring the people of his race back to their homeland. During a riot that was started by Redding and his followers, two were shot to death. Redding had built up a following with his anti-government and religiously motivated teachings.
“Know that I love all of you. I love the people, I love all of you for your blessing, strength, for your courage…Keep moving forward, my brothers. Slavery couldn’t stop us. The lynching couldn’t stop us in the south. This lynching will not stop us tonight. We will go forward. Our destiny in this country is freedom and liberation. We will gain our freedom and liberation by any means necessary. By any means necessary, we keep marching forward. I love you, Mr. Jackson. Bianca, make sure that the state does not get my body. Make sure that we get my name as Shaka Sankofa. My name is not Gary Graham. Make sure that it is properly presented on my grave. Shaka Sankofa…”
— Gary Graham, convicted of robbery and murder, lethal injection, Texas.
Executed June 22, 2000
“After considering all of the facts, I am convinced justice is being done,” said Texas governor George W. Bush after the final appeals for Graham were denied. Inside the execution chamber, strapped with more restraints than normally used, Graham called executions a “holocaust for black Americans.” Graham maintained his innocence despite his conviction for shooting fifty-three-year-old Bobby Grant Lambert outside a Houston supermarket.
Along with hundreds of protesters in California and Massachusetts and outside Huntsville Prison, sitting in as witnesses to Graham’s execution were Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Amnesty International representative Bianca Jagger. “There were no tears shed,” said Jackson, who talked and prayed with Graham an hour before his execution. “He had a sense of inner peace. He feels he was being used as a kind of change agent to expose the system.”
“All set, warden, I’m ready to go. Lead me to it. I’ve had a swell time here and I’m not anxious to get rid of any of these swell fellows. The warden has treated me wonderfully.”
— Leonard Belongia, convicted of murder, gas chamber, Colorado.
Executed June 21, 1935
Working as a sheep rancher for room and board, Belongia lived with the family of Albert E. Oesterick. Needing more money to get married and feeling that he was underpaid, Belongia murdered Oesterick, wounded his wife, and beat their son with a rifle. During his trial he admitted his crime, and a physician testified that Belongia had “the mentality of a ten-year-old.”
Making no attempt to appeal, Belongia donated his body to a Denver medical school, which later rejected him because no one wanted to pay ten dollars to ship the body.