October 2 – Texas Journey in 13 days!
Fry Fish, Not People is the abolition motto in Alaska. Perhaps because they live in this “Great Land”, they have become great people with great hearts…
I would not know. I have only been to Alaska through Skype. True I’ve been almost daily since we began organizing the Texas Journey of Hope 2010, but still… I have not yet enjoyed Kathy, Rich and Dirk’s grilled salmon, or tasted Barb and Dirk’s hospitality. I have been invited, and I will go. I want to see Bill and Kathy, the high mountains in the distance, the moose in the street, and the rainbow that sometimes appears in the sky.
What I know is: there are wonderful, supportive people in Alaska. They have understood everything there is to understand about OUR fight against capital punishment. Their state is larger than Texas, and they do not have the death penalty. They defeated HB 9, a bill that would have introduced the death penalty to Alaska for the first time since the territory became a U.S. state in 1953. They needed the Journey, we came. We need them, they are on our side. They fry fish, not people. They fry death penalty, not abolitionists.
In the past months of hard work in organizing the Texas Journey of Hope 2010, writing hundreds of letters, posts, brochures, documents, creating contacts and connecting with so many abolitionists and organizations to receive a legitimate support for our work, what just happened tastes better than the best Chinook salmon ever. I know that too.
Journey of Hope…From Violence to Healing has received moral and financial support as high as Mount McKinley! Finally, an American organization takes an official stand and gives $1,500 to help us go to Texas. I am overwhelmed to see their members raise $2,500 more to help us go to Texas. It’s the first time I’ve been warm…
Yes, Alaskans Against the Death Penalty not only are dedicated to keeping Alaska free from capital punishment (and they succeed in doing so), they also want Texas to know how good this freedom tastes. $4,000 taste very yummy!
Bill Pelke must have already told you, but I am going to add my (big) voice to his:
THANK YOU ALASKANS AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY!
In the words of your famous “Bard of the Yukon”:
And there sat Sam, looking cool and calm, in the heart of the furnace roar; And he wore a smile you could see a mile, and said: “Please close that door. It’s fine in here, but I greatly fear, you’ll let in the cold and storm — Since I left Plumtree, down in Tennessee, it’s the first time I’ve been warm.”
Gilles Denizot
Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing board member & Secretary
Connect with Alaskans Against the Death Penalty on their website, on their Facebook page and Facebook group, on twitter, and support them. Why not buy their “Fry Fish Not People” t-shirts, caps, or even an apron? You’ll need them to fry your next Alaska salmon!
