M: Tonight, Wednesday, August 14thA: in our home state of Texas
M: the great state of Texas
A: God’s country,
M: Javier Medina will eat his last meal,

All: “This is what is happening tonight in America.”

A: Six pieces of fried chicken, French fries, six rolls
M: Tin Roof Ice Cream, strawberry soda, and chocolate cake

A: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul.”

M: “I am just going home. Alabamos a Dios todos. Amen.”

A: Venison steak, baked potato, beer, and cigarettes.
B: Alcohol and cigarettes are prohibited.

A: “I love you, Miguel. Take care of my angel, Leslie”

M: God’s saving grace and a jar of pickles.
A: Birthday cake with ‘2/23/90’ written in frosting

M: “We don’t need any minimum, maximum security, death row. We need more loving fathers & mothers”

A: “There is a direct correlation between how poor you are and how quickly the state kills you.”

M: Liver & onions, cottage cheese,
A: fresh tomatoes, creamed spinach.

M: “I owe no apologies for a crime I did not commit”

A: Fried chicken-
M: -1 qt. coleslaw-

A: -tea or juice-
M: -vanilla ice cream.

A: “I am ready, Warden. I’m ready.”
M: Chili dogs
A: “No one wins here tonight. No one walks away victorious”
B: baked beans, Baby Ruth,
A: fudge pops, corn on the cob,

M: “It started with a needle & it is ending with a needle”
A: peanut butter cookies, orange soda,
M: “Let’s rock & roll. Let’s go Warden. Me & You, all of us”

A: “This is what is happening tonight in America.”
M: “This is what is happening tonight in America.”
A: “This is what is happening tonight in America.”

M: “A lot of people don’t understand:
when you are innocent
that it’s like a defiance in you
being locked up for something you didn’t do.”
A: “On May 10, 2000, in Houston, Kerry Allen sexually assaulted and murdered a two-year-old black female. The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the abdomen.”

M: 2 grilled cheese sandwiches and 2 boiled eggs.

A: “I hate when people tell me ‘just be patient.’
I’ve done watched innocent people get executed, man!
I heard about how Gary Graham went kicking and screaming, and he was innocent!”

M: “On November 16, 1999, William Rayford murdered a 44-year-old black female. It was witnessed by her two teenage sons.” “There is a lynching happening tonight in America.”

A: “I know that this system is not beyond killing an innocent person.”

M: “They always hear the governor saying
all these delightful things about the moratorium,
but this man hasn’t even taken any steps
to come down to death row to see
what is really going on.”

A: “How many of you would be willing to throw the switch? Until I can be sure that no innocent person will be executed, there will be no executions.”

M: “This is what is happening tonight in America.”
A: “This is what is happening tonight in America.”
M: “This is what is happening tonight in America.”

A: August 14th, 2002
M: at midnight
A: Javier Medina will be put to death for the murder of a Dallas police officer.

M: “Politicians love executions.”
A: “There is a difference between revenge and justice.”
M: “Nothing like putting a black man or a brown man-”
A: “There is a lynching happening tonight in America.”
M: “-or some hillbilly white trash to death.”

A: “No one wins here tonight.”

M: “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
A: “No one gets closure here tonight,”
M: “This is what is happening tonight in America.”
A: “This is what is happening tonight in Texas.”

Both: “Tonight in our great home state.”
M: “The great state of Texas”
A: “God’s country”
M: “This is what is happening”
A: “This is what is happening.”

M: One flour tortilla. Glass of water. Redemption.
A: “This is what is happening in America tonight.”

This poem is reprinted with permission from Freedom to Speak: National Poetry Slam 2002