By Greg Butterfield

In response to the State of Texas's plan to execute Black death-row activist Shaka Sankofa (Gary Graham) on June 22, five groups have issued an urgent call to the movement to build Emergency Days of Resistance to End the Death Penalty and Stop the Execution of Shaka Sankofa June 16-19.

The groups are the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement, Shaka Sankofa Defense Committee, Inter national Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, New York Free Mumia Coalition, and Millions for Mumia/International Action Center.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Sankofa's final appeal May 1, the prisoner has been repeatedly gassed and beaten. He told supporters that he would not cooperate in any way with the Texas death machine.

The emergency actions were announced May 16 at a New York meeting of 80 volunteers and organizers who worked on the 6,000-strong rally for Mumia Abu-Jamal at Madison Square Garden. Larry Holmes of Millions for Mumia and Ashanti Chimurenga of the Sankofa Defense Committee presented the proposal to the enthusiastic crowd.

The call to action states: "Many people believe, and with good reason, that Shaka Sankofa was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. Shaka, only 17 years old at the time of his arrest, was convicted and sentenced to death on the basis of police-coaxed testimony of a single witness during a quick trial in 1981.

"Shaka's trial was tainted by racism, police and prosecutorial misconduct, suppression of evidence, and an incompetent, unenthusiastic defense by his court-appointed lawyer. Like Mumia, Shaka's fight for a new trial has attracted the interest and support of people all over the world."

Holmes said the demonstrations would focus attention on the record of presidential candidate and Texas Governor George W. Bush, who has presided over 127 executions since taking office in 1995. Twenty more executions are scheduled there before November's election.

"June 19--also known as `Juneteenth'--is the anniversary of the day slaves in Texas learned of the Emancipation Proclamation," Holmes explained. "It's fitting that we turn the days leading up to this historic anniversary associated with the abolition of slavery into an occasion to demand the abolition of the death penalty."

Groups and individuals are asked to endorse the Emergency Days of Resistance; organize protests locally or mobilize for demonstrations planned in Houston and New York; and get the word out to the media and on the Internet.

The New York demonstration is scheduled for June 19 at 5 p.m. outside "Bush for President" headquarters at Madison Ave. and 45th St. in Manhattan.

Many resources are available at www.mumia2000.org , including a flyer for the days of resistance and a fact sheet on Sankofa's case. For more information, call (212) 633-6646.