Grand Rapids, MI – Around 30 people gathered on the evening of October 6 at Rosa Parks Circle to mourn and remember the life of Khaliifah Ibn Rayford Daniels, who was executed by the state of Missouri on September 24. The vigil was organized by the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
The stage faced the statue of the legendary civil rights activist Rosa Parks, a long-time Michigan resident for whom the plaza is named. The community activists and organizers spoke from the heart and put the blame for Daniels’ execution on Missouri Governor Mike Parson and connected his murder to the history of apartheid in the southern U.S.
The event included speakers from Freedom Road Socialist Organization Michigan, Grand Valley State University Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids and For Everyone Collective.
Eric Johnson, a student organizer with Grand Valley State University SDS, made it clear that Daniels was lynched by the United States, as no amount of popular support, evidence and testimonies that prove his innocence could persuade Governor Parson.
Emerson Wolfe, co-chair of Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids, linked the genocide in Gaza to the historical genocide of indigenous peoples and other oppressed nationalities in the United States today, stating, “Violence and domination is the legacy of the United States. The principles of Manifest Destiny that drove the genocide against the indigenous people are the same principles Israel uses to commit genocide against the Palestinians.”
An organizer with the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression stated, “The devastation of this loss, and the unanswered cries for justice and accountability that remain in this community for Samuel Sterling, for Riley Doggett, and for Patrick Lyoya have not diminished our will to fight. But we affirm that greater actions are still required of us all, and by honoring their names, we make that call tonight.”
Sam Tunningley from FRSO Michigan and the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression closed out the speakers by reading Daniels poem, The Perplexing Smiles of the Children of Palestine.
“When I read his poem The Perplexing Smiles of the Children of Palestine, I wept,” said Tunningley. “I wept knowing this man was about to lose his life. I wept knowing that in his final year he had been following the atrocities committed against the Palestinian people by our government.”
Afterward, Tunningley opened it up for anyone to speak about Daniels or other concerns affecting the community.
One student spoke passionately of his political awakening, which drove him to join SDS at GVSU. This concluded the vigil on an uplifting note, despite the heavy subject and content of the speakers, with community members conversing and asking how to get involved.
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