items of interest

with contributions from Martha Beck, Joyce King, Csar G. Soriano, Name removed by request, Martha Sawyer Allen

"In 1999, my life changed when I covered the three trials of the men accused in the dragging murder of James Byrd, Jr., an agonizing assignment that consumed more than a year of my life. I had wanted nothing to do with Jasper, Texas, and the horrors of racism—a subject with which I was already more than familiar. Then I stood on the logging road where Byrd [was murdered].... I have never been more terrorized in my life than on that day watching the sun set on Huff Creek Road. The deadly power of hatred got my undivided attention. Somehow, I had to make a difference by telling the story.

"Walking the route where Byrd was dragged for three miles, I realized that if I didn't overcome the anger festering in my own heart, it would escalate to a level that would have made inner peace and forgiveness impossible....

"It would have been easy for me to simply hate the three white men convicted of dragging Byrd to death.... But I could not let the hateful actions of three people cause me to blame all of white America. I could not saddle the world with more decades-old racial baggage. So instead of clinging to the baggage, I formed brave relationships with three other white men, all of whom shared a love for justice: the Jasper County sheriff, district attorney, and the assistant DA."

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