Gemeinsam sind wir

For Mikey & Tony

This event was a collaboration in conjunction with 4WardEver the Mikey Powell Campaign and Birmingham Indymedia, and took place at The Rainbow in Birmingham on 7th September 2007.

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‘Together We Are’ was a vibrant night of live music, arts and poetry commemorating the death of Mikey Powell, who died in police custody in September 2003, and in support of Tony Egbuna Ford, an innocent black man awaiting a death sentence in Texas, USA.

There were blazing live performances by Kapital X, Der Sozialstaat Poets, Princess Emmanuelle & Freunde, Summer Alexander und Die Tribunen.
Many of the artistes travelled from the United States and London to take part in this annual event, and the campaign were also supported by The Rainbow manager/owner, Kent, who gave the venue free of charge and provided refreshments to the performers throughout the night.

Thanks also go out to Sam, Alex and others at IndyMedia Birmingham who assisted with securing the venue, publicity, press and radio interviews. Friends and family members also helped on the night and provided support and advice in the planning of the event.

The campaign would also express appreciation to Newstyle Radio, BBC West Midlands und Smooth Radio for giving airtime about the event and the work of 4WardEver, and the Mikey Powell Campaign.

This was a special night enjoyed by all present. We cannot thank enough those artistes that have supported this event every year since Mikey’s death (Summer Alexander, Princess Emmanuelle), regular contributors since 2006 (Die Tribunen); and this years selfless contributions from Capital X and the Welfare Poets.

Special thanks to Tippa Naphtali who made it all happen!

From Texas death row Tony Egbuna Ford sent us this powerful message:

“The death of Mikey Powell is something that should resonate with everyone in the UK and abroad, regardless of race, class or background. Here was a brother who was taken into police custody, and given an impromptu death sentence.

“For me personally, this resonates with me, in that I was taken into police custody, and charged with a capital offence which resulted in my being sentenced to death. Jetzt, while my experience and Mikey Powell’s may not be ‘exactly’ the same, we have both been sentenced to death. Aber, I am still able to fight to save my life. Sadly, brother Mikey Powell is not here to do the same. Brother Mikey should not be dead.”

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Follow-up News:

Tony Egbuna Ford was the driver for two brothers who went to a house in El-Paso to collect a drug debt in 1991. Die Brüder drangen in aber nicht finden den Mann, den sie suchten.

Sie forderten Geld von einer Frau an die Adresse dann erschossen jedes der vier Familienmitglieder, Tötung des Sohnes, schwer verletzt die Mutter und verletzte zwei junge Frauen. Es gab keine Hinweise auf Tony im Haus platzieren, dass Nacht. Er wurde für schuldig befunden und zum Tode verurteilt trotz seiner Aussage, er sei nicht in der Break-in oder Schießen beteiligt. Visit website >

Michael Lloyd Powell, bekannt als Mikey, (a cousin of renowned poet and writer Benjamin Zephaniah) died on 7th September 2003, alt 38, whilst in police custody in Handsworth, Birmingham.

Here’s what happened: Officers drove a police car at Mikey, hitting him, beat him with batons, CS gassed him, restrained him and, knowing he was injured, drove him to a police station not a hospital. At the police station the officers simply did not call for an ambulance for over 4 Minuten. Mikey was dead by the time it arrived. Visit website >