Juntos somos

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.

Todas las actualizaciones de noticias sobre este caso, se incluirán al pie de este artículo

‘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 Capital X, El bienestar de los Poetas, Princess Emmanuelle & Amigos, Alejandro Verano y Las Tribunas.
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 y 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 (Alejandro Verano, Princess Emmanuelle), regular contributors since 2006 (Las Tribunas); 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. Ahora, while my experience and Mikey Powell’s may not be ‘exactly’ the same, we have both been sentenced to death. Pero, I am still able to fight to save my life. Con tristeza, brother Mikey Powell is not here to do the same. Brother Mikey should not be dead.”

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Seguimiento de Noticias:

Tony Egbuna Ford was the driver for two brothers who went to a house in El-Paso to collect a drug debt in 1991. Los hermanos entraron por la fuerza, pero no encontró el hombre que estaban buscando.

Exigieron dinero a una mujer en la dirección luego dispararon a cada uno de los cuatro miembros de la familia, matar al hijo, hiriendo de gravedad a la madre e hirió a dos mujeres jóvenes. No hubo evidencia de colocar a Tony en la casa esa noche. Fue declarado culpable y condenado a muerte a pesar de su testimonio de que no estuvo involucrado en el robo o el tiro. Visite el sitio web >

Michael Lloyd Powell, conocido como Mikey, (a cousin of renowned poet and writer Benjamin Zephaniah) died on 7th September 2003, años de edad 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 minutos. Mikey was dead by the time it arrived. Visite el sitio web >