My Twitter timeline has been flooded with people who all of sudden care about Mr. Troy Davis. Please don’t get me wrong, I’m happy people are speaking up for a man that could very well be innocent. However, people, especially our people, tend to wait until it’s too late to open their mouths. This man has been in jail for years, and now all of a sudden, because it’s the day of his scheduled execution, everyone wants to become pro Troy Davis. Where was this support when he was convicted? Or when he was appealing his case, time after time again. Yes, I understand the outrage; especially after reading all the available facts of the case. However, we can’t expect mainstream to take us seriously if we only come together one day to show our support, then the next day we’re back to being ignorant. What happens tomorrow? Better yet, what happens at 7:01pm tonight if Mr. Davis is indeed executed? We can’t only show that we care for one day, one week, or even one month. This has to be a continuous movement, if we expect anyone to take us as a race seriously.

Where was this mass out pouring when it was time to cast your ballots? In many cases, we voted these people into office. Maybe I should say our absence at the polls voted these people into office. We as African Americans have to stop being so quick to cry foul, when we are the ones that allow this nonsense to take place. We are the ones voting for and supporting people merely because they are black; and expecting them to have our best interest at heart simply because we have the same skin tone. Or calling them a sell out the moment they don’t drop everything they’re doing to come save a “brotha” or “sistuh”. We can’t continue to vote straight Democrat or Republican tickets without knowing all the facts. Voting for someone simply because they have a “D” in front of their name is like buying a house without knowing what kind of foundation it’s on. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I’ve voted Republican just as many times as I’ve voted Democrat. However, I digress.

Let me just say this…It’s great that people are backing Mr. Davis. I’m sure he as well as his family appreciate the support. Nevertheless, in my opinion, it shouldn’t have had to come to this. If the outpour then was as it is now…I can almost assure you, this case would have had a completely different outcome. The parole boards, DA, investigators and prosecution would have taken a much closer look at this case. Think about it…Mr. Davis has won 3 previous delays, which shows me that they know there’s something entirely wrong about the verdict. Can you imagine how differently this case could have been if we did then what we’re attempting to do now?!?! What are we doing to make sure that there aren’t any more Troy Davis’? If this man is murdered tonight, will we even remember his name next month? Will we hold anyone accountable? Or will we simply make Mr. Davis a trending topic on Twitter for a few days, moan and complain amongst ourselves, post a couple Facebook statuses then go back to our lives as if nothing happened? Think about it!

~RachelleDanielle