Forty-eight years ago in Atlanta, I walked in my first anti-death penalty march. As an 11-year-old girl I walked with my father, a United Methodist minister, and my mother, a civil rights attorney, in protest of the Gregg v. Georgia US Supreme Court decision that reinstated the death penalty in our country. Ever since, walking has been a way for me to put my values into action. Since the launch of our Commutation Campaign in December 2022, many of you have walked with me in protest of the death penalty. This fall, the NCCADP team will walk 136 miles to raise awareness of the 136 lives at risk of execution in North Carolina and to call on Governor Roy Cooper to eliminate that risk by commuting death sentences. Our Walk for Commutation will begin in Winston-Salem on September 26th and end in Raleigh on October 10th, which is World Day Against the Death Penalty. Our route will begin and end in the two counties, Forsyth and Wake, where more people are sentenced to death than anywhere else in NC.
Over the course of two weeks, we will make stops along the way for shared meals, film screenings, conversations, and sing-alongs. Please complete this google form to let us know how you’d like to be involved in the walk. In addition to planned programs, we will also pause at historic and contemporary sites where the racism of our criminal legal system continues to thrive. We will finalize our schedule and route closer to date, but our current plan is:
- 9/26 to 9/28 in the Winston Salem area
- 9/29 to 10/1 Greensboro
- 10/2 Alamance County
- 10/3 Hillsborough
- 10/4 to 10/6 Durham
- 10/7 to 10/8 Chapel Hill
- 10/9 to 10/10 Raleigh
We will mark the end of the walk and World Day Against the Death Penalty with a program at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleigh the evening of October 10th.
As we enter the final months of our Commutation Campaign, we are at a critical time with potential for significant change. If Gov. Cooper uses his power to commute death sentences, we can ensure that executions do not resume. If he fails to act, we could see North Carolina’s execution chamber spring back to life. With the governor’s term winding down, time is running out. Plan now to join us this fall to make sure our message is heard loud and clear before it’s too late: No more death row!
– Noel Nickle, NCCADP Executive Director
