On July 9th, 2000, 20-year-old Susan Kigula woke up to sharp neck pain. Her husband was bleeding out. Two burglars fled into the night. Three days later, Kigula was accused of murder and later sentenced to death by hanging.
But she refused to go down without a fight.
Kigula became the face of a case against Uganda to amend its law. In 2009, its Supreme Court decided that the death penalty was no longer mandatory for those found guilty of murder. Further, after someone spends three years on death row, their sentence converts to 20 years.
Today, Kigula continues to advocate for prison abolition and incarcerated women’s rights. And as of 2022, 144 countries have abolished the death penalty. Unfortunately, the U.S, hasn’t followed suit.
Criminal legal systems worldwide claim to “rehabilitate” and keep us safe but still have death penalties. This means something’s seriously wrong. But it also means this: there are Black people all around the world who can come together to dismantle it.