Despite my deep respect and sensitivity to African-American issues, I am not, in truth, “always seeking validation” from the African-American community. I am validated in my own art each time I teach a class. Whether in schools, summer camps, other studios or in my own, I am validated by the pure joy and transformation that I witness and have reflected back to me from all those with whom I dance! This includes the many African teachers and drummers, both local and those recognized internationally as masters of their craft, who come to Maple Street to teach.
They have not only encouraged me to study and to share what I have learned, but also consider themselves a part of our community. In turn, our community is a very active and respected part of the larger national community of African drumming and dancing.
No, I am not seeking validation, but understanding. It is my intention to pursue and contribute to a world in which people are judged not by the color of their skin, but by the contents of their character.
Join The Beat
Wilson Will Rebut
A Chance For Cody
To parents, I ask you what kind of monster would beat a toddler about the face and torso with a belt? What would you do if it happened to your child at the hands of someone you trusted to care for them? Now imagine being subjected to severe abuse on a daily and weekly basis for years. Imagine the terror this child lived in.
There were more than 30 witnesses who testified, under oath, that Posey isolated and abused his son. He refused to let Cody's maternal family see him. He was not permitted to participate in any extracurricular activities, even though he was a good student and well-liked by his teachers. He was not allowed to talk to other students at school. His stepsister, Marilea (sic), was paid by Posey to spy on Cody and report any broken “rules.”
Fourteen-year-old Cody was in desperate need of protection when he shot his father, stepmother and stepsister. The father repeatedly assaulted the boy with belts, fists, cables, wet ropes, hay hooks and pliers.
Cody's attorney, Gary Mitchell, stated after the conviction, “The boy never had a chance.”
Following closing arguments, the jury was instructed to deliberate on the basis of what “a reasonable person in the same situation would have done. How can any of us possibly understand what it is like to be severely beaten every day? Do we expect the victim not to defend himself? How can we, as adults, expect a 14-year-old boy to exhibit clear, rational, “reasonable” decision making?
The ultimate tragedy is that the District Attorney's office will most likely ask the court to sentence Cody as an adult. He could be in prison until the age of 63. In an adult facility, what kind of physical and sexual assaults will he be subjected to?
If the state of New Mexico will not show mercy to this boy it is incumbent upon us, as citizens, to stand up for him. The judge in the case, the Honorable James Waylon Counts, and the District Attorney, Scott Key, are elected officials. They are charged with carrying out the will of the people. In New Mexico and throughout the United States, people are calling out for mercy for Cody Posey. That is the will of the people.
What can we ask of the state of New Mexico? Reduce the charges to manslaughter in self defense. Provide psychiatric treatment and counseling in a secure residential facility for juveniles. Commute his sentence to time served. We are his last chance. And Godspeed to Gary Mitchell.
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