Photo* by Kev in Walker
The Duke University Innocence Project's James Coleman has joined the fight.
Hunt
from page Al
up on him.
"1 always believed and
knew how God works
through people. He sent
people to save my life,"
said the 49-year-old.
During his remarks in
tiny Lloyd Presbyterian
Church - where his sup
porters held their first
organizing meetings three
decades ago ? Hunt wore
a blue shirt that declared
"1 Am Troy Davis" as a
haunting sign of what
could have been. Hunt
was among those who ral
lied for Davis, whose
1989 murder charge is
riddled with unanswered
questions, before the state
of Georgia executed him
on Sept. 21, 2011.
Hunt used the bitter
anniversary to remind
supporters and others that
there are many more like
him - men whose only
crimes were being black
and expedient for police
and prosecutors.
"For me it's personal,"
Hunt said of his efforts to
free the wrongfully con
victed. "This is 2014, and
we are still dealing with
the same problems."
He mentioned half
brothers Henry Lee
McCollum and Leon
Brown, who earlier this
month were released from
North Carolina prisons
after DNA evidence
proved they did not com
mit the 1983 murder they
were convicted of.
McCollum was on seath
row. while Brown was
serving a life sentence.
While stories of men
and women being freed
for crimes they did not
commit are common.
Hunt is more than a little
frustrated that law
enforcers here in
Winston-Salem have
seemingly learned little
from his unjust ordeal.
He is fighting for the
release of Kalvin Michael
Smith, a black man whom
Winston-Salem Police
arrested in 1995 for the
brutal beating of a white
woman. Jill Marker. The
parallels between the
Hunt and Smith cases are
startling, say rights advo
cates, in their scantness of
evidence and investigato
ry malfeasance.
"They create the letter
of the law as they go
along," said Hunt, who
said that prosectors them
selves should be jailed for
pursuing cases that they
know have no merit.
For several years now,
there has been a full-scale
effort to win Smith a new
trial. Hunt himself got the
ball rolling during his
post prison release press
conference when he
talked about the need to
help others who have
been wrongly convicted.
He invoked Smith's name.
It was the first time that
many, including Hunt's
longtime supporters and
legal team, had heard of
Smith.
Since then, both a City
Council-appointed review
panel and an independent
investigation by former
Assistant FBI Director
Christopher Swecker have
concluded that there was
no credible evidence to
arrest or convict Smith,
who has served about 15
years of his more than 23
year prison sentence.
"It is unequivocal in
my mind: there is nothing
linking Kalvin Michael
Smith to this terrible
crime ... He was not
there." said Jet Hollander,
one of the vanguards of
i
the movement to win
Smith a new trial.
Others working on
Smith's behalf joined
Hunt at the church,
including James Coleman
of the Duke University
Innocence Project.
Coleman boldly pro
claimed that the fight to
win Smith his freedom
would be successful,
despite the U.S. Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals'
recent denial of a new
trial for Smith.
"1 tell him (Smith) to
keep the faith. Our job is
to never give up." he said.
Coleman spoke direct
ly to the more than two
dozen college students
packed onto the church's
pews, imploring them to
show more indignation
and action.
"It is your duty to be
outraged by the stuff that
you see ... you have to be
outraged; you gotta show
up." he said.
Smith's father, August
Dark, offered a similar
message.
"One must not wait for
injustice to come knock
ing on their door before
they join the fight," he
said.
Dark also read a letter
his son penned specifical
ly for the occasion.
"I am Darryl Hunt,
and Darryl Hunt is me,"
the letter states. "I'm
walking in his shoes, and
he has walked in mine."
Smith expressed dis
may at the state of the
criminal justice system
and hoped that he is not
the only one alarmed.
"When politics and
the almighty dollar super
sede justice, it should be
frightening to everyone,"
he wrote.
Attendees were
encouraged to learn more
about Smith's case by
going to www.silkplant
forest.com and to contact
Attorney General Roy
Cooper to advocate on
Smith's behalf. Speakers
excoriated Cooper, whose
office they say has rub
ber-stamped Smith's con
viction instead of examin
ing the case's obvious
flaws. Copper, a
Democrat, has gubernato
rial aspirations. Smith
supporters are vowing to
use the case to impair his
support, especially among
blacks.
"Let's tell him he has
not won anybody's votes
yet, until he's done the
right thing by Kalvin
Michael Smith," said Dr.
Stephen Boyd, one of four
co-chairs of the Silk Plant
Forest (the name of the
now defunct business
where Marker was
assaulted) Committee.
Hunt works every day
to help other men and
women slighted by justice
through the Innocence
and Justice Clinic at Wake
Forest University School
of Law. It is an extension
of the work he does
through his own nonprof
it, the Darryl Hunt Project
for Freedom and Justice.
He is also the university's
community advocate and
as such exposes students
to volunteering opportu
nities and service projects
at agencies and in com
munities throughout the
city.
Before last week's
event. Hunt spent time
walking the streets near
Lloyd Presbyterian,
which is on Chestnut
Street, tucked off
Patterson Avenue and
Martin Luther King Jr.
Drive.
There is bittersweet
significance to the area
for Hunt. His mother was
murdered there when he
was boy; it is where the
cops picked him up that
day 30 years ago. It is
also where the Patterson
Avenue YMCA once
stood. He met Larry Little
there on the basketball
court when he was a
teenager. His friendship
with Little, an iconic local
social justice fighter,
would ultimately spark
the movement that would
win him his freedom.
Many have suggested
to Hunt, who received
nearly $2 million in com
pensation from the city
and the state for his
wrongful conviction, that
he leave Winston-Salem
and the tragic memories it
bears. But Hunt says there
is work still to be done.
"This chapter can't be
closed until Kalvin
Michael Smith comes
home," he said.
Darryl Hunt speaks.
Hollander
Boyd
IECF makes list of best high schools
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Early College of Forsyth (ECF),
located on the Main Campus of Forsyth
Technical Community College, has
been named one of America's top high
schools in Newsweek's 2014 High
School Rankings. ECF ranked 365 out
of the more than 14,000 high schools
considered, placing it in the top 2.6 per
cent.
In addition, ECF received special
recognition for having equitable aca
demic performance for economically
disadvantaged students as indicated by
their performance levels in reading and
mathematics relative to the NC state
average.
Newsweek has published an annual
list of America's top high schools for
more than a decade, using a ratio of
Advanced Placement/International
Baccalaureate exams to the number of
students graduating. The list is designed
to identify those high schools that have
high student achievement and do the
best job of preparing students for col
lege.
"Forsyth Tech is proud to be the
partner in Early College of Forsyth and
to have played an instrumental role in
the design of such a successful pro
gram," says Susan Phelps, dean of
Educational Partnerships for Forsyth
Tech. "We are only getting better at
meeting the students' needs and
improving the program as time goes
on."
ECF, which is part of the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County School System,
opened in 2008 and graduated its first
class of students in 2012. Students who
are admitted to ECF can earn both their
high school degree and their college
Associate of Arts and/or Associate of
Applied Science degree in just four -
years, tuition free.
They Came Bearing Gifts
Submitted Photo
As part of its continuing partnership with Kimberley Park Elementary School,
members of "The Mount," Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church, recently
delivered school supplies to students and faculty. Here, from left, are Ja'Net
Adams, Bishop S.T. Davis Sr., Kimberley Principal Dr. Amber Baker,
Deaconess Priscilla McDuffie and Deacon Wallace Love.
motm counwy uncsa
Hear remarks from new Chancellor Lindsay Bierman! .
Family-friendly activities to include:
? Performances/presentations by the arts schools
? Circus skills exhibitions
? Musical petting zoo
? Face painting
? Balloon artist
Refreshments will he available for sale by local food truck
stridors, and birthday cake will be offered free of charge.
DANCE
DESIGN ? PRODUCTION
DRAMA
FILMMAKING
MUSIC
PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL
For parking details and more Information vlelt
www.uncM.edu | 336-770-3399
uncsa/^
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