REMEMBERING MARY ALICE THATCH,
AND THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF
OF THE WILMINGTON TEN
PARDONS OF INNOCENCE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Ten years ago on this date, January 5, 2013, North Carolina history was made when the seven surviving members of the Wilmington Ten - ten social activists who over 40 years earlier had been falsely convicted of firebombing a white-owned grocery store and firing weapons on firefighters and police officers in a riot-torn Wilmington, NC in February 1971 - received their official pardons of innocence.
Then NC Gov. Beverly Perdue, on her last day in office on December 31st, 2012, signed the certificates, effectively exonerating the Ten - nine Black men and one white female, three of them posthumously - of the false charges.
Both historic events a decade ago this week, were the direct result of the advocacy and leadership of late Wilmington Journal publisher/editor Mary Alice Jervay Thatch, who convinced the 200-member National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) to sanction a campaign in March 2011 to have the Wilmington Ten pardoned.
The story is recounted in a new short film titled, “The Legacy of Mary Alice Jervay Thatch,” which will be shown at the upcoming 22nd Annual African-American Cultural Celebration at the NC Museum of History in Raleigh on Saturday, January 28th, from 3:30 to 4 p.m.
Ms. Thatch, 78, died just a year ago on December 28, 2021 of an undisclosed illness. But upon her death, she was roundly heralded for being a staunch African-American community leader and believer that “There is power in the Black Press.”
Winning pardons of innocence for the Wilmington Ten is widely considered the hallmark of her journalistic career.
It was February of 2011 when Bill Saffo, the mayor of Wilmington, presided over s 40th anniversary commemoration of the Wilmington Ten at UNC - Wilmington. Saffo publicly apologized to the surviving members of the Ten “…who were done a tremendous injustice by our judicial system…”
Letters of apology were handed out on stage to the surviving members, as the audience applauded.
But some in the audience, like Wilmington Journal Publisher/editor Mary Alice Thatch, felt that letters of apology weren’t enough for what the Ten had gone through. Thatch called Dorothy Leavell, publisher of the Chicago Crusader, and president of the NNPA Foundation, recommending that the Black newspaper association take up the cause of the Wilmington Ten on the pages of its member papers.
Leavell agreed, and the following month, during its annual Black Press meeting in Washington, D.C., the NNPA formally adopted getting pardons for the Wilmington Ten as a campaign.
The problem was, no one really knew how to go about attaining pardons , so the NNPA campaign stalled for the rest of 2011.
In 2012, realizing that no progress had been made, Ms. Thatch asked her chief reporter, Cash Michaels, to work with her to help coordinate the effort. Thatch decided that a committee was needed. But before one could be constituted, Duke University historian Tim Tyson was called by Michaels to possibly help with what would be known as the “Wilmington Ten Pardons Project.”
Prof. Tyson was well versed in Black history, so Michaels felt he could lend an important perspective.
Tyson did more than that. He had a box of paperwork and notes from the original 1972 Wilmington Ten trials (there were two, the first being aborted after an all-Black jury was seated, and the white prosecutor became “sick” to make sure that they never heard the case. The second trial had a mostly white, “KKK” jury).
The box of trial notes proved that the prosecutor set out to seat a racially biased jury, allowing only two “docile” Blacks who would go along with the whites when a verdict was reached.
The box of handwritten prosecution notes - which had unbelievably been in a closet in the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office for virtually 40 years - could prove that the prosecution framed the Wilmington Ten, falsely convicting them of arson and attempting to murder police officers and firefighters.
Irving Joyner, one of the original defense attorneys, had agreed to work with Ms. Thatch in the new pardons effort, noting that what they were really after were pardons of innocence, which denote that a convicted person actually did not commit a crime, versus a pardon, which is official forgiveness for a crime committed.
Joyner contacted lead defense attorney James Ferguson in Charlotte.
The pair reviewed the box of prosecution notes and files from the trials that were held in the Pender County Courthouse in Burgaw, and filed the necessary legal paperwork with the Governor’s office.
Michaels, at the direction of Ms. Thatch, wrote stories not just for the Wilmington Journal, but for NNPA Black newspapers across the state and the nation, detailing how the Wilmington Ten prosecutor, working in tandem with the judge for the second trial, did everything in his power to manipulate the “KKK” jury that was empaneled to ensure guilty verdicts.
Wilmington Ten leader Rev. Benjamin Chavis was included in the strategizing, as was the Rev. Dr. William Barber, then president of the NC NAACP, who put public pressure on Gov. Perdue.
The strategy was simple - don’t antagonize Perdue with raucous demonstrations. She had already proven to be on the side of the African-American community on most issues.
Keeping in constant contact with the governor’s closest aides, the Pardons of Innocence project also contacted the editorial writers at The New York Times, The News and Observer, and even the Star News, the Wilmington white newspaper that 40 years earlier condemned the Wilmington Ten.
All issued editorials calling on Gov. Perdue to issue pardons of innocence, as did cable channel MSNBC.A national petition drive conducted by the progressive group Change.org, along with the national NAACP and the Wilmington Journal generated over 150,000 signed petition signatures that were delivered to the governor’s State Capitol office.
At one point, supporters had received unconfirmed word that Perdue was considering just pardons as a way to placate those who demanded that the Ten remain guilty in the eyes of history.
Rev. Chavis stood up at First Baptist Church in Raleigh, declaring that if the governor was issuing just pardons, and not pardons of innocence, he wouldn’t accept, because he had committed no crime.
As 2012 was coming to a close, there was no word from Gov. Perdue. Supporters knew it was either her or nothing, because her term ended after Dec. 31st, and the new governor, Pat McCrory, a Republican, would never entertain issuing the pardons of innocence.
Then, on Dec. 31st. Michaels received a call at home from the Governor’s Office.
Gov. Perdue had signed ten pardons of innocence, all for the Wilmington Ten. The news was reported across the nation and the world.
Five days later, at Gregory Congregational church in Wilmington, a ceremony was held where all seven serving members of the Wilmington Ten received their official certificates before a packed church.
When Mary Alice Alice Jervay Thatch was introduced speak, the audience all stood to their feet, and enthusiastically applauded.
Ms. Thatch smiled, and then proceeded to tell the community what a glorious day it was, and though it took over 40 years, justice had finally come to the Wilmington Ten.
EDITOR’S NOTE -As part of the 22nd Annual African-American Cultural Celebration on Saturday, January 28th at the NC Museum of History, 5 East Edenton Street in Raleigh, there will be a special presentation, “The Legacy of Mary Alice Jervay Thatch,” in the Longleaf Classroom, SECU Education Center, Level R from 3:30 to 4 p.m.. Admission is free to the public.
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BLACKS AND STROKES:
WHAT TO KNOW FOR 2023
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, African Americans are 50 percent more likely to have a stroke, or “brain attack,” than whites. African American men are 70 percent more likely to die from stroke than whites. And Black women are twice as likely to have a stroke than white women.
The North Carolina Stroke Association concurs, adding that the majority of strokes are preventable, but you have to know the risk factors, and be willing to make the necessary changes to your lifestyle.
The risk factors include obesity and being overweight, hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol, and cigarette smoking.
Stroke, though treatable, is the third leading cause of death and disability in North Carolina, which is considered part of the 12 state “Stroke Belt.”
North Carolina has one of the highest stroke death rates in the nation - sixth highest among 50 states.
Those are the plain, unvarnished facts about Blacks and strokes in the U.S. and North Carolina. But it’s not everything we should know.
Strokes tend to occur earlier in life for Blacks than they do for whites, leaving more of a disability. One factor is the prevalence of high blood pressure in the African American community.
One in three Blacks have hypertension.
Another factor towards stroke many in the African American community have is the prevalence of diabetes, which puts African Americans at greater risk of a stroke. Add to that being overweight.
And as indicated before, smoking doubles the risk of a stroke.
New research from the Dept. of Neurology at Cedars-Sinai Hospital suggests that the stress of racism could be another factor in explaining the wide disparity in strokes between Blacks and whites.
“The body responds to stress by releasing hormones that trigger a "fight-or-flight" response, raising heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure,” according to Dr. Jennifer Harris, a Cedars-Sinai neurologist. “The response also elevates the level of infection-fighting white blood cells and blood levels of a protein called albumin, among other inflammatory and endocrine biomarkers.
"In a short-term dangerous situation, this could be advantageous," Harris says. "But if the stress on the body is chronic, coming from social stressors, research shows that it can lead to disease."
And now there’s news of a new stroke threat.
Last October, the American Academy of Neurology published a study revealing an increase in the rate of a type of stroke in older people and men, especially African American men, called subarachnoid hemorrhage.
“A subarachnoid hemorrhage is when bleeding occurs, usually from a burst blood vessel, in the space between the brain and the membrane that covers it. This type of stroke can be caused by a rupture of an aneurysm, high blood pressure or trauma,” according to the study published in the October 26, 2022 edition of Neurology.
These strokes are increasing, and are proving to be deadly, the study found. They comprise 5 to 10% of strokes in older men and women, middle-aged men and disproportionately in Black people.
Again, researchers point to the risk factors commonly associated with African Americans.
So now that the holidays are over, and a new year has begun, most health specialists say it is time to gradually change eating and health habits to head off the prospect of having a debilitating stroke that could paralyze you, and negatively change your life.
If any of the risk factors above pertain to you and your lifestyle, doctors say you should learn about the symptoms of stroke, and how to deal with them fast in order to minimize further damage to your body.
Pay attention to a rapid deterioration in neurological function, numbness or weakness on one side of your body or loss of language. If any of these symptoms occur, call 911 immediately.
Seeing your doctor, and working to control diet, weight, and blood pressure are key, in addition to stress, say researchers.
Remember, the vast majority of strokes are preventable, and knowing the symptoms of stroke and seeking immediate treatment is key.
Take hold of your life, no matter your age, in the new year.
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