by Stephen Fife
CALVIN JAMES, forties, is an African-American man who was on the verge of fighting for the heavyweight boxing title in 1967 when he was arrested and convicted for double murder. Eight years later, his conviction is overturned, he is awarded a new trial, and he addresses the media on the occasion of his release.
Scene
A press conference outside the New Jersey prison gates.
Time
Early afternoon, 1975.
CALVIN JAMES
Man, if you knew how many nights I stayed up picturing this day in my mind—and now here it is. And there you are. And, sweet freedom, you’re here too. Ha-ha! Yeah! Thank you, Jesus! It’s a new day, a brand-new day! Yeah! All right!
[Pause.]
But even as I give thanks to the Lord and to all my good friends for gettin’ me a new trial, I have to ask: Why was I here in the first place? What was my crime? Not killing some nice married couple who drove in from the suburbs to see some colored people up close. No! Not even J. Edgar Hoover hisself, in his wildest wet dream, could believe that. I was gonna be the champeen, everyone knew, champeen of the whole goddamn world! Why would I go out and shoot these poor people who never did nothing to me? Please! It boggles the mind, defies any logic. No, I been locked up for one reason and one reason only: I spoke the truth. And on nationwide coast-to-coast TV no less! And the best way to silence the truth is to lock up or kill the person who speaks it. Right? You know what I’m saying now! You know that’s the way it is, right?
So all these years later, here I am, brothers and sisters, still fightin’ for my freedom with two hands, still refusin’ to take a dive. That’s right! Yeah!
And do you think I’m gonna stop now? Hell no! Hell no! Hell no! Hell no! Hell no!