FOREVER: Scottsboro Boys

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Fujicolor Crystal Archive emulsion sealed between solid recycled aluminium and a high-gloss UV protective laminate.
Triptych, 40 x 30 inches each panel

MARCH 24, 1931. BETWEEN CHATTANOOGA & MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

The year was 1931 in Alabama. Charlie Weems, Ozie Powell, Clarence Norris, Andrew and Leroy Wright, Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Haywood Patterson and Eugene Williams, whose ages ranged from 13 to 19 years old, were arrested on a minor charge in Jackson County, Alabama. This changed when two white women who were subsequently interviewed claimed that the boys raped them while they were on the train. Eight of the nine boys were convicted of the crime and sentenced to death, with the remaining 13 year old boy sentenced to life in prison. The case included framing, all-white male juries, rushed trials, an attempted lynching, and an angry mob. Despite multiple trials and even one of the white women rescinding her accusation and testifying for the defense, seven of the sentences were upheld; Alabama officials eventually allowed four of them to be released on parole.