An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
Mahatma Gandhi.

Hours before his execution, Troy Davis issued a letter to the public. Here it is, in entirety – letter and photo via News One.

I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith. It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.

As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy. I can’t even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.

I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.

So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated. There are so many more Troy Davis’. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.

I can’t wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing,

“I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!”

I’m not here to rehash the facts of the Troy Davis case or to analyze the details of the social media outcry or the last minute attempts to save his life. I just know I’m not the only one left with an overwhelming feeling of sorrow. I’m not the only one left with lingering and disturbing feelings of doubt. I’m not the only one who feels powerless and jaded now. Because of what happened on Aug. 19, 1989 and on Sept. 22, 2011, millions in the United States and around the world, found cause to question the true meaning of justice.

My heart goes out to the family of Troy Davis, and to the family of Mark MacPhail. Both families have suffered loss, both families have endured heartbreak.

To support the work of Amnesty International, click here. To support the Fraternal Order of Police, click here. And to support the Innocence Project, click here.

Please feel free to share your feelings below in an intellectual and respectful manner, free from profanity. I am out of words.