IDKMYDE: Martinsville 7

Before the Central Park 5 got railroaded, the Martinsville 7 got hit with express lane injustice—trials faster than a drive-thru and death sentences quicker than a Popeyes chicken sandwich sellout. Details in this episode of IDKMYDE.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On today's episode. If I didn't know, maybe you didn't either.
I have a question. How many of y'all knew that?
In nineteen fifty one, the United States pulled off the
largest mass execution for a single crime in modern history. YEP,
Seven black men in Virginia gone, just like that. They

(00:21):
were called the Martinsville seventh. I didn't know. Maybe you didn't.
I didn't know. Maybe I didn't know. I didn't know.
Maybe you didn't I did. I didn't know. I didn't know.
I didn't know. Now I know what you're thinking. Damn
what they do? Well, they were accused of raping a
white woman. There's some debate about whether they were guilty

(00:43):
or not. Some folks like, nah, they did it, and
there's others like, but where's the evidence? Though? Either way,
the real crime here was how fast the system moved
to snatch their lives. Let me break it down for you.
These men were arrested, interrogated with no lawyers, just some
cops breathing down the next screaming at him like sign here,

(01:03):
and when you got no rights, no support, and you're terrified,
you'll sign anything, confessions, check evidence, crickets. Then they get
dragged in front of all white juries in a segregated courtroom.
Y'all know what that meant. It was over before it
even started. The trials were done in days. They got
sentenced to death faster and you can uber eat a

(01:24):
four piece Supreme Combo from Bojangles. Appeals ignored, and in
nineteen fifty one, Virginia said next and put them in
the electric chair. Seven men, two days? Can we pause
for a second? Two days? Men, I've seen people wait
longer for an oil change. Now fast forward to nineteen

(01:44):
eighty nine. We all know about the Central Park five right,
Five black and Latino teenagers accused of attacking a white
woman in New York. The current president of the United
States took out a full page add on them. They
were interrogated the same way. No lawyers, no parents, just
a room full of cops, like write this down if
you ever want to see sunlight again, buddy. They confessed

(02:05):
to crimes that they didn't commit, got thrown in prison,
and it took thirteen years and DNA evidence to clear
their names. But the Martinsville seven, they didn't get those
thirteen years. They didn't get Netflix documentaries or avaduvine directing
their story, they got two years, a sham trial, and
an electric chair. Seventy years later, though, seventy years later,

(02:29):
Virginia was like, oh my bad and pardoned them. Pardoned
them after their families had already lost everything, Like what's
a pardon gonna do? Give them free Wi Fi in
the afterlife. And here's the kicker. Some people still argue
about their guilt, like, well, maybe they did it okay,
but even if they did, seven death sentences, trials rushed
like a thirty minute lunch break, where's the humanity? The

(02:51):
Martinsville seven and the Central Park five are two sides
of the same dirty coin black men sacrificed on the
altar of white. But be ye not confused. These stories
ain't just about the past. They're about what's still broken
in the present. And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.

(03:12):
Listen up, man, if you love this series, you can
now listen to us every single week starting in March,
for all types of things that I didn't know. Maybe
you didn't either. Did you know snails have two thousand
teeth at least and they're all on their tongue? Or
did you know that Julia White Erkle was supposed to
be Rudy in the Cosby Show, but then Keisha Knight

(03:33):
Pulliam pulled up and sprinkle some black girl magic on
it weekly starting in March. I didn't know. Maybe you
didn't either. Make sure you're following the show on the
Our Heart app so that you can hear more. Okay, Bye,