Respect For Our Names Should Be Unconditional

His name was Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah

Mugshot of Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah alongside his name and the dates 1978–2024.

On Friday, September 20, South Carolina prison officials strapped a Black man down and injected a fatal dose of pentobarbital into his vein. His name was Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah, and he was 46 years old.

South Carolina executes first man in 13 years despite new evidence of innocence

If the name Khalil Divine Black Sun Allah is unfamiliar to you, it might be because most mainstream news sources have referred to him as Freddie Owens. Despite the fact that Allah legally changed his name in 2015 after converting to Islam, court and prison records continued to use this prior name. The consistent use of Allah’s correct name in The Guardian (U.S. edition) illustrates why this publication is my preferred general news source.

I could go on and on about how capital punishment is an abomination in a civilized society, how prejudiced it is against Black folks, how the U.S. prison system is an extension of slavery, and how armed U.S. police enjoy the power of the death penalty without need for judge nor jury. I could lament how Allah was executed despite a key witness…