In 2005, our friend and at that time director of the German Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Initiative gegen die Todesstrafe, Britta Slopianka, asked me whether we of PHADP would like to be represented at an anti-death penalty event, along with other anti-death penalty organizations, her group was organizing. The event was to take place in a cathedral in Hamburg. Britta suggested that along with other Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty material we could perhaps also record Darrell reading some of his poetry.

Darrell, ever ready for a new challenge, did not hesitate when I presented this invitation to him and so with the help of primitive equipment on my end and the normal interruptions of prison phone calls, limited by time and other mysteries of the system, we made the recording. Were we nervous? You can tell that we were but I hope you can also tell that not only did we not take ourselves too seriously but that we were having fun doing this. Darrell never did get to visit Hamburg or all the other places he would have liked to have seen but it is my hope that by sharing this recording with you that he will continue to be heard far beyond Alabama.

Esther Brown
Executive Director
Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty

To listen to the audio from these recordings, make a selection from the playlist below. Included are a variety of poems spoken by Darrell, himself, and in the middle, you will also find a brief biography and subsequent reading by Esther.