It was a pleasure getting to interview Anthony Ray Hinton.
The first question I asked Mr Hinton was “What kept you mentally and emotionally strong during your years in solitary confinement?”
He spoke very confidently and mentioned faith. Being wrongly convicted of something that you know you didn’t do is hard. He talked about how his mother was very religious and he was a huge believer. When he was convicted, he was constantly questioning why God would let him be convicted for something he did not do. In jail, through the isolation, the lessons he taught, and the relationships he built, Mr Hinton learned why he believes he had been sentenced: to gain new perspectives and spread his wisdom to those who were taught to hate others. His first Sunday after being released from prison after thirty years happened to be Easter Sunday. This was the final sign that everything happened for a reason
I then asked, “What was the hardest adjustment after being released?”
Mr Hinton spoke profoundly about technology. He was handed a mobile phone when he was freed, and sat in a room for hours being taught how to operate it. He was so astonished that you could be in one area and Face-time someone who was in a different place. Texting also caught him off guard. He recalled one time when his niece added him to a group chat. He couldn’t believe multiple people could text and read messages in the same chat. He joked “I called her and told her to remove me from that”.
We spoke about the state of America now. “I honestly thought America was going to progress and be more equal when I got out”, Mr Hinton said. It was not what he expected. He said that it was shocking to see Confederate flags still being flown in the South.
We talked about children. If racism is all they ever learn from the people closest to them, how can they go against what their parents believe? It reminded him of his good buddy he met on death row, who he also talks about in his book, The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row. We also touched on the role of social media in shaping adolescents’ view points. If you engage with one sided opinions, that is what will constantly be displayed to you. I told him about TikTok. It has a “for you page” crafted by what you view and engage with. If I watch and like car videos, it will keep showing me car videos. This is similar to a parent always telling you their side of things.
Overall this conversation with Mr Hinton was amazing. What originally started as an “interview”, became a great conversation. I was able to learn so much about Mr Hinton and his life on death row.
-Ahmed Omo