The Breakfast Club - IDKMYDE: Martinsville 7

Episode Date: February 25, 2025

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.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey y'all, I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. When You're Invisible is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped me. Season 2 shares stories about community and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks, let's do something about it. We get paid to serve you, but we're made out of the same things. It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the testament.

Listen to When You're Invisible on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Are you hungry? Colleen Witt here and Eating While Broke is back for season four, every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. This season, we've got a legendary lineup

serving up broke dishes and even better stories. On the menu, we have Tony Baker, Nick Cannon, Melissa Ford, October London, and Carrie Harper Howie turning Big Macs into big moves. Catch Eating While Broke every Thursday on the Black Effect podcast network, iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, wherever you get your favorite shows. Come hungry for season four. Dressing.

Dressing. Oh, French dressing. Exactly. Oh, that's good. I'm AJ Jacobs and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, The Puzzler. Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. This is fun.

You can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears. Listen to the puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer, host of the podcast, The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. This season explores women from the 19th century to now, women who were murderers and scammers, but also women who were photojournalists, lawyers, writers, and more. This podcast tells more than just the brutal, gory details of horrific acts. I delve into the good, the bad, the difficult, and all the

nuance I can find. Because these are the stories that we need to know to understand the intersection of society, justice, and the fascinating workings of the human psyche. Join me every week as I tell some of the most enthralling true crime stories about women who are not just victims, but heroes or villains, or often somewhere in between. Listen to the greatest true crime stories ever told on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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 1951, 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 were called the Martinsville Seven.

I didn't know, maybe you didn't need I didn't know, maybe you didn't need I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know Now I know what you're thinking, damn what'd they do? Well they were accused of raping a white woman. There's some debate about whether they were guilty 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 their necks, screaming at them like, sign here. 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 than you can uber-eat a four-piece supreme combo from Bojangles. Appeals? Ignored. And in 1951 Virginia said next and put him in the electric

chair seven men two days can we pause for a second two days man I've seen people wait longer for an oil change now fast forward to 1989 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 ad 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 to crimes that they didn't commit, got thrown in prison and it took 13

years and DNA evidence to clear their names but the Martinsville 7 they didn't get those 13 years they didn't get Netflix documentaries where Ava DuVernay directing their story they got two years a sham trial and an electric chair 70 years later though 70 years later Virginia was like oh my bad my bad, and pardoned them. Pardoned them after their families had already lost everything. Like what's a pardon going to 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 30 minute lunch break, where's the humanity? The Martinsville 7 and the Central Park 5 are two sides of the same dirty coin. Black men sacrificed on the altar of white fear. 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. Hey y'all, I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. When You're Invisible is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped me. Season two shares stories about community and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said,

this sucks, let's do something about it. We get paid to serve you, but we're made out of the same things. It's rare to have black male teachers sometimes I am the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Are you hungry? Colleen Witt here and Eating While Broke is back for season four every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network. This season, we've got a legendary lineup serving up broke dishes and even better stories. On the menu, we have Tony Baker, Nick Cannon,

Melissa Ford, October London, and Carrie Harper Howie turning Big Macs into big moves. Catch Eating While Broke every Thursday on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your favorite shows. Come hungry for season four. Dressing. Dressing. Oh, French dressing.

Exactly. Oh, that's good. I'm AJ Jacobs and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, The Puzzler. Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. This is fun. puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, The Puzzler. Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. This is fun.

You can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears. Listen to The Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter. Listen to My Legacy on the iHeartRadio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy.