Harlem Reverend Calvin Butts of the Abyssinian Baptist Church is still on his crusade to clear the name of Afrika Owes, the former straight-A student who is now sitting in Rikers after being accused of ferrying guns to a Harlem street gang at the command of her boyfriend, who was also doing time in Rikers. But where do you draw the line between Stockholm Syndrome and stupidity? Butts suggests Owes's actions fall within the former, and that she deserves a second chance. Just like Patty Hearst got.
Both Owes and Hearst had numerous opportunities before them. Though Owes didn't have the family fortune, she had been accepted into the elite Deerfield Academy on a scholarship, but reportedly left after being caught cheating on an exam. She transferred to Millenium HS, where she was a straight-A student and had recently visited Harvard and Yale. Butts said of Hearst, "They spared no expense getting her out! She robbed a bank, and described herself as an urban guerrilla! If Patty Hearst can have a chance, why can't we take that chance on Afrika?" He also described her "unjust" incarceration as "the new slavery." One of Owes's neighbors agrees, saying, "Maybe her time in jail should be cut short because she was just trying to help him...She's just a girl that fell for a bad boy. She shouldn't do any time."
However, Owes was never kidnapped, and as a former prep-school student with Ivy League aspirations she probably knew at some point that carrying loaded guns to known gang members was not a good idea. She has been charged with conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon. The Manhattan DA's office also said, "The 137th Street Crew, armed with semi-automatic handguns, is charged with conducting its illicit narcotics trafficking business in the shadow of the Abyssinian Baptist Church." Owes is currently being held at Rikers, where her mom brought her books and SAT prep work.
