Ensuring justice for Don Belton
December 30, 2009 | Posted by admin The residents of Bloomington, Indiana are deeply saddened by the loss of Don Belton, a gifted writer and a warm, generous man who was loved by everyone who met him.
A memorial service will be held Friday, January 15, at 5 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church at 2120 North Fee Lane.
photo courtesy of IU
Belton, 53, was stabbed to death by a friend and was discovered in his own kitchen on the morning of December 28, 2009.
A candlelight vigil took place at the Courthouse Square, January 1 at 5 pm. Hundreds of people braved below-freezing temperatures to honor this extraordinary man. There are many pictures and coverage of the Don Belton vigil. The Pourhouse Cafe, which was closed for the holiday, donated hot drinks to participants.
Additional memorial services are being planned for the coming weeks.
We remember Don as a kind person and a caring person. He was hilariously funny and often the life of the party. He was excited to be in a new tenure-track position as a professor of creative writing at Indiana University, a job that finally gave him some security for the work he had been doing for years. Yet Don was someone who did not limit his relationships to campus: He preferred to be a real part of the entire community in which he lived, was a friend to many people of all backgrounds and ages, and in his short time in Bloomington had already planted some substantial roots.
Police have arrested 25-year-old Michael James Griffin in Belton’s death. This Web site hopes to honor Don Belton’s memory, but it’s also a place to monitor the progress of the criminal case and the media coverage of this horrific act of violence against a member of our community.
In these early days after Belton’s death, we are concerned by the way the story is taking shape*. Hateful, racist, and homophobic remarks have been circulating on messaging boards under articles about Don’s murder. Don was African American and openly gay, and much of his creative work dealt with the intersections of those identities.
Griffin, who is to be arraigned on Wednesday, December 30, has alleged that Don Belton sexually assaulted him—twice—on Christmas day in Griffin’s home. Two days later, Griffin reportedly went to Don’s house—with his knife–to demand an apology. The Herald Times is reporting that When Belton would not accept Griffin’s accusations, Griffin stabbed him several times, “until he quit moving.”
While we do not wish to polarize the community, we do want law enforcement to understand that there is a long, established history of suspects invoking a claim of sexual assault and/or a “gay panic” defense to get charges reduced or to win over a jury when the victim was a gay person. This is a tactic that has had some success over the years but is increasingly being recognized for what it is: a defense that plays to societal bias and prejudice and is not a justifiable excuse for murder.
We are urging Bloomington Police and the District Attorney to reject any notion that Griffin’s claim of sexual assault weakens their case for murder. Please note: we have been informed that Prosecutor Robert Miller is the best person to contact with info regarding the case. He can be reached at rtmiller@co.monroe.in.us and needs to hear from people who can testify to Don’s character and non-violent nature. Anyone with information about Don’s relationship with Michael Griffin should also contact Mr. Miller.
We aim to connect Bloomington law enforcement with prosecutors who have successfully tried similar cases and with anti-violence groups and advocates familiar with the nuances of this type of violence. We also hope readers will write letters and make calls to local law enforcementurging them to remain vigilant about collecting evidence and exploring all possible motives, including a bias-related motive. By legal definition, Hate crimes do not only happen among strangers; often there is a pre-existing relationship and other factors involved. (it should be noted that Indiana does not have a hate crimes statute).
Our intent is to help educate Bloomington law enforcement so that they are in the best possible position to protect their citizens. If such scenarios become acceptable defenses for murder, then nobody in the Bloomington is safe. Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of Michael Griffin. That Michael felt he had no other recourse but to commit murder is a tragedy.
We also hope to fill in the gaps about the real Don Belton. Because this crime occurred over the holidays when many people were out of town–and because Don had just moved to a new neighborhood a few blocks from where he used to live—early news articles seemed to suggest that he was not as well-known and well-loved as he was. Contributors to this site may recall and post their memories of Don here; they will show up underneath this informational page. Please note: updated news will appear under this post, so readers should scroll down for more recent info.
Some news articles also seem to imply that Don and Michael were simply acquaintances. The Herald Times recently published an article describing Don Belton and Michael Griffin as having a “brief, conflicted” relationship, an inference that is not supported by evidence. Many people remember Michael and his girlfriend developing a strong bond with Don Belton as long ago as last summer. The couple, who sometimes did yard work for English faculty, often remarked to Don’s colleagues that they were fond of him and that he was becoming a good friend. This bond is demonstrated by the fact that they invited Don to their home on Christmas Day, and this type of committed friendship was typical of Don.
Additionally, reporting or providing sound bites that “an incident occurred” between the men on Christmas Day is not responsible journalism. Don is not here to tell his story. The media needs to be aware that how they report on this story is critical to ensuring that justice is done. This is not the sensationalized story of a man who had a chance encounter with a random person. This is the story of a promising writer with many friends who was unfortunately betrayed by one of them.
[* as one commenter has mentioned, media coverage has become much more balanced recently. Though not always entirely accurate in summarizing friends' points of view, we appreciate the effort.]
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66 Comments »
Bridget, it’s our understanding that Don’s ‘bonus mom’ Ella is indeed being kept informed by more than one person. Thank you.
That is a relief to hear. I wonder if there is any way that I could get in contact with her. She is the one person I would like to speak to about Don because of her special connection with him. I never met her but he spoke about her all the time. She is somewhere here in Philadelphia.
Bridget I will send Ella your email
Thank you so much. And thank you for putting up this website, it has been such a source of information and comfort in these past couple of days. I so want to be around people who love and care about Don, and this site has been as close as I can get. I am concerned about who is taking responsibility for Don’s possessions, especially his writings and journals. They should land in caring hands. I tried to call IU to see if they know anything about this, but have not heard back from anyone. I also don’t know if and where his body will be interred.
To all who say they loved, admired and respected Don Belton, I say we all mourn together. He was a dear friend/brother/son. We met over twenty years ago when I was in residence at Macalister College as a writer in residence with the Twin-Cities consortium. He became a friend and we spent many a meal sometimes at his apartment and at others at the many Asian restaurants in St. Paul. Over the years, wherever he would locate to, he’d call and let me know what was happening with him and his work. His appointment to University of Indiana, Bloomington was a beginning of a new chapter in his life.. We always spoke on the phone, weekly and he would come visit me in New York once or twice a year. We spoke just before this horrible event. He was excited to go to Hawaii for two weeks and was looking forward to it.. Don spoke of his satisfaction with last semester and his work both at university and on his novel in progress. I never heard him say anthing about a new possibility of a relationship. One thing he did say over and over again was he did not date or get involved with students. Once he said a student tried to play on the ‘we’re both gay’ side and he reasserted his position as teacher, professor and that that was the extent of their connection. I never got to visit him in Bloomington although that was a plan for warmer weather. He was very excited about the coming semester year and the courses he was to teach. Often he would ask me about a book, writer, subject he thought I could be helpful with and our conversations were wide ranging. In all the years I knew him, I never heard him utter anything that could be interpreted as a violent thought towards anyone. He would confront systems and people if he thought his personhood was under attack with bias and predjudicial intent but the sensitivity and gentleness of this man would not allow him to violate another human being. That he would deliberately get someone drunk, then force himself onto a man in front of his girlfriend seems totally fabricated and uncharacteristic. Everyone who knew Don knew that he kept copious notes and journals. The mention of someone in his life named Micahel may or may not refer to his alleged killer. But even that is not quite true, this man, Michael Griffith has said he killed him. So this past Christmas Eve when I got my call from him and we laughed and speculated on the fun he would have in Hawaii and the rest he would get, the latest antics of my beloved god-daughter who had just celebrated her tenth birthday earlier and my Kwanzaa feast two days later, all of these memories are what I am left with. The shock of how swiftly life is gone and the permanence of death is beginning to sink in and I am not happy. So I will instead try to think of all the funny ways Don had of telling stories in his verbose and dramatic manner. I will think about how often he spoke of his family and the sadness their rejection made him at times. Still he never condemned them and offered instead their own inability to deal with the reality of his life. I saw some comments some of his family made and noted how they did seem to see his cheerful spirit and kindness. Maybe in time we will come to know what transpired in his house but for now, it is not known, publicly. I am sad that Michael Griffith was the instrument of Don’s death. He probably will pay dearly for it. May all of us try not to live a life that our end will be such, that we will take the life of another. I pray for courage for all of us not to allow anger and guilt, recriminations, creating a new persona in order to handle the tragic loss of two men. Let us all try to be better because we knew a man named Don Belton.
Here’s my favorite memory of Don. He was sitting on our old sofa, listening to the conversations that were going on around him, with one of our four cats spread out on his lap as Don was stroking her fur–an ancient, thin Siamese cat, not particularly sweet-tempered, no one’s favorite, a stray we’d taken in a few years ago when no one else wanted her. I must confess that the cat has a bladder problem, too, which is why I wasn’t particularly happy to see her on the lap of someone who was always so impeccably dressed. But Don looked so serene, so much at ease, that I didn’t say anything. Besides, the cat, which for some unknown reason needs to eat every hour or so when she is awake, was taken care of–a major potential obstacle to an enjoyable evening removed.
Quite a bit later, I ended up sitting across from Don (the cat was still resting in his lap, looking awfully relaxed), and I noticed that his eyes seemed moist. “Don, are you alright?” “Yes, yes,” he assured me, “it’s just that I’m totally allergic to cats.” I was appalled. “Why on earth didn’t you just push her off?” “Weeeell,” Don said, and there was that serene expression on his face again, ” it seems she really needed that nap, and it just didn’t feel right to disturb her.” A trivial story perhaps–but it’s emblematic of the Don Belton I knew: so warm, so kind, so funny, so humble, someone incapable of doing harm to anyone, even when this would have meant as little as interrupting a 19-year-old scrawny cat’s slumber so that he himself could be more comfortable. Don walked in beauty.
Don had a running joke with me, which I suspect he had with others as well. I am what you might call a “big-haired woman,” a member of a special society of gals with ginormous, kinda kinky, not always “pretty,” curls. I am also white, but Don said to me–I’m pretty sure during our second or third conversation ever–that he was pretty sure his progenitors and mine linked up somewhere on some (especially fabulous) branch of the evolutionary tree. “You don’t get hair like that being descended just from white folk,” he’d say, followed by his famous inflection, “you know?” (and playful chuckling).
This conversation always made me laugh, and blush, and it became a habit for Don to raise his eyebrows, glance meaningfully toward my mop, and then refer to me as his “sister” (”You know?”). Someone said recently that Don was one of those people who “never met a stranger,” and this is positive proof of that. I became his kin, in a jokey manner, almost from the very start. Only now do I realize that this was truly an honor and, all jokes aside, I am proud to have been even a small part of his “chosen family.”
I have needed to write a tribute to Don Belton’s since I learned about his
brutal death last week – but frankly I could not wrap my mind around this tragic loss to his family, friends, academic communities, and literary admirers. However, I am really touched
by all the incredible testimonies and tributes to Don on this website.
Don was a good friend / confident /colleague at Shippensburg University in 2007 and 2008. We at Shippensburg University were so lucky to have him for the year. I observed that Don was a kind, passionate, spirited, yet outrageously funny guy who made many, many friends across the campus and in the community of Carlisle, PA, where he resided. He enjoyed creating community as much as he enjoyed story-telling, making daily observations, initiating conversations, and asking a lot of questions.
Don practiced his belief in seeing the sacred in each human being. If he was not conferencing with students in his office, he would be collecting birthday money for the women who clean the university offices at night. Don was always gracious and generous to his many acquaintances and friends.
Don, equally, remained a committed scholar and dedicated educator. As to his scholarship, many times he could not “play” with his friends because he had writing deadlines or papers to grade. He had been working on several stories and always kept a daily journal. He collected rare books when he had the time and money. During much of his thinking time (showering or driving), he fretted on how to make his classes more effective. We spent many afternoons combing through writing and reading strategies books searching for more effective methods of reaching his students. He wanted to be as effective in the classroom as he had been on the written page.
Don often complained that he never had the time or energy for any romantic interludes. Certainly he was lonely for a partner, but he was very, very particular. What I am sure of is that Don would not be capable of forcing himself or of being sexually aggressive with anyone. Don was such a gently soul, never imposing himself physically or temperamentally. He avoided discord and disagreements at all costs.
In my mind’s eye, I still see Don in his summer-straw hat and plaid shorts coming from across the street and yelling, “I love you, Katie” Or I see him curled up in my overstuffed living room armchair chatting and telling boundless stories. He was always so affectionate and dynamic with those lucky enough to know Don.
I have needed to write a tribute to Don Belton’s since I learned about his
brutal death last week – but frankly I could not wrap my mind around this tragic loss to his family, friends, academic communities, and literary admirers. However, I am really touched
by all the incredible testimonies and tributes to Don on this website.
Don was a good friend / confident /colleague at Shippensburg University in 2007 and 2008. We at Shippensburg University were so lucky to have him for the year. I observed that Don was a kind, passionate, spirited, yet outrageously funny guy who made many, many friends across the campus and in the community of Carlisle, PA, where he resided. He enjoyed creating community as much as he enjoyed story-telling, making daily observations, initiating conversations, and asking a lot of questions.
Don practiced his belief in seeing the sacred in each human being. If he was not conferencing with students in his office, he would be collecting birthday money for the women who clean the university offices at night. Don was always gracious and generous to his many acquaintances and friends.
Don, equally, remained a committed scholar and dedicated educator. As to his scholarship, many times he could not “play” with his friends because he had writing deadlines or papers to grade. He had been working on several stories and always kept a daily journal. He collected rare books when he had the time and money. During much of his thinking time (showering or driving), he fretted on how to make his classes more effective. We spent many afternoons combing through writing and reading strategies books searching for more effective methods of reaching his students. He wanted to be as effective in the classroom as he had been on the written page.
Don often complained that he never had the time or energy for any romantic interludes. Certainly he was lonely for a partner, but he was very, very particular. What I am sure of is that Don would not be capable of forcing himself or of being sexually aggressive with anyone. Don was such a gently soul, never imposing himself physically or temperamentally. He avoided discord and disagreements at all costs.
In my mind’s eye, I still see Don in his summer-straw hat and plaid shorts coming from across the street and yelling, “I love you.” Or I see him curled up in my overstuffed living room armchair chatting and telling boundless stories. He was always so affectionate and dynamic with those lucky enough to know Don.
Yeh, I got blackified by Don too, diminutive Litvak that I am. “LUKIN!” he would greet me, sometimes even when I was in conversation with a student, “LukinLukinLuki-i-i-n! Are you Keepin’ It Real, Lukin? Are you rep-re-sent-ing?” I suggested that someday he’d express exasperation with me by saying, “Hebrew, please!”
As I get ready to return to my office from sabbatical, there are so many little things
I remember about having Don as my next door neighbor there. A year and a half ago, I had
suffered a dogbite to my face and for awhile felt extremely self-conscious about how ugly it was and how ugly I felt. I talked to Don about this, trying to make a joke out of it. I said I felt like Al Pacino in Scarface. He said to me, “girl, you OWN this floor everytime you walk down the hall, wearing those outfits.” He told me no one even noticed the scar cause they were too busy being scared to death of my height in heels! Then he said, “besides, I LOVED Al Pacino in Scarface.” He had a gift for knowing how to be intimate with people in little ways. This is a rare gift. You felt he actually saw you. I just miss him.
My husband Scott Robertson (who already posted on this site) and I got in to Bloomington from Honolulu this afternoon–we’re here for Don’s memorial service. (We’re the friends Don was coming to see Monday, December 28.)
I haven’t been able to bring myself post anything before this–I’ve just been dazed with shock. We spent the first 12 days just thinking he should be here with us! Everyplace we go is someplace we had wanted to take Don. (Watching the full moon rise at Sandy Beach…)
It’s meant so much that you all have put together this web presence, and also had the vigil, and so on. When we are isolated in our grief it’s so much worse.
some of you even sent Scott a note saying Don had talked to his class about how much he was looking forward to going to Hawaii–that really meant a lot.
I’ll be saying a few words at the memorial tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to meeting you who were Don’s friends, students, colleagues.
He liked his new life here so much!
Thank for taking care of him here in his new home! He–like me and Scott–loved Philadelphia & was sorry to leave it. (We all left Philadelphia for new jobs at the same time, Sept 2007.) But he was enjoying his new life here, and you, and looking forward to the future in many ways, for so many reasons.
I’ve been meaning to pass on to you a message we got from our friend in Hawaii whose name we’d given to Don as a contact for the couple days Don would be alone at our place before we got home from my mother’s. Nathan is a friend of ours, and someone we’d really hoped Don would get to know. He sent this message after we told him:
Dear Mara and Scott:
I am very very sorry for your loss. In Don’s memory I’ve had made a contribution to Equality Hawaii, an organization working to change gay-straight relations (socially / politically / culturally) by securing full legal equality for all LGBT people. It’s a small gesture I know, but it seemed appropriate for a man whose work was dedicated to exploring these issues, and who put his life on the line by living openly and honestly.
Again, from my heart, please accept my most sincere condolences.
Please reach out to us if we can be of any help or comfort to you.
with love and aloha,
Nathan
One of my friends once asked me who the most exciting person I ever met was. I wanted to answer this after serious thought, and so after going through the obvious politically appropriate responses that I should give; my husband, several rock and roll personalities I met, the mayor, the President of Botswana, you (the person who asked me the question); I landed on Don Belton. I had met him several years earlier and he became a regular fixture in our social circle and as a weekend guest. He wasn’t only an exciting character because he was a novelist, or because he had traveled a lot, or because he was black (and I wasn’t), or because he was gay (and I wasn’t), but also because when he walked into the room, I felt excited, brightened, and warmed by his presence. He defied all the categories he fell into. If you met Don and you thought he might respond to a topic in a certain way because he was black, or because he was gay, or because he was a professor, you would often be wrong. His life experiences gave him a unique perspective on our world, society, love, family, friends, and education. He loved being the gadfly and you could be sure that when you were with him he would stir things up. He hated riding the bus sometimes because he constantly had to fight his urge to talk to people on the bus about their behavior, the young mother mistreating her child, the group of kids in the back cursing, or the bus driver being rude to the passenger. At times, he didn’t fight this urge and at personal risk would address these situations head on, with sincerity and care. He would spit out great words, which I could only dream of coming up with. There were times he made me uncomfortable and purposely provoked my children when they talked in black and white defining ways. Yet I was glad they knew him. Or maybe the real reason he was exciting to me was that he ironically addressed me as Bridg-a-licious and given my earthy, laid back, non-cosmetic personality, I doubt I will ever be called that again. I think of him every day now. I miss this exciting friend in my life. How come I didn’t call him more?
Does anyone know how to get in touch with the detective on this case? I couldn’t find an email address for him.
hey dave –apparently the prosecutor is handling most of the investigative case work now. rtmiller@co.monroe.in.us