Keith LaMar

Several months ago, Keith Lamar (aka Bomani Shakur), who sits on death row in Ohio for his alleged role in the 1993 Lucasville Prison riot, received a three year reprieve in his scheduled execution date, from November 16, 2023 to January 13, 2027. I hope his execution is never carried out. He received this reprieve, largely due to the Freedom First movement, a collection of supporters and advocates throughout the country who are working to save his life. One of those passionate individuals is Albert Marques, a musician and high school teacher. Both of my children were in or are currently in a book club with Keith where he phones in from the penitentiary. Lamar also participates, similarly by phone, in a series of Freedom First jazz concerts where he reads his poetry set to music. Wanting to know more about the man, whose cause my children had taken up, I purchased the book at the end of one of these concerts. I was amazed in reading the book how far Keith had evolved as a human being and also concluded, as did my children, that the man is innocent of the charges the state leveled against him and received a bum's rap. Lamar is a very good writer, and knowing the book was self-published, I was a bit wary so was relieved at how the account of what happened and its legal aftermath grabbed you. Both at the concert, and in the book, I was also moved by Lamar's personal journey and how his suffering has shaped him. He has moved from anger and bitterness to action and, despite everything, love, deep spirituality, and a kind of acceptance, though he is fighting incredibly hard for his life which he loves, despite the harsh conditions he lives under, which for many years, and even now perhaps, has been solitary confinement. Knowing what I know now about how this world works, I accept Lamar's conclusions about money, power, and justice (or injustice) and who in this society benefit from them (think OJ Simpson, crime bosses, or DJT) and who, unfortunately, do not reap those benefits, but rather may face the brute force of a criminal justice system that is stacked against them (poor and often black or other minority groups). So while this is a deeply personal story published by a man who is seeking to save his own life, it is also a seething critique of a society that wants the world to forget about those locked behind its bars. In that respect, this is an important book with a universal message.… (mehr)