Juneeteenth Is a Celebration of Liberation, But Mass Incarceration Lives On

This year I met Keith LaMar, an inmate on death row, through a book club offered at the Institute for Collaborative Education, my New York City high school. LaMar led the elective, sharing books that have had a profound effect on him during his incarceration. As someone who loves to read and is interested in prison abolition, I thought I'd enjoy learning from him. What I didn’t expect was that our Zoom discussions would be interrupted every five minutes by an automated voice informing us that the conversation was being recorded — “a constant reminder,” as LaMar put it, of the heavily restricted reality of his life in prison.

I also didn’t expect LaMar to be such an approachable, grounded person. He told our class that he meditates and reads every day and that he is thankful for the life he has, even under his daily circumstances. He’s surprisingly funny, cracking jokes between wise words. He has a talent for remembering quotes from people such as civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson, authors Toni Morrison and James Baldwin, and many other monumental change-makers. And like me, LaMar has a love of jazz. 

Being in LaMar's presence felt special because he always made me and the other students in the club feel welcome and heard as we talked through books, including The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, Between the World and Me, The Color Purple, and his own published book, Condemned. He taught us to read between the lines and find ourselves in the books. And he talked about his life, drawing connections to the material we read.

At 19, Keith LaMar took someone's life during a drug-related altercation. He pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 18 years to life. Four years into his imprisonment, the 1993 Lucasville Prison Uprising began. By the time the 11-day siege ended, nine inmates and one guard had been killed. LaMar said he had no affiliation with the groups that organized the uprising, but he was found guilty of killing five of the inmates and sentenced to death. He has repeatedly and vehemently denied the charges related to the prison uprising. Hearing his story, I wondered how all of this could happen to a guy like him.

As I got to know LaMar and read his book, I learned there was more to the events than just these facts might suggest. He grew up during the crack epidemic in what he describes as a “drug-infested neighborhood.” Like many young men in his community, he was engaged in the drug trade, and the deadly gunfight in which he was involved happened as he was being robbed. I believe these circumstances are symptoms of systemic racism and how it contributes to many young Black men getting involved in crime or drugs. This is not to justify the killing of which LaMar is guilty, but to consider how the system essentially sets up people who look like him to fail and end up incarcerated.

I had been aware of other stories like LaMar’s and knew of the many injustices of the so-called justice system, especially for low-income Black and brown men, but hearing LaMar's story firsthand, in his own words, further shook my faith in a system that sets up so many people to fail. As a Black girl, it's hard not to lose hope. New York State celebrates its first official Juneteenth holiday this year, but I question whether justice and liberation have been achieved.

Juneteenth is a holiday that commemorates and celebrates the emancipation of Black folks in this country and attempts to make others recognize our history. But at this very moment, hundreds of thousands of Black and brown Americans like Keith LaMar are being held in jails and prisons. Republican lawmakers are passing laws to disenfranchise people of color. And Texas (ironically, the first state to make Juneteenth a holiday) and some 20 other states are moving to limit what educators can teach students about race and racism. It’s clear we aren’t fulfilling the true meaning of the holiday. If young people, who will eventually lead the country, are not taught about how racism has shaped the systems in place today, true justice and liberation will not move forward.

That is why I am fighting against systems that target Black and brown people. History has shown us that laws and holidays alone won’t fix the problems of our society. People need resources to succeed, because when there is a lack of support they often turn to the wrong survival techniques. We need to start investing in communities and schools, especially in the most marginalized communities, to reduce crime and set up young people for success. We need to give inmates, innocent or guilty, who have changed and bettered themselves, another chance at freedom. 

I believe that Keith LaMar was wrongfully sentenced to death after the Lucasville Prison Uprising. As the founder of the Native Sons Literacy Project, a published author, and a contributor to an upcoming jazz project, he continues to demonstrate his ability to be a creative and caring citizen. I wonder if there is anything that LaMar can do to earn his freedom. As this country remembers a crucial part of American history on June 19, I hope we also think about our current reality and how we can do our part to fulfill the true meaning of this holiday.

To support Keith LaMar’s legal defense fund or purchase a tribute jazz album, visit keithlamar.org.

Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: What Is Juneteenth, How Is It Celebrated, and Why Does It Matter?

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue