[Nat Sound: LaMar speaking at the event]
[Intro Music: jazz from the event]
THE FREEDOM FIRST JAZZ BENEFIT CONCERT WAS HOSTED AT THE MARY B. GALVIN RECITAL HALL THIS PAST SATURDAY. NORTHWESTERN’S PRISON EDUCATION PROGRAM (OR NPEP) AND UPEP, THE UNDERGRADUATE BRANCH, CO-SPONSORED THE EVENT.
FREEDOM FIRST BEGAN IN 2020 AS A CONCERT SERIES IN NEW YORK CITY TO HELP RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT KEITH LAMAR WHILE ALSO GIVING HIM A CREATIVE OUTLET. LAMAR CALLS OVER THE PHONE FROM PRISON TO PERFORM SPOKEN WORD POETRY ALONGSIDE THE BAND.
LAMAR HAS BEEN INCARCERATED FOR 34 YEARS AND HAS SPENT OVER 28 OF THEM IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT ON DEATH ROW AT THE OHIO STATE PENITENTIARY. HE IS SCHEDULED TO BE EXECUTED ON NOVEMBER 16TH, 2023. THROUGHOUT HIS TIME IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, HE HAS MAINTAINED HIS INNOCENCE.
[nat sound: LaMar performing]
JENNIFER LACKEY, THE FOUNDER OF NPEP WHO CO-SPONSORED THE EVENT, FIRST BROUGHT IT TO NU IN 2020.
[JL] We had a Zoom meeting, where Keith told his story and answered questions. And it was an incredible event. I think we had over 350 people register.
LACKEY WANTED THE EVENT TO BE BIGGER THAN IT HAD BEEN IN YEARS BEFORE AND TO SHARE LAMAR’S STORY WITH A DIVERSE AUDIENCE.
[JL] We knew that this year, we wanted to host it in a larger venue, especially because this is the year of Keith’s scheduled execution.
LACKEY, WHO IS ALSO A PROFESSOR OF LAW BY COURTESY, BELIEVES IN LAMAR’S INNOCENCE. SHE BELIEVES NPEP AND THEIR CO-SPONSORS HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO SHARE HIS STORY.
[JL] Shedding a light on people like Keith, who is, I believe, fully in his innocence: there is no physical evidence whatsoever connecting him to the murders that he’s convicted of. And I think that, as a community, with the Northwestern Prison Education Program, we want to promote events of this sort.
[JL] By virtue of having those co-sponsors bring together a large group of diverse people who can learn more about all the dimensions that go into a wrongful conviction like Keith’s. I think there were a lot of difficult conversations that were had with the material tonight.
AMY GORDIEJEW, THE CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR JUSTICE FOR KEITH LAMAR, HOPES PEOPLE WHO HOLD DIFFERENT BELIEFS ABOUT THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM LEFT THE PERFORMANCE HAVING LEARNED SOMETHING.
[AG] On opposite ends of the spectrum, there could be total doubters, and there could be total believers. So we might be preaching to the choir. I hope those folks that are already on board with prison abolition and who understand how racist and oppressive the criminal justice system is that they specifically focus their attention on learning Keith’s story because he might be a new example for them to learn about.
[AG] I hope that people who are skeptical and just trust with blind faith the criminal justice system, I hope that this gives them pause, maybe to reconsider that there might be situations where they [the justice system] get it wrong. And for those who only have the mentality that people with a criminal record are like animals, are not human, I hope that this just totally shattered that false notion.
BOTH GORDIEJEW AND ALBERT MARQUÈS, WHO LEADS THE JAZZ MUSICIANS IN THE BAND, WANT THE AUDIENCE TO SEE LAMAR’S HUMANITY.
[AG] There’s no way you can listen to this and not get the idea, the clear understanding that he’s so much a human being, so deep into his humanity, and he’s asking all of us to get deeper into ours.
[AM] No matter your ideology, no matter how you feel about any of the subjects. You pay attention. Because even if you have been taught the prisoners are criminals or monsters or animals, you cannot come to this concert and then go home and think, oh, yeah, we should kill him.
[AM] Through this, he has been humanized. And we can only execute people if they’re not people if they’re just criminals.
LACKEY BELIEVES THE MUSIC MAKES THE CONCERT POWERFUL AND PERSONAL FOR THE AUDIENCE.
[Nat Sound: Jazz]
[JL] Keith always says that jazz saved his life. I think that bringing together a group of artists, having the spoken word poetry and the jazz musicians, and having the storytellers and bringing all of these artists together to communicate what injustice can look like.
MARQUÈS ALSO BELIEVES THE MUSIC MAKES IT EASIER FOR LAMAR TO REACH HIS AUDIENCE.
[AM] To see him there on a screen talking to you, and creating art, creating beauty, it becomes personal. So you don’t have a choice. You have to listen to him. And I think that without the music, maybe it would be harder to reach you. But the moment it becomes art, becomes an art form, it’s just something else.
SOPHIA CHANG, A SOPHOMORE AT NU AND CO-CHAIR OF THE UPEP EVENTS COMMITTEE, SAYS LAMAR’S STORY IS NOT UNIQUE.
[SC] The really unfortunate thing is that Keith’s story isn’t singular and that this is something that is emblematic of a much larger issue within this country, as also referenced throughout the piece. And that there are many people like Keith who deserve just as much recognition, who are still on death row and have been on death row in the past and been unfairly incarcerated. And their lives have been unfairly taken by the state.
LACKEY HOPES THE STUDENTS COME AWAY WITH A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF JUSTICE IN THE UNITED STATES.
[JL] I hope they learn about Keith and his case; I hope that they learned about NPEP; I hope they think about incarceration in this country. I hope they think about wrongful convictions. I hope they think about justice; I hope they think about love. I hope they think about the community. And I hope they think about what they can do to make the world a better place.
CHANG ALSO BELIEVES THE EVENT SHOWS THE BEST OF HUMANITY.
[SC] I think that this is also an event that is really emblematic of hope, and some of the best aspects of humanity, that people can come together and make an event like this, and that music is one of those aspects where you can see the very best of humanity, the creativity, the love, as reference, like love is the thing that will set us free.
ALTHOUGH NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE NEXT SEVEN MONTHS ENTAIL, A NEW LEGAL TEAM HAS JUST BEEN ASSEMBLED. ABOVE ALL, THEY SAY THEY WILL KEEP FIGHTING FOR LAMAR.
[AG] So we won’t know all the ins and outs of exactly what the next seven months look like. But the one thing that we’re really trying to do is compel the courts to give Keith a new trial.
[JL] We’re working more on this front on getting a legal team assembled. We’re looking for new evidence. We’re looking to save his life. That’s what the next seven months look like.
[AM] All of this is to create awareness and raise money for the lawyers. I’m not a lawyer.
THROUGH IT ALL, GORDIEJEW SAYS LAMAR HAS NEVER ASKED FOR ANYTHING AND HAS NEVER LOST HIS HUMOR.
[AG] So generous. He’s so generous. He gives in a way that makes people feel seen, heard, and cared for.
[AG] He’s a total joker. Sometimes when you’re visiting, you’re in a supermax prison, but the humor breaks all those walls down.
FOR WNUR NEWS, I’M AMELIA DONHAUSER.
[outro music: LaMar and the jazz band]
