Kalief Browder
On May 28, Paula Cooper
shot herself in the head at the age of 45. In 1986, age the age of 16,
Cooper had become the youngest person ever to be sentenced to death. Her
life was sparred after her case drew attention worldwide, and she was
released two years ago. When she died in May, copper had spent 28 of her
life in prison. Cooper had been tried and convicted for the murder of
Ruth Pelke, an elderly Bible teacher. Since 1986, the Supreme Court has
ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced to death or life in prison
(though many in prison convicted to life sentences as juveniles are
still fighting to have the rulings applied retroactively).
I thought of Paula Cooper when I heard that Kalief Browder had taken his own life. Kalief was 16 when he was arrested for a crime he did not commit, and spent the next 3 years of his life in the notorious Rikers Island being repeated abused, assaulted, and psychologically tortured - while never once standing trial. Last year, Jennifer Gonnerman introduced the world to Kalief when she wrote about his experiences in the New Yorker. On Sunday, she wrote his obituary. Gonnerman writes, "The courts took the next three years of [Kalief's] life." Now, Kalief has done the rest.
Last night I exclaimed out loud when I heard about Kalief's death, and began to reflect on the differences in our (seemingly incomparable) lives. When I was 16, being stopped by the police was the furthest thing from my mind. I was safe, tucked away in the Oakland hills, attending a small and very private high school. Today, even as I've grown into a man's body and entered the adult world, I am still safe. This country is deigned to suit my needs - to catch me when I fall, and give me a second chance when I make a mistake. I can't say the same about Kalief. Yes I've been to jail and prison, but only as a curious student (or an ogling tourist) on a tour of a strange world I could never imagine inhabiting. When you’re a white, middle class, university student on a tour, the corrections officers (CO) also understand that you don't belong in a prison. Many COs - with occasional help from the prison Chaplin - will make jokes about innocent visitors being left behind; “we loose one every time,” seems to be an institutional favorite. Just Imagine! An innocent young man – say, oh, 16 – trapped in a place he doesn’t belong. Kalief was trapped for 3 years in Rikers Island. Perhaps when the charges were dropped and he was finally able to return home, he still could not escape.
I’ll leave you to discover more about Kalief’s story on your own. The one detail I will highlight is that while in prison, Kalief never gave up. Unlike 94% of criminal cases in this country, Kalief did not accept a plea deal. Had he accepted a deal, he could have been released from prison immediately. But even after spending two and a half years at Rikers, Kalief maintained his innocence and refused to give in to a legal system built on intimidation, overcharges, and pleas. Kalief did not nothing wrong. He stood stoic in the face of abuse and adversity, and refused to conform to a system that would have him labeled a thug and a criminal.
But there was one crime Kalief Browder could not distance himself from: being poor and black in America. And for that crime, he, like so many before him, was destroyed by the criminal "justice" system.
Watch Democracy Now! report on Kalief's death
I thought of Paula Cooper when I heard that Kalief Browder had taken his own life. Kalief was 16 when he was arrested for a crime he did not commit, and spent the next 3 years of his life in the notorious Rikers Island being repeated abused, assaulted, and psychologically tortured - while never once standing trial. Last year, Jennifer Gonnerman introduced the world to Kalief when she wrote about his experiences in the New Yorker. On Sunday, she wrote his obituary. Gonnerman writes, "The courts took the next three years of [Kalief's] life." Now, Kalief has done the rest.
Last night I exclaimed out loud when I heard about Kalief's death, and began to reflect on the differences in our (seemingly incomparable) lives. When I was 16, being stopped by the police was the furthest thing from my mind. I was safe, tucked away in the Oakland hills, attending a small and very private high school. Today, even as I've grown into a man's body and entered the adult world, I am still safe. This country is deigned to suit my needs - to catch me when I fall, and give me a second chance when I make a mistake. I can't say the same about Kalief. Yes I've been to jail and prison, but only as a curious student (or an ogling tourist) on a tour of a strange world I could never imagine inhabiting. When you’re a white, middle class, university student on a tour, the corrections officers (CO) also understand that you don't belong in a prison. Many COs - with occasional help from the prison Chaplin - will make jokes about innocent visitors being left behind; “we loose one every time,” seems to be an institutional favorite. Just Imagine! An innocent young man – say, oh, 16 – trapped in a place he doesn’t belong. Kalief was trapped for 3 years in Rikers Island. Perhaps when the charges were dropped and he was finally able to return home, he still could not escape.
I’ll leave you to discover more about Kalief’s story on your own. The one detail I will highlight is that while in prison, Kalief never gave up. Unlike 94% of criminal cases in this country, Kalief did not accept a plea deal. Had he accepted a deal, he could have been released from prison immediately. But even after spending two and a half years at Rikers, Kalief maintained his innocence and refused to give in to a legal system built on intimidation, overcharges, and pleas. Kalief did not nothing wrong. He stood stoic in the face of abuse and adversity, and refused to conform to a system that would have him labeled a thug and a criminal.
But there was one crime Kalief Browder could not distance himself from: being poor and black in America. And for that crime, he, like so many before him, was destroyed by the criminal "justice" system.
Watch Democracy Now! report on Kalief's death
Comments
Post a Comment