AN AFTERNOON WITH GARY TYLER

Join Books & Books at the Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum for a discussion of Gary Tyler’s memoir Stitching Freedom.

In 1975, after being wrongfully charged with the killing of a white teenager and found guilty by an all-white jury, Gary Tyler was sent to Angola prison to die. He was only seventeen years old at the time, making him the youngest prisoner on death row in the United States. After more than four decades in prison, Gary Tyler was released in 2016. Despite massive evidence of his innocence, he was never exonerated. His case has become a symbol of the systemic racial inequalities in the U.S. criminal legal system.

Gary Tyler will be in conversation with museum director Terrence Cribbs-Lorrant, to talk about how he not only survived, but triumphed over this injustice. He will pay tribute to other incarcerated individuals who became his guardians and mentors and talk about discovering himself as an artist.

About the Book:

In the tradition of books by Albert Woodfox and Angela Davis, this gripping memoir of a wrongful conviction and time spent on death row in Angola prison shows how incarcerated people care for each other and fight for justice

In 1975, seventeen-year-old Gary Tyler was sent to Angola prison to die. A year earlier, he had been wrongfully charged with the killing of a white teenager and found guilty by an all-white jury, making Gary the youngest prisoner on death row in the United States

Following his conviction, Amnesty International and investigative reporters documented the brutal treatment, fabricated evidence, recanted testimony, and repeated injustices that led to his sentencing. Three times Gary was recommended for a pardon; three times Louisiana governors refused to accept the political risk. After more than four decades in prison, Tyler was released in 2016—but he was never exonerated.

This is not a story of mistaken identity or circumstantial evidence, but one of systemic injustice from an institution hard-wired into a legacy of slavery—in effect, this was a legal lynching. While detailing the injustice, Gary’s memoir is also a remarkable story of pride, forgiveness, community, and triumph. With insight and heart, he shows how he learned to reject bitterness and fight for freedom, helped by activists such as Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace on the inside and relentless support from a mass movement on the outside. Stitching Freedom is the page-turning narrative with which Gary reclaims his power.

About the Author:

Gary Tyler is an artist and a spokesperson for justice. As a teenager, he was framed for shooting a white teen in Louisiana and sentenced to death by an all-white jury. He spent more than four decades at Angola Prison, where he galvanized a movement that grew to have national and international support. In prison, Gary became a freedom fighter, a mentor, head of the Drama Club, a hospice volunteer and a quilt artist. Upon his release, he got involved in the fight to end the death penalty. His work is in the National Museum of African-American History and Culture in D.C and the Historic New Orleans Collection. Last year, Gary was awarded a Right of Return Fellowship and the 2024 Frieze LA Impact Prize, recognizing artists who use their talents to address social justice issues. He holds an honorary doctorate of fine arts from MassArt. Stitching Freedom is his first book.

About the Moderator:

Terrance Cribbs-Lorrant, known as the performing artist VesSouL, is a humanities/cultural curator with a special approach to performing arts. He serves as the Museum Director for the City of Miami Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum. Terrance is the creative conductor behind #BlackCollectorsGallery, inspiring Black people to collect and share Black art. Since 2005, Terrance has been pushing the motto You Make The Change. com, a motivational tool promoting personal accountability to see/experience the positive change you want to see. He is also increasing awareness of tokenized (black) art/ NFT within the black/brown community. His research and exhibit “The Red Line Letter: Our Eyes Are Open” was featured in the museum’s 2018 Soul Art Basel. Terrance’s written work, “The Rite to Riot,” is being reviewed for publication and was part of the National Organizations of Black Law Enforcement (N.O.B.L.E.) 2019 Conference.