Stitching Freedom

“A testament to the resilience of the human spirit, and to the idea that people can endure great hardship without being hardened by it.” —The Progressive

“What’s most moving about this extraordinary book isn’t Gary Tyler’s innocence, but his resilience and steadfast commitment to justice for all in a system designed to oppress, divide and destroy.” —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

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.