Mourning Kalief Browder

When choosing historical figures, some are more obvious than others. Some people had a large effect on those around them, or figured prominently in news. Others may have never been headliners, but in learning about their lives we learn other things.

Maybe sometimes it is more that history happens to them.

One of the movies I watched was 13th. I know it had a bigger impact on a lot of people, shocking them. I was already pretty familiar with the subject matter, so there was no astonishment, but there was video footage of Kalief Browder, and it got to me. I guess it was seeing him alive.

Browder was arrested for the theft of a backpack, based on a witness identification, though there were some signs that the witness was unreliable. He always maintained his innocence.

Because of that, he would not take a guilty plea, but part of the brokenness of the legal system is that without ever being tried he spent three years in jail until the case was dropped. There was a lot of abuse there, including the use of solitary confinement.

Browder killed himself two years after being released.

https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-browder-1993-2015

He had been open about it being a struggle. He attempted to move forward, getting his GED and enrolling in college. He certainly could have already had some predisposition for depression. Still, it's pretty hard to avoid the obvious: his imprisonment caused great emotional and psychological pain, and it should never have happened. Even if there had been a stronger case that he was the backpack thief, it cannot justify that amount of pre-trial detention. It is horrifying on every level.

There is a natural resistance to claiming guilt when you are not guilty, but a lot of people do just to avoid this trap. Browder did not - maybe he would have been better off if he had - but there is no way that this can be right.

And he will have an impact. There are people who are aware of the systemic injustice now that weren't before. He is remembered. He is a part of history, and to some extent in taking a principled stand and refusing to plead guilty, and speaking about his ordeal after, there was even some choice to be a part of history.

It just should never have been like this.