As the details of Kalief Browder’s story unfolded during Ava DuVernay’s The 13th, my heart beat faster. I needed to do something for him. I started thinking about how I would share his story with my church family. We would write to him, let him know that we heard him, and would do whatever we could to support him.
The documentary continued. I realized there was nothing that could be done for this adopted son of Venida.
I recently had a birthday. I am blessed to be alive. While I celebrated making it this far, I also wanted to be reminded of those who had not, to really compel me to do something with my life to help someone else make it another year, or make it a little more abundantly.
I took part of the day to start Time: The Kalief Browder Story. The trajectory of this young man’s life was sculpted by so many broken pieces of broken systems. His track record was far from perfect, but there was a sense of justice, of right and wrong about him shown after his wrongful arrest. He would not lie and compromise the truth. This longing for righteousness cost him.
There is nothing that can be done for Kalief now, but to share his story, and to support the work of bending us as a society towards justice so his story does not recur. The Bail Project is an organization working to that end.
As Robin Steinberg, founder of The Bail Project says in this 2018 TED Talk: “bail was never, ever intended to create a two-tier system of justice, one for the rich, and one for everybody else. But that is precisely what it has done.” And that disparity is more pronounced among black and brown communities. “… if you are black or Latino and cash bail has been set, you are two times more likely to be stuck in that jail cell than if you were white.”
To learn more about the organization I would recommend that TED Talk from 2018 above, and this one from 2020, as well as their homepage here.
As I learned more and more about The Bail Project’s work, I could feel something sort of Christlike in what they were doing… I know that it is nowhere near on par with what Christ did for us. We in fact are guilty of our sins against God, while a percentage of those imprisoned by the US carceral system may not be guilty of their charges, or anything other than not being able to afford bail, but still.
I know that some take Jesus quoting part of Isaiah 61 to be more metaphorical or spiritual when it comes to declaring release for those in prison (or for that matter the recovery of sight for the blind) but I wonder why can’t we go literal and metaphorical (or spiritual) at the same time?
This is some of the inspiration for the recording above. Thanks to David, my brother in Christ for working with me on it. The arrangement is beautiful. I don’t know if I did it justice. And thanks for your patience. I appreciate your bearing with me.
I would also share the song “Ghost of Kalief Browder” by Maino. Like the above documentaries, discretion is advised for language and content, but I think the messages are important to get out. (This is also not an endorsement of Maino’s catalogue, just this specific song.)
Regarding The Bail Project’s record, I cite data and stats from their 2018 presentation in the above recording.
For transparency’s sake there has been at least one unfortunate outcome with a client. Two articles that address it follow. One writer continues to stand in support of The Bail Project while calling out questionable sentencing in this situation, and the other is much more critical of the organization it seems. I haven’t seen exactly how The Bail Project is working to better surround their clients with community support post this incident, but I’m sure they have scrutinized it and that the situation is informing decisions going forward.
If The Bail Project is not an organization that you find worthy of supporting, but you’ve read this far, I recommend finding one you can stand behind and sowing a seed with them (if able and you aren’t already), either one-time or recurring if you can’t volunteer directly, especially right now.
Jesus paid it all for our sins, and to bring us more fully into communion with God. What He paid we never could, but if we are able, I think we should try to pay at least something to bring that year of Lord’s favor a little closer for somebody that Jesus spoke about when he unrolled the scroll of Isaiah.
…so I might suggest for your consideration
Supporting jailbreakers in a certain sense,
I might suggest for your consideration
Sowing into The Bail Project.
Visit my YouTube channel if interested in more spoken word here.
Jesus Paid It All words by Elvina M. Hall (1865), music by John T. Grape (1868) according to music-ministry.org
Festival of Booths 
👍🏾
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