Stitching Freedom: A True Story of Injustice, Defiance, and Hope in Angola Prison

“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 “riveting” (Wilbert Rideau, author of In the Place of Justice) 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. 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, 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 and “is a powerful testament to resilience and the transformative power of community and storytelling” (Cyntoia Brown-Long, author of Free Cyntoia).

Gary Tyler is an artist and a spokesperson for justice. During his years in prison, Tyler galvanized a movement that grew to have national and international support, one of the precursors to today’s abolition and Black Lives Matter movements. He was recently named a 2026 Galaxy Gives Leader Fellow and awarded the 2024 Frieze LA Impact Prize, which recognizes artists who use their talents and abilities to address social justice issues. Stitching Freedom is his first book.

Ellen Bravo’s connection to Gary Tyler began in July 1976, when she marched with two thousand others in New Orleans demanding his freedom. A long-time activist, Bravo has written three nonfiction books about working women and two novels, Again and Again and Standing Up. Among Bravo’s commendations is the Ford Foundation’s Visionary Award.