FreeKennethReams

SUPPORT THE #FreeKennethReams MOVEMENT

"GOFUNDME PURPOSE"
Why we are asking for your donations:

The #FreeKennethReams Campaign is asking for your support to help Kenneth as he continued to fight for his freedom, from solitary confinement. Your generous donations will go directly towards helping him pay for needs - such as....

Art supplies (paints, frames, canvas, brushes, etc), monthly storage fees for his large collection of artwork, cost of website hosting, travel expenses for his wife - Isabelle to visit him, art gallery fees, renting theater to host a screening of the film "FREE MEN" in Montpellier, South France - later this Fall, the ongoing production of short film series BY 18, and the cost of prison telephone calls.

"ABOUT KENNETH"
Artist, Poet, & Social Activist

Kenneth Reams' story endures as one of the most iconic in modern discussions of prison justice reform. Incarcerated on death row in solitary confinement for more than 27 years, his case is a revelatory in any survey of our nation shameful legacy of severe and unfair punishment of African Americans youth.

Reams' a native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was only 18 years old when he was arrested for a tragic shooting death that occurred during an attempted robbery in 1993. His co-defendant, who was also a teen, shot and killed the victim and was sentenced to life without parole for capital murder. In stark contrast, Kenneth Reams was sentenced to death and became the youngest person on Arkansas death row, despite not having pulled the trigger, or taken a life.

A key injustices in his case.

* The co-defendant confessed to his best friend that he was the shooter and the best friend told prosecutors about this confession just a week after the shooting yet prosecutors argued at trial that Kenneth Reams was the actual shooter, but knew that Kenneth did not kill the victim in the case.

After 25 years of legal appeals, in November 2018, the Arkansas Supreme Court ruled that Kenneth Reams' should not be on death row. The Arkansas Supreme Court also stated that the case should go back to the trial court due to concerns about the possible systematic exclusion of black jurors in Jefferson County at the time of Kenneth's trial. His jury was composed of 11 whites and 1 black.

The case is now pending in Jefferson County Ciruit Court. The options are many, but the movement on the case is non-existent.  A year and a half have passed, and nothing has happened. Kenneth continue to sit on death row, in solitary confinement, without even a date scheduled for the next hearing. There is no way of knowing whether they will address the case within the next six months or even the next six years. Arkansas' deliberate delay in the face of its Supreme Court mandate is a special form of brutality.

Despite spending over half of his life on death row Kenneth has used his limited resources to become an accomplished artist, public speaker, writer, and social justice activist. His artwork has been published in books and shown in galleries all throughout the United States and internationally.  His story has been covered in the New York Times newspaper. As a public speaker he has done criminal justice lectures at Stanford University, Yale, Miami School of Law, Princeton, and Geneva University, in Switzerland...just to name few. And many of his poems have been published in numerous publications. Kenneth's aim is to use his artistic talent to educate the public about the injustices of capital punishment and the broken criminal justice system.  Recently, filmmaker Anne Frederique Widmann created the documentary FREE MEN to introduce the world to Kenneth Reams and his extraordinary achievements while living on Arkansas' death row. FREE MEN has been screened in both domestic and international film festival and has won multiple film festival awards. It is now available on demand on iTunes, Amazon, Vimeo, and Google Play.

"OUR GOAL"
Why this page exist:

We are not only asking for your charitable donations, but we're also asking that you consider joining the movement to spread Kenneth's story, sign his online petition, support his non-profit organization Who Decides, Inc., tell others about his artwork, and visit the link to the #FreeKennethReams website.

To everyone who decides to give a donation. Thank you for your generosity.

Megan Ford, Campaign Manager
#FreeKennethReams Campaign

Learn more about Kenneth at:
www.freekennethreams.org


--------------------
Disclaimer:
This account was set up and is being managed by Megan Ford, with Kenneth Reams' full knowledge and direct approval. Any questions or concerns can be directed to me, Megan Ford at: [email redacted]