“In you, I hear the sound of abolition, the sound of dissent, the sound of dissonance, of mourning,” UCLA professor of American history, who specializes in African American studies, Robin D.G. Kelley said — reading aloud a letter he had written to Keith LaMar a few years prior.
On Monday, March 2, the 5C Prison Abolition Collective (5C Pris Ab) hosted the “Sounds of Abolition” talk by Kelley at Scripps’ Balch Auditorium. Black-and-white photos of incarceration, from decades past to the present, flashed on a projector screen and music played in the background as Kelley took the stage.
Keith LaMar — an artist, spoken word poet, philosopher and teacher — has been fighting to prove his innocence when he was wrongfully convicted by the state of Ohio following the 1993 Lucasville Prison Uprising 31 years ago. He is currently on death row, subject to execution less than a year from now, on Jan. 13, 2027. The talk was part of a fundraising campaign and the lead-up to the fourth Freedom First concert on April 10, at which LaMar will perform.
“You carry this very long tradition of resistance within you, evident in everything you do and everything you say,” Kelley said, continuing to read the letter. “It is there in your voice, your poetry, your music, your love of life, in the people. And in your refusal to allow racist capitalist violence to define, limit and destroy you in the tradition of your ancestors — you refuse to be digested by the system, refuse to be refused, refuse the bitter while holding fast to the sweet.”
After Kelley read the letter, he built upon it, drawing on Black music and histories of slavery and incarceration. His words carried a simultaneous sense of dismay and hope in the face of resisting unjust carceral systems.
Kelley rhetorically asked the audience what the word “abolition” meant to them. This question prompted students to reconsider the rhetoric of Black music. Kelley noted that most of the audience’s knowledge of Black music stems from racial stereotypes and African captive songs, when Black music encompasses so much more.
“We know a lot less about the songs of rebellion and revolution … [than of modern hip-hop and rap], although I’m not suggesting that these more familiar songs are not part of a Black radical tradition,” Kelley said.
Kelley concluded the talk with a collaborative song by The Healing Project and Samora Pinderhughes, called “Am I Human?” The song, featuring Keith LaMar, explores the genealogy of abolition in the history of Black music.
“I really like the sentiment Professor Kelly [conveyed], that abolition is actually the most practical move,” Jason Alperin PO ’28, an attendee and new 5C Pris Ab member, said. “That in the face of a carceral system that is so backwards and contradicting and inhumane, trying to build a better world that doesn’t rely on domination but actually tries to create justice through healing.”
The talk was followed by a Q&A with a student panel of 5C Pris Ab members, which was then opened to the audience.
Attendee Ella Menton SC ’27 wondered about the difference between recorded music and live music in the face of abolitionist efforts.
“I’m just wondering about music that we call abolitionist, like how you see it changing from when it’s performed versus recorded … what [do] you see, the differences in terms of abolition?” Menton asked.
In response, Kelley described the difference between live music and recorded music in terms of commodification — something bought and sold as a product, rather than something people share within an intimate space.
“Because what happens when, you know, for generations upon generations, you don’t pay for music,” he said. “You make it, you absorb it, you learn from it, you listen to it, and then it becomes a commodity.”
At the end of the talk, 5C Pris Ab provided opportunities to donate to the Justice for Keith LaMar campaign — including a paid raffle for a chance to win two of Kelley’s books, with all funds going directly to the campaign.
Menton, while appreciative of the talk’s content and engaging atmosphere, expressed concern about potentially lower turnout at politically radical events due to the colleges’ stricter stance on organizing.
“I get concerned sometimes that maybe there are less people at these sorts of events than there were in past years, just because of the crackdown by the university on organizing in general, but it was a good turnout, and I feel like people were engaged in conversation, so that was cool,” she said.
Clare Reimers-Hejnal SC ’26, a Pris Ab steering member and organizer of the talk, described it as an opportunity for students to learn about different kinds of music and their relation to abolition.
“I hope that people did take away that the music that we choose to listen to and the artists that we choose to support are political choices,” Reimers-Hejnal said. “And in kind of the reverse way, if we’re into music and other forms of art that make political critiques, we should also live those critiques and work to remake our world in the way that art lets us kind of start to imagine.”
Students interested in getting involved with the 5C Prison Abolition Collective can do so by joining their Engage and following them on Instagram. Meetings run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Monday at the Scripps Student Union, and are open to all 5C students.
“Like [what] Prof Kelly said, utopia shouldn’t just be this nowhere fake place — it should be something that art inspires us to actively build,” Reimers-Hejnal said.
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