Birmingham ex-offender works to redeem himself and others « Birmingham, Alabama Official Site

By Marie Sutton

Living on welfare and little else, 11-year-old Ronald McKeithen really wanted only one thing: for his mother to stay home.

A single parent raising three children in Birmingham’s Titusville community, the woman had long since stopped cooking hot meals. She stopped the thumb wrestling contests and her eyes no longer lit up at the sight of her babies. Instead, he remained in a drunken stupor, eyes fixed on bottles and beer.

Ronald had to quickly learn the domestic art of washing clothes in the tub and braiding his little sister’s hair. Because of her duties at home, she missed a lot of school, although she enjoyed being in the classroom.

Not even his begging could move his mother, who would rather be in the neighborhood houses shot up and drinking. When Ronald tried to physically block her from going out the door, the woman would do anything to get past him, even pulling out a knife.
“He stabbed me twice,” he recalled.

It seemed that a young Ronald could not control anything in his life. Not his mother. Not the school not willing to give him grace for the lost days. Not his circumstances.

He was kicked out of high school and “then the streets started ringing.” He immersed himself in drugs and perpetual crime, buying crimes. At age 19, because of Alabama’s Habitual Offender Act, he found himself in front of a judge and sentenced to life without parole.

Prison was hard, he said. “After so many decades of the same thing every day, I’ve seen guys disappear; losing their minds.”

For a brief moment, Ronald considered suicide. But then, something clicked.

I’m not going to do that, he told himself. “I didn’t want to give up. I took classes and got involved in everything.”

Ronald got his GED, became a barber, leather worker, artist, poet and teacher. He even helped launch a prison newsletter and podcast called “Corrections” on Spotify.

Because of his work, he attracted the attention of the justice reform group Alabama Appleseed and journalist Beth Shelburne. With their advocacy work and news coverage, Ronald’s sentence of life without parole was overturned; considered excessive and unconstitutional.

“I feel so fortunate to know him as a person,” said Carla Crowder, executive director of Alabama Appleseed. “If all I do with my law degree is free Ronald McKeithen, then I’ve done what I have to do. My soul is at rest.”

On Friday, December 18, 2020, after being locked up for 37 birthdays, 37 Christmas and 37 New Years, Ronald became a free man. He left to the thunderous applause of the inmates – those he helped teach, guide and encourage. He swore he wouldn’t forget them.

Today, he is the re-entry coordinator and attorney for Alabama Appleseed. He mentors ex-offenders, advocates and travels the country speaking about his experience.

He recently sat with Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin for an announcement of a one-year pilot program led by the city of Birmingham and local organizations to support the needs of those re-entering the community after incarceration. The Birmingham Re-entry Alliance will be a coordinated, holistic approach to transform how the city serves people released from state prisons, with a focus on ensuring justice-affected families in Birmingham thrive.

“Having all these organizations at one table, each specializing in different things, is nice to me,” he said.

Ronald believes the alliance is critical for those leaving prison without assistance. He worked with ex-offenders who never had a social security card and even one who had a birth certificate with no name on it. Those roadblocks block their proper re-entry, but Ronald’s motto is “We figure it out and find a way.”

Ronald said he is grateful for his freedom and works to be an example to ex-offenders and those who support them. “I’m trying to be an example because I need Alabama to see that. I show them I can do it.”

It’s hard, he said. He feels responsible for not messing up and maybe giving others what he didn’t get.

one more hug
drunk as a skunk,
Or shining like an angel.
god please give me
The latter
Favor.

He wrote about his mother, in the poem called “Jessie”. Unfortunately, she died while he was in prison. Six months after the news of her death, he learned that she had been murdered.

“It’s like he died twice,” he said.

Ronald often thinks about the 11-year-old boy who needed his mother. He often thinks of the broken woman who was his mother and who needed grace. Perhaps, in part, they are his motivation to go along with the newly freed prison. He commits to be there, to offer grace, to guide, to support, and to allow his eyes to light up for them.