Episode #175 - Keith Lamar & Albert Marques

Episode #175 - Keith Lamar & Albert Marques

From Improv Exchange Podcast by Leander Young

August 11, 2025 · 53 min · Episode 175

About this episode

Keith LaMar shares his harrowing story of survival and transformation during his time in prison following a tragic incident in his youth.

In 1989, Keith LaMar (aka Bomani Shakur) was sent to prison at age 19 for murder. He had been living in Cleveland, Ohio, where he sold drugs as a means of survival in the Crack-infested streets he knew as home. On a day that would forever change his life, Keith was robbed at gunpoint and exchanged gunfire with his robbers. He was shot twice in his legs and hit one of the other men in the chest. That young man, one a childhood friend, died. Keith pled guilty and was sent to prison for 18 years-to-life. Four years later, Keith was attempting to put together the broken pieces of his life at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, hoping for another chance at life. It was an Easter Sunday, and the weather had just turned warmer; Keith and about 400 other men were outside exercising in the rec-yard when commotion broke out inside and it became clear that some type of protest was underway. Keith made a quick decision to slip inside for a few minutes to secure his personal belongings (since his cell assignment was in the area being taken over). Once back out in the yard, he and the others waited to see what would transpire, watching as the bodies of several men were dumped onto the…

People in this episode

Host: Leander Young

Guest: Keith LaMar

Topics covered

  • prison life
  • redemption
  • violence
  • protests
  • personal stories
  • survival

Keywords

  • Keith LaMar
  • prison
  • Cleveland
  • violence
  • Easter Sunday
  • protest
  • redemption

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ohio State Highway Patrol

Places: Cleveland, Ohio, Southern Ohio Correctional Facility

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