Uprooted is a companion podcast to a video series that investigates the death and surrounding criminal investigation of Keith Warren, a 19 year old black man who was found hanging from a tree in Montgomery County, MD, in 1986.
In 1986, Keith Warren, a young Black man, was found hanging in the woods of Silver Spring, Maryland. Police ruled it a suicide, but Keith’s family believed it was a lynching. Six years after his death, a package appeared on Keith’s mother’s porch, containing evidence that cemented the family’s suspicions: was this a cover up?
Hosted by Alicia Garza, organizer and co-founder of Black Lives Matter, “Uprooted” follows Keith Warren’s case, uncovering the systemic failures that prevented Keith and his family from getting justice, as well as the future of social justice reform and the journey forward.
The “Uprooted" podcast is the companion to the new discovery+ series “Uprooted,” streaming exclusively on discovery+. Go to discoveryplus.com/uprooted to start your 7-day free trial today.
Find episode transcripts here: https://uprooted.simplecast.com/episodes/introducing-uprooted
Alicia Garza (00:02):
Montgomery County, Maryland. The summer of 1986, Keith Warren was enjoying the last few weeks before starting college. By the end of that summer, he would be found dead in the woods. A 19 year old black man hanging from a tree.
ABC News 7 (00:18):
Shocking new evidence in connection with the hanging death of a Montgomery County youth police site, it was suicide. The family says it was a lynching.
ABC News 7 (00:27):
The evidence raises serious...
Alicia Garza (00:28):
No matter how improbable a suicide seemed, the police ignored the family. They would continue to ignore them for years.
Jack Harris (00:36):
Disbelief. It was disbelief until the funeral. You try to think in a logical manner. It just, this didn't make sense. It did not make sense.
Alicia Garza (00:47):
The police bungled the investigation from the start. There were no witness statements, no autopsy, no accountability.
Del Waters (00:55):
Do your damn job. The same way that you would. If this was a white kid hanging from a tree in a black neighborhood.
Alicia Garza (01:03):
Six years later, a package appeared on his mother's porch containing evidence that cemented the family's suspicions. Was this a cover up?
Jack Harris (01:12):
How do you hang yourself when half your body's on the ground? And the tree's been old.
Rodney Kendall (01:18):
I can say 100% that I don't believe Keith committed to suicide.
Alicia Garza (01:23):
This is uprooted a companion podcast to the discovery plus mini series of the same name. And I'm Alicia Garza, an organizer and Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter. And I all be your guide as we look further into Keith Warren's life and death. In uprooted, we'll look deeper at the systemic failures that prevented Keith from getting justice and identify where they persist today.
Carlean Ponder (01:46):
I mean, it's, it is very hard to talk about how law enforcement can take accountability for past harm because past harm keeps happening.
Alicia Garza (01:56):
But we'll also focus on the future, catching up with activists and culture critics about social justice reform and the journey forward. And we'll follow Keith Warren's family as they continue their 35 year long search for justice and accountability.
Sherri Warren (02:12):
Not only did it Rob him of justice, but it robbed us of life.
Alicia Garza (02:17):
Listen to uprooted from discovery plus wherever you get your podcast.