Post by World Economic Forum

Name: When he was 16, Gary Tyler was falsely accused of murder. After a compromised trial, an all-white ju
Uploaded: 2026-04-25T09:00:10.514Z
Channel: World Economic Forum
Description: When he was 16, Gary Tyler was falsely accused of murder. After a compromised trial, an all-white jury sentenced him to death by electric chair. Tyler spent 41 years in jail until he was freed after

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When he was 16, Gary Tyler was falsely accused of murder. After a compromised trial, an all-white jury sentenced him to death by electric chair. Tyler spent 41 years in jail until he was freed after pressure from human rights advocates. While inside, he took up quilting during his work as a volunteer in the prison hospice. Today, Tyler wins art prizes and hosts his own solo art shows. He has a #quilt hanging in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. He also exhibited at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2025. Tyler uses his art as a platform to draw attention to injustice in the prison system, and to further a simple message: being on the wrong side of the law doesn’t make you a bad person, and prisoners are members of the community too. Gary Tyler was a guest on the World Economic Forum podcast Meet the Leader. You can watch the full episode on our YouTube channel or listen here: https://ow.ly/ZBKu50YOWwa

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