Robert Ricks thought prison would save his son.
And, as Ricks remembers it, Robert Brooks seemed to be on the right path while serving a 12-year sentence. Brooks earned his GED, turned again to writing the rhymes that helped him make sense of the world and spoke to his father about wanting to use his own experience to inspire change in others.
Then, on Dec. 9, 2024, the 43-year-old Brooks was beaten by several corrections officers at the Marcy Correctional Facility outside Utica and died a day later.
Now, Ricks is the one using his son’s experience to inspire change.
Ricks is part of the End Prison Violence coalition that is lobbying for a set of reforms to be taken up during the current New York legislative session. These reforms would strengthen protections for incarcerated individuals, bolster oversight of state correctional facilities and address excessive sentencing.
Hours after meeting Monday with Gov. Kathy Hochul about these reforms, Ricks shared with WAMC’s Andrew Waite memories of his son, detailing the complicated life of a talented rap artist whose death he hopes can help save others.
