Prison to Promise


Book Description

Going to prison was the most horrible and traumatizing experience of my life, however, it was also one of the most significant things that ever happened to me. Prison scared me straight, so to speak. While in prison I came to recognize what I am not, and I was able to create an internal space where I found the freedom to explore and reconnect with who I am. While in prison I learned to identify my thinking and behavior errors, and how not to repeat those same errors as I moved forward. As a (wo)man thinks, so is (s)he. My personal experience has taught me that those things I think about most often are the things I will do most often. Years before I went to prison my thinking was very limited and full of false information and ideas about the world around me. False information and ideas mixed with hard drugs and liquor most often end with poor results. How I used to think about things and solve problems before going to prison is what led me to prison. I think I experienced a growth process from the inside out while in prison, and I hope to share a part of my journey with you through this journal. I was released from prison on December 26, 1997.




Booker T: From Prison to Promise


Book Description

As a six-time world champion, TV commentator, and holder of more than 35 major titles in WWE, WCW, and TNA, Huffman knows what it means to fight. He learned long before he entered the ring, when daily survival was a fierce battle.




From Prison to Promise


Book Description

We fell in love at sixteen but a prison sentence threatened to keep us apart for 27 years. Our hearts had no idea of the road ahead. Prison love doesn't always follow the same rules as the streets. Calling it quits isn't as easy as it looks and walking away isn't always an option.This is a journey of highs and lows, commitmentand brutal truths. A sentence turned into a movement and we learned that this journey was destined for a greater purpose than we ever imagined.




Prisoners of Politics


Book Description

America’s criminal justice system reflects irrational fears stoked by politicians seeking to win election. Pointing to specific policies that are morally problematic and have failed to end the cycle of recidivism, Rachel Barkow argues that reform guided by evidence, not politics and emotions, will reduce crime and reverse mass incarceration.




Halfway Home


Book Description

A "persuasive and essential" (Matthew Desmond) work that will forever change how we look at life after prison in America through Miller's "stunning, and deeply painful reckoning with our nation's carceral system" (Heather Ann Thompson). Each year, more than half a million Americans are released from prison and join a population of twenty million people who live with a felony record. Reuben Miller, a chaplain at the Cook County Jail in Chicago and now a sociologist studying mass incarceration, spent years alongside prisoners, ex-prisoners, their friends, and their families to understand the lifelong burden that even a single arrest can entail. What his work revealed is a simple, if overlooked truth: life after incarceration is its own form of prison. The idea that one can serve their debt and return to life as a full-fledge member of society is one of America's most nefarious myths. Recently released individuals are faced with jobs that are off-limits, apartments that cannot be occupied and votes that cannot be cast. As The Color of Law exposed about our understanding of housing segregation, Halfway Home shows that the American justice system was not created to rehabilitate. Parole is structured to keep classes of Americans impoverished, unstable, and disenfranchised long after they've paid their debt to society. Informed by Miller's experience as the son and brother of incarcerated men, captures the stories of the men, women, and communities fighting against a system that is designed for them to fail. It is a poignant and eye-opening call to arms that reveals how laws, rules, and regulations extract a tangible cost not only from those working to rebuild their lives, but also our democracy. As Miller searchingly explores, America must acknowledge and value the lives of its formerly imprisoned citizens. PEN America 2022 John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction Finalist Winner of the 2022 PROSE Award for Excellence in Social Sciences 2022 PROSE Awards Finalist 2022 PROSE Awards Category Winner for Cultural Anthropology and Sociology An NPR Selected 2021 Books We Love As heard on NPR’s Fresh Air




A Promise of Justice


Book Description

The dramatic true story of how a journalist, a professor, and three students solved a murder and helped free four wrongly convicted men after 18 years in prison.




From Prison to Promise: How I Went from Prison to Police Chief


Book Description

Glenn Sapp's writing illuminates the possibilities of the human spirit. It makes a significant contribution to the ongoing dialog on the plight of young people in the State of Florida and all across America. Glenn Sapp is able to draw from his experience as a youth in the City of Quincy, Florida, and his career as a police officer dedicated to seeking justice and equality for the communities he has served. . . . From a practical point of view, Glenn Sapp contrasts the accomplishments of black men who have embraced the American dream, and in doing so have achieved very high levels of success. Those achievements have perhaps created a level of unrealistic expectations and a source of distraction for far too many African American families. A society that measures achievement and success by the accumulation of material things rather than the value of self-determination, honesty, discipline, dignity, and hard work has contributed to the crisis of African American males. That's why Glenn's book is such important reading for every American and a must read for every father of black children.




Promise


Book Description

Eleven-year-old Kaden has managed to stay under the radar for most of his life. With the exception of Kubla, a pet crow, Kaden doesn't have any friends his own age and he's okay with that. After all, friends can ask inconvenient questions. Questions like Why do you live with your grandmother and where is your father? Questions Kaden doesn't want to answer. Apart from school and a few trips to town, Kaden and Gram keep to themselves, living a simple life at their cabins outside the small community of Promise. But now Kaden's life is getting a lot more complicated. He's starting middle school, which brings its own set of problems for a boy who doesn't fit in. And then he learns that his father, a man he has never known, is getting out of prison and moving to Promise. After years of being the outsider at school, Kaden is given a chance to come out of his shell when Yo-Yo, a new boy, moves to the area and offers friendship. But can Kaden trust him? Will Yo-Yo be a real friend after he learns about Kaden's father? The true meaning of friendship, love, responsibility, and loyalty is explored in this novel for middle-grade readers.




Prison of Your Own


Book Description

At the age of 23 I was sentenced to 7 years in prison for a crime I didn't commit. It was in my prison cell, for the first time in my life, I faced my demons and challenges head on. I was able to completely transform my entire life behind bars. My attitude, my mentality, and my daily routines were all adjusted and allowed me to create new outcomes and results within my life. My personal transformation and the steps I took while incarcerated is what I wish to share with anyone who feels lost or hopeless in their life right now. These life changing steps saved my life and freed me from addiction, negative thinking and living life carelessly. I want you to know that no matter what you go through deep within you is the capacity to persevere and create a life you love and cherish. For me it was life or death! I had to make drastic changes if I were able to live the life I truly wanted. However, it wasn't one big change that took place over night. I spent every day, over 2,000 days , in prison cultivating the person I wanted to be. I created a process that allowed me to go from a drug addict with nothing to a husband & father, life coach, author, motivational speaker and ironman in less than 3 years. If I did this from a prison cell,with nothing, I promise you can take control of your life too! You deserve it and you are far more capable than you realize!I am here to support you 100%




"Prisons Make Us Safer"


Book Description

An accessible guide for activists, educators, and all who are interested in understanding how the prison system oppresses communities and harms individuals. The United States incarcerates more of its residents than any other nation. Though home to 5% of the global population, the United States has nearly 25% of the world’s prisoners—a total of over 2 million people. This number continues to steadily rise. Over the past 40 years, the number of people behind bars in the United States has increased by 500%. Journalist Victoria Law explains how racism and social control were the catalysts for mass incarceration and have continued to be its driving force: from the post-Civil War laws that states passed to imprison former slaves, to the laws passed under the “War Against Drugs” campaign that disproportionately imprison Black people. She breaks down these complicated issues into four main parts: 1. The rise and cause of mass incarceration 2. Myths about prison 3. Misconceptions about incarcerated people 4. How to end mass incarceration Through carefully conducted research and interviews with incarcerated people, Law identifies the 21 key myths that propel and maintain mass incarceration, including: • The system is broken and we simply need some reforms to fix it • Incarceration is necessary to keep our society safe • Prison is an effective way to get people into drug treatment • Private prison corporations drive mass incarceration “Prisons Make Us Safer” is a necessary guide for all who are interested in learning about the cause and rise of mass incarceration and how we can dismantle it.