‘I am not now
That which I have been.’ George Byron
Everybody I know, knows somebody behind bars.
It's a pandemic in the black community and at least a crisis in every other community that is under represented with regard to education, financial resources or substance abuse, which is usually related to the first two. I know some of these fools absolutely deserve to be in there and I wish they weren't draining the resources, BUT there are a lot more who should be rehabilitated with real programs in order to do what we're all here to do and that is to be good to each other and make the world a better place,
70% of the prison inmates in the United States are illiterate. -Schlosser, Eric . 1998. The Prison Industrial Complex. Atlantic Monthly
I get letters from brothers inside by the dozen. You can always tell by the envelope writtten in deliberate pencil scratch with numbers next to the name and a PO BOX return address from some city that probably nobody else lives in. I don't know what they to get there or how they survive while they are there. I know they read my books-- probably the only men who claim to identify with my male characters! I know that all I can, and sometimes that send an autogrpahed picture (there is always a request!) and whenever possible make sure there are books- good books, books by folks that look like them--- ALL KINDS OF THEM-- and not just my books, by any stretch.
Resources for Prisoners and the Folks Who Cares About Them