A legend lives no more. Tragically, Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, and 7 other souls lost their lives in a horrific helicopter accident. The Mamba is gone! I'm not an L.A. Lakers fan, but there are no word to express how I feel about the passing of Kobe, how...
The United States of America, land of the free and home of the brave, often feels more like the land of the isolated and home of the cowardly tweet. We are more divided than at any point in my lifetime. It seems to be more than a mere lack of unity as an expression of...
When I came to prison, it was commonplace for people to meet up at someone's house for a get-together to watch the Super Bowl or simply hang out and converse. When it was someone's birthday and they lived quite a distance away, it was standard practice to call and...
Being incarcerated for any length of time can be a brutal, psychologically taxing experience. As of this writing, I am 40-years-old, and I have been incarcerated for 19 years, roughly 48% of my life. And while that may be eye-popping, it is important to remember that...
Texas prisons are not cool 'Cause most of our feelings, they are dead and they are gone We're setting fire to our insides for fun - Daughter - Youth Texas prisons are not cool in the summertime. The first year I spent in a Texas prison was in 2015 and I began my stay...
This past week came with one of the biggest shocks of my fifteen years of incarceration. My unit ('incentive housing' with extra privileges for those of us who have exhibited at least 18 months of clear conduct) was inspected by the administration. We had been duly...
What is the most effective approach to dealing with crime and punishment? Should the criminal justice system primarily be used to punish those who violate the law by sending them to prison for lengthy terms? Or should it rather serve as a mechanism for rehabilitation?...
For a peek inside the Restorative Justice process, see CNN's original series The Redemption Project with Van Jones. For the first twelve years of my incarceration I was convinced I had done everything I could to atone for my crime — then I was proven wrong. Although...
Dear Twin Brother, I love you. I know you know that, but I feel it's important to explicitly reaffirm it from time to time. Where do I begin? I don't quite know, but there is so much in me that I want to express to you, so you'll know exactly what's in my heart....
If you are the type of person who doesn’t dwell on dreary details, you rarely consider prison unless it is to wish that an infamous cretin be sent there. Until I came to prison, I hardly thought anything of it. Bad people are stored in prisons until they achieve the...