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The day I walked out of my cell after a week-long lockdown, I had my head in the clouds. Why? Prison was before me, and I was exhausted by what I saw. The clouds were my thoughts, and what I had on my mind was either writing another screenplay or a fiction series. The next college semester was a few weeks away, and I did not even know what would be offered. Since I had freedom of thought, rather than calculating what 3! x 6! added up to, I contemplated an exploration into a n

The monthly meeting for Peer Mentors at Nottoway Correctional Center ended with us being offered a speaking engagement for Reentry. Our cognitive counselor informed 15 peer mentors that we should share our stories with the men who were heading home in a year. I sat in the gymnasium, at two wooden tables with my guys, silently contemplating what I would say. When I became a Peer Mentor, I discovered a startling truth: the majority of the incarcerated men had returned to prison

Life always reminded me how precious it was as I sat in the dayroom at a stainless-steel table, surrounded by so many broken souls. The reality of my thinking came as I pondered why Jermaine, my cousin, lost his fight with cancer...and now Janelle, his twin sister, battled with it also. My mother headed to Baltimore to spend time with Janelle. She always did that: showed up for our family. I called her, jovial, not understanding the weight she bared. Prison took my thoughts f