Discover Stories Here

My fiftieth birthday is in December, and as a sign of unity, Ramutu, Alexis and I requested a prostate exam. Ramutu suggested we all get checked out, so on a lazy Sunday we filled out the proper paperwork, then returned our attention to Sunday’s NFL lineup. The thought of football was more pressing than anything about my health...Then I was called to Medical. When I sat with the doctor, a white man, married (from the gold wedding band on his left ring finger), and possibly in

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