Shaka Senghor

“Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, And Redemption In An American Prison” (2016)

An unforgettable memoir of redemption and second chances amidst America's mass incarceration epidemic. Shaka Senghor was raised in a middle class neighborhood on Detroit’s east side during the height of the 1980s crack epidemic. An honor roll student and a natural leader, he dreamed of becoming a doctor—but at age 11, his parents' marriage began to unravel, and beatings from his mother worsened, which sent him on a downward spiral. He ran away from home, turned to drug dealing to survive, and ended up in prison for murder at the age of 19, full of anger and despair.