Suggestion
Please also view sources in: News > Journalism of Incarcerated/Formerly Incarcerated Individuals.
Books: People's Experiences (available through BLS Library)
Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape (ebook) by Publication Date: 2022In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBC). Unlimited user access. First-time use of EBC platform requires BLS patrons to click: Create Account. (Off-campus use: requires proxy.)
Excerpt from book summary: "A literary mixtape of transformative dialogues on justice with a cast of visionary rebel activists, organizers, artists, culture workers, thought leaders, and movement builders."
Life and Death in Rikers Island (ebook) by Publication Date: 2019In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access. (Off campus: requires proxy server.)
Excerpts from book description: "In Life and Death in Rikers Island, Homer Venters, the former chief medical officer for New York City's jails, explains the profound health risks associated with incarceration." "Pairing prisoner experiences with cutting-edge research into prison risk, Venters reveals the disproportionate extent to which the health risks of jail are meted out to those with behavioral health problems and people of color."
Chapter 6 describes the horrific experiences of Kalief Browder that occurred during 2010-2013 at Robert N. Davoren Complex, Rikers Island.
If you have access to Netflix, you can view the documentary series: Time: The Kalief Browder Story.
Concrete Mama: Prison Profiles From Walla Walla (ebook) by Publication Date: 2018In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access. (Off campus: requires proxy server.)
Excerpt from book description: "Journalists John McCoy and Ethan Hoffman spent four months inside the walls of the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla in 1978, just as Washington, once a leader in prison reform, abandoned its focus on reform and rehabilitation and returned to cell time and punishment." Concrete Mama includes many evocative historical photographs. This book's original publication date was 1981. It includes the introduction: Reading Concrete Mama, Then and Now—Tragedy, Failure, and the History of Prison in Washington, by Dan Berger.
Six by Ten: Stories from Solitary by Call Number: HV9467.8 .S59 2018 (Main)Publication Date: 2018"Six by ten" [feet] describes the average size of the living space provided to many people who are incarcerated in solitary confinement in the U.S.
Excerpt from book description: "Six by Ten explores the mental, physical, and spiritual impacts of America’s widespread embrace of solitary confinement. Through stories from those subjected to solitary confinement, family members on the outside, and corrections officers, Six by Ten examines the darkest hidden corners of America’s mass incarceration culture and illustrates how solitary confinement inflicts lasting consequences on families and communities far beyond prison walls."
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Call Number: KF224.H565 H56 2018 (Main)Publication Date: 2018Mr. Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years in custody for crimes he did not commit.
Mr. Hinton also describes what he had to experience in the documentary film: True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality. You can view this film online at Equal Justice Initiative's page: True Justice. Equal Justice Initiative also describes Mr. Hinton's story and case here.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Call Number: KF373.S743 A3 2015 (Multiple copies on Reserve, 1 copy in Main)Publication Date: 2015Lawyer (and now Prof.) Bryan Stevenson's account of working (beginning in 1988) to appeal Mr. Walter McMillian's wrongful conviction and death sentence.
Equal Justice Initiative (a nonprofit law organization founded by Prof. Stevenson in 1989) describes Mr. McMillian's story and case here.
Disrupted Childhoods: Children of Women in Prison (ebook) by Publication Date: 2011In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access. (Off campus: requires proxy server.)
Excerpt from book description: Disrupted Childhoods "provides first-person accounts of the experiences of children" who have a critical care-giver who is either arrested/awaiting sentencing or is incarcerated.
Note: BLS Library also provides an ebook version of this study: Joyce A. Arditti, Parental Incarceration and the Family: Psychological and Social Effects of Imprisonment on Children, Parents, and Caregivers (2012). In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access. (Off campus: requires proxy server.)
Interrupted Life: Experiences of Incarcerated Women in the United States (ebook) by Publication Date: 2010In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). Unlimited user access. (Off campus: requires proxy server.)
Excerpt from book description: Interrupted Life is "a collection of writings by and about imprisoned women in the United States." It includes "essays, poems, stories, reports, and manifestos."
The Autobiography of Malcolm X (ebook) by Publication Date: Originally published: New York: Grove Press, 1965. First Ballantine Books ed.: New York: Ballantine Books, 1992.
In catalog record for this book, click: ACCESS ONLINE VERSION - (EBSCO). One copy available. (Off campus: requires proxy server.)
Excerpt from Nov. 5, 1965 book review in The New York Times: "'The Autobiography of Malcolm X’ is a brilliant, painful, important book." This autobiography also appears in the current Prison Library Support Network Wish List.
Punishment Without Crime: The True Story of a Man Who Spent Twenty-four Years in Prison for a Crime He Did Not Commit by Call Number: HV9468 .Z53 (Main)Publication Date: 1964Excerpt from Goodreads book description: "The nightmare of an innocent boy, convicted [in New York in 1938] on perjured testimony for a murder four other boys had committed."
For more information, consult The National Registry of Exonerations, Isidore Zimmerman.
Books: People's Experiences (available through The New York Public Library)
New York state residents can apply for a New York Public Library (NYPL) card through SimplyE to access ebooks, audiobooks, and selected databases. (At this site, NYPL provides: Download SimplyE & How-To Videos for SimplyE.) NYPL's tip: One needs to be in New York State when applying to fully access/complete the application.
United States of Grace: A Memoir of Homelessness, Addiction, Incarceration and Hope (ebook) by Publication Date: 2021Also available in print @ NYPL.
Excerpt from book annotation: "Lenny Duncan ... now brings us his story about growing up Black and queer in the US, examining pressing issues like poverty, mass incarceration, white supremacy, and LGBTQ inclusion through an intimate portrayal of his life's struggles and joys."
Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death, and Redemption in an American Prison (ebook) by Publication Date: 2016Also available in print @ NYPL.
Excerpt from publisher's book description: "In 1991, Shaka Senghor [who was 19] was sent to prison for second-degree murder. Today, he is a lecturer at the University of Michigan, a leading voice on criminal justice reform, and an inspiration to thousands." This author endured seven years in solitary confinement.
A Place to Stand: The Making of a Poet (ebook) by Publication Date: 2007Also available in print @ NYPL.
Excerpt from book annotation: "Jimmy Santiago Baca's astonishing narrative of his life before, during, and immediately after the years he spent in the maximum-security prison [Arizona State Prison] garnered tremendous critical acclaim."True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall (eaudiobook): by
Publication Date: 2003Also available in print @ NYPL.
Author Mark Salzman taught teen writers who were incarcerated at L.A.'s Central Juvenile Hall. The Kirkus book review states: "Here, he describes individual class sessions and reproduces (verbatim, he says, with only the spelling and mechanics standardized) some of the pieces the students wrote during the class."
