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Writing My Wrongs Sparknotes

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Recommended: Essays on mass incarceration

An extensive history of slavery is the root of mass incarceration. The easiest way to define prison is as a modernized version of slavery. The reality of prison systems is different from the perception that it’s the ideal place for convicts to recover or to serve as punishment. Currently, the amount of people being incarcerated is substantially more than it used to be. Due to the crack epidemic, anyone in possession of a form of narcotic was automatically imprisoned causing an uprising in many communities. In Writing My Wrongs by Shaka Senghor, he expresses his concern for the prison system as a whole, going through his journey when he is in prison for killing a man at 19 years old. He demonstrates how it affected inmates and ultimately mankind. …show more content…

“Donald Goines’s novels had created in me a desire to read, but Malcolm’s words snatched my eyes open and embedded in me a burning desire to do something meaningful with my life. His ability to go from a common street thug to a world-renowned orator and scholar inspired me in a way that nothing had before.” (Senghor, 101). Shaka considered Malcolm X to be a significant individual who he could identify with. Upon reading about how he put his life together after serving time in prison, Shaka aspired to be like him and live a meaningful life. Given what he did, he never believed change was possible. From this moment on, Shaka’s mindset begins to gradually alter, which is a crucial factor in his …show more content…

He was impacted most by literature, family, and writing. He received the assistance he desired as a result of these factors, assistance that a lot of other prisoners would not have gotten. The reality of the US prison systems is inhumane and inefficient. Even if the government invests the bulk of its resources in the system, the majority of individuals aren’t getting the support they need. The prison system is evidently a poor form of rehabilitation and is proven to have a harsh environment that can leave convicts worse off than they were before. People have been dehumanized as a result of prison and its inhabitants for far too long. “If there’s a will, there’s a way”, readers can discover that people can

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Kalief Browder was only 16 when he was sent to Rikers Island, one of the cruelest juvenile prisons in the nation, for being accused of stealing a backpack but with no evidence to support. He spent around two years in solitary confinement which drove him to attempt suicide many times. He was abused every day by inmates and prison guards for no reason at all. In his three years he was waiting for a trial which should not have taken longer than six months to complete. His mother spoke out to the public, waiting for his justice to be repaid every day and for her sons return.

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"It was far too easy to convict the wrongly accused man... send him to death row... and much too hard to win his freedom" -Bryan Stevenson. Hundreds of men and women have lost several years in prison throughout the 1900s to now in the United States. An example is in To Kill A Mockingbird, a famous novel, that sheds light on serious issues within the justice system. The protagonist, Scout( Jean Louise) Finch, discovers injustice surrounding black people in Alabama in 1930.

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Implications for this book include Santos’s desire to help fix the prison system and the mass incarceration issue the U.S is facing. Santos is also helping other that are being prosecuted by the failing system. Upon being released and piecing his life back together, Santos started his own foundation called the Michael G Santos foundation. Through this foundation, Santos is helping bring awareness to the socials issues that result from mass incarceration while also helping former prisoner transition and integrate successfully back into the work force. Through Santos’s hard work and commitment, Santos successfully helped Maine’s department of corrections enhance their prison system by the virtue of his own programs that he has developed post

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This simple but powerful choice of his writing creates a harsh reality of how the prison systems make a person less

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In the article “Even Prisoners Must Have Hope”, Richard Stratton (the author) talks about his thoughts on the federal prison system in America. Stratton himself had served 8 years in jail for smuggling marijuana. He strongly advises not to make the prisons even worse than they already are. The harsh conditions and other peoples’ vengeful attitudes toward criminals only make the violence and crime continue. According to Stratton, instead of improving the harsh conditions and trying to rehabilitate and help prisoners that could lead to peace, our society inflicts more pain and punishment, enforcing a violent cycle.

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In 1968 Robin Woods was convicted of two counts of felony breaking and entering. He was sentenced to 16 years at Maryland Correctional Institute, a maximum-security prison, for his nonviolent crimes. He recalls the atmosphere of MCI being both tense and racially charged. Amid reports of overcrowding and brutality from guards, a severe riot ensued adding an additional charge and 7 more years to Woods’ sentence. Our prison system neglects people’s mental and emotional needs, and treats them with contempt, yet expects respect and obedience in return.

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The novel Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson has brought to life the horrors of the prison system. Previously, I knew very little about the prison system, especially the level of injustice experienced by numerous prisoners. While I knew of the discrimination in the courtrooms for minorities, Stevenson’s stories added a personal touch to a harsh reality. I was especially shocked when Stevenson related the story of how he was stopped by police outside of his own house. Although he had done nothing wrong, the police immediately accused him of crimes, which he did not understand.

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At very young age, his father died and his mother became a mental patient. Due to these reasons, he experienced a much tougher time in his youth. He also spent many years in jail. On the other hand, Martin enjoyed a relatively blessed

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Just as history has seen with communities of color are essentially discriminated based on the color of their skin or way of living. King speaks of how through discrimination it gave rise to the Nation of Islam because, the "movement [was] nourished by the contemporary frustration over the continued existence of racial discrimination" ("Jail"). This coincides with how advocates trying to stop the injustice former convicts receive after being released because one should be able to be given an opportunity without having to worry about their past determining the new chapter they are trying to pursue. Illustrating how the prison system has allowed for ex-convicts to have to be the new face of discrimination and make it harder to integrate back into society. Thus, contradicting the initial purpose of prison being a rehabilitation center, but now has become a dehumanizing center for convicted criminals.

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I then began looking at newspaper articles. I discovered a few inmates’ everyday life in prison on death row. In all cases, death row was beyond miserable. Prisoners spend over twenty-three hours in a cell each day, suffering from mental illnesses, and coping with the moral fact that they are soon to die. After reading those articles, Walter McMillian’s case made me think about how some people on death row can be innocent and still suffer the consequences for someone else’s convictive actions.

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Prison is considered an appalling place to be, but Bartleby thinks otherwise. “And to you, this should not be so vile a place. Nothing reproachful attaches to you by being here. And see, it is not so sad a place as one might think. Look, there is the sky, and here is the grass” (27).

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Thesis: It is very important for the sake of Americans tax dollars that we change the way that prisons are run and increase the productivity of inmates so when they are released from jail they are ready to be a productive member in society and have the confidence to achieve new goals. Introduction: Day after day, millions of inmates sit in jail doing nothing productive with their lives. We are paying to house inmates that may not even have a good reason to be there. For example, drug offenders are being kept with murderers and other violent offenders.

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She has chosen to represent him through a group of prisoners, who still display to us the motif of ‘the other’. Atwood can now exhibit this modern context through this group, as well as her beliefs surrounding prison reform. In this society, prisoners are stereotyped and judged for the mistakes that have placed them in prison, and are seen as different to society because of this situation. They are treated as if there is no hope, and that they cannot be educated or rehabilitated, ‘Heritage Minister Price and Justice Minister O’Nally are pulling the plug on the Fletcher Correctional literacy program’ uses metaphor to show the audience how little care there is for those in the prison system. But the way that Atwood portrays the prisoners in her book shows how similar they are to everyone else, they possess impressive skills and are able to learn to a high standard.

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I was able paint a picture of what prison was like back then especially for someone of color. Its sad, I can't imagine being trapped in a cell for 23 ½ hours a day thinking about what your skin means to others. Soledad described his perception of the “system” in a poetic way. That's when I started feeling this motivational feeling for myself. Soledad brother was in jail, not knowing a release date.

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Over 2 million people are currently being held in United States prisons, and while the U.S. may only hold 5% of the world’s population, it houses 25% of its prisoners. In the past few years, America’s prison system has fallen under public scrutiny for it’s rising incarceration rate and poor statistics. Many Americans have recently taken notice of the country’s disproportionate prisoner ratio, realized it’s the worst on the planet, and called for the immediate reformation of the failing system. The war on drugs and racial profiling are some of the largest concerns, and many people, some ordinary citizens and others important government figures, are attempting to bring change to one of the country 's lowest aspects.

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