Shaka Senghor new book, ‘Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death and Redemption in an American Prison,” is a best seller. (Courtesy photo)
Shaka Senghor is an ex-con who is changing the lives Americans, both old and young, with his recently released book which documents his experience in the American justice system. The book is a New York Times best-seller.
In “Writing My Wrongs: Life, Death and Redemption in an American Prison,” Senghor recounts his 19-year prison experience, after being sentenced in 1991. He shot and killed a man in Detroit when he was 19 years old. Senghor then spent seven years in solitary confinement.
“I am humbled by the overwhelming reaction to my book, however my success is not in being a New York Times bestseller. I realize my real success every time I receive personal letters from the parents, teachers, educators and prisoners impacted by my life,” Senghor told the AFRO. He said his greatest accomplishments stem from counseling and mentoring young people.
He said his turning point came when he received a “heartbreaking” note from his 11-year-old son that said he knew the reason why his father was in jail and asking him not to murder anymore.
“You can never recapture time or claim it again once it’s gone,” Senghor said. “The biggest sacrifice of time is the loved ones and the family you miss from making poor choices.”
Since being released from prison in 2010, and winning the Black Male Engagement Leadership Award in 2012, Senghor has also become the director of strategy and innovation at Cut 50, an organization devoted to reducing incarceration rates by 50 percent over the next 10 years and becoming co-founder of “Beyond Prisons,” a group trying to humanize criminal justice reform.
“I want to shed light on the prison system and work towards decriminalization, mental illness, solitary confinement and help those who have been incarcerated, transition back into society,” he said.
In addition to working on prison reform, activism and mentoring young people, Senghor also delivers lectures at various universities, including the University of Michigan.
“Most importantly, I want the youth to believe in their selves and see that they all have potential. That’s one of the main reasons why I lecture and why my biggest dream is to one day speak and lecture at Howard University,” he said.