Shaka Senghor

And I did that by giving the book away to over 1,300 prisons and upwards of a million people who are incarcerated.

And

One of the things that was really important to me is making sure that they had access to this work because it's very difficult to get books in the prison nowadays.

Both of my earlier books are actually banned in prisons throughout the country.

But I wanted to make sure that people inside had access and that they really got a chance to interact with this work.

And just recently, I went to Rikers Island.

in New York where I spent the day with The Breakfast Club host Charlamagne Tha God and former editor-in-chief of Vibe magazine, Daytuan Thomas.

We went and we spent a day with women and men who had actually already read the book because they got it before the rest of the world got it.

And they had so many great insights and questions and liberating moments.

It was one of the most beautiful and powerful experiences I've ever had.

And I plan to do this even more.

Like my dream, like my dream job in the world is like if I had just the freedom to do would be to visit every prison in America and impart this wisdom and this hope and share.

Because when I was in there, we just didn't have people like me come in and see us.

And I know how much that matters.

Yeah, you know, honestly, I don't think I'm afraid of anything at this point in my life.

I think I've faced some of the toughest circumstances from the time I was a child.

And one of the things that journaling actually did for me was it really showed me how courageous I had been in moments when I thought I was afraid.

and what that courage looked like back then was that i kept fighting you know i kept advocating for myself i'll never forget what it was like to be beat nearly to death like you know when i was 14 years old by adult men and laying on that bathroom floor and telling myself you know you just got to get up and you'll be okay and you can make it through this moment so i realized through journaling that i've

I had more courage than I had given myself credit for.

And so at this day and age, I don't think there's anything that I fear because I realize that life is just life.