Finish date: February 2023 Genre: non-fiction Rating: A+++++ Review: Halfway Home (ISBN: 9780316451482)
Good news: Ruben Miller, social scientist, records human behavior of prisoners and ex-prisoners as a result of the relationship between mental states and social situations. Miller also emphasised the “ridiculous” policies that states have enacted to prevent people (African-American) from rebuilding their lives. #Eye-opener
Personal: This was not an easy book to read….confronted me with what life is really like for the incarcerated. Raw, heartbreaking accounts of lives that have been rejected by society. It sent shivers down my spine. How does one survive when as Nina Simone sings in the gospel song Sinnerman: …the river boils, the sea bleeds and the rock refused to hide them.I must recommend reading this stunning book! Ruben Miller expresses empathy for the people he studied…but also revealed how close his own personal life is to “…being black, poor and living in the time of mass incarceration.” The author’s special gift is this “proximity” and his ability to navigate his writing for the public.
All I can say is…remember who you elect to local, state and federal positions….are they there to help or hinder? Finalist Los Angeles Book Prize 2022 – Reuben Jonathan Miller, “Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration”. Find it at the library….and educate yourself! #MustRead
by Reuben Jonathan Miller (no photo)
NancyElin 