It's been a pleasure blogging here for the past week. The commenters here are intelligent and just crazy enough to make everything interesting. All that is to say my week has been a dope one. I learned that this blogging thing ain't no joke. Ta-Nehisi has to sure 'nuff prepare when he decides to post something and I commend him for keeping this joint thoughtful and provocative.
So, with my goodbye - I wanted to tell you about my last Thursday. Around six I got home with my son and there were two packages waiting for me. One was college degree, the other were two of the first copies of my memoir, A Question of Freedom. The book is about prison, literature and really how I got to the point where I can tell folks I blogged for Ta-Nehisi Coates. You can read a description of it here and you can check out my book tour schedule here, I'll be going to Chicago, Detroit, New York and a few other cities and states across the country. Come check me out if you can.
Point is - I was the first person in my family to go to prison and it crushed everyone. I wasn't but sixteen. Roughly twelve years later, I became the first person in my family to graduate from college. I did so as the commencement speaker at the University of Maryland. I spoke before 16,000 folks at the Comcast Center, I spoke before Leon Panetta. I'd be fronting if I said all of this hasn't been a dream come true - and that's why I pushed the justice issues and the education issues so hard. There is a list of folks who've been willing to help me and hear me out that's longer than I can name. Now this blog community is among that list - folks willing to treat my ideas and rants with respect and all the concern that makes the day's make sense. So, with that, thanks. Hope to see you in a room someone talking poetry, sports or politics over a drink or a plate of curried tofu.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
I'm bummed there's no west coast on the book tour. It's been a pleasure reading your thoughts, rants and all.
Big Congrats, Dwayne. I'll look for your book and your future work.
Good luck out there.
Dwayne, all the best. As someone who works with the schools on Rikers Island, I'm interested to hear your story. I'll try to catch you in NY, and if not, I'll at least get a copy of your book.
Your education post got a lot of comments (more than a couple by me). I hope you checked them out, especially the article BobTX referred to from the NY Times Mag in 2000. There are so many people who think they have the answer in education, and the issues so often go beyond what we can see on the surface.
Co-sign being bummed that there's no west coast on the tour. It was a pleasure reading you this past week, and can't wait to read the book. Great stuff, Betts. And congrats on the degree.
Huge congrats. My instincts on coming down hard on anyone, even youths, who do violence against people are pretty hard ass, but you told your story with clarity and dignity. Thanks and I'll remember it.
Leon Panetta, my friend. Good luck with the book.
Thanks David. You see, I'm a sports fan at heart. But I fixed that.
Damn! There goes some really cool hoops talk!
Thanks for your insightful blogging and if you do make it to the west coast, maybe you can stop by my modern lit class, and don't worry, 1/5 of them have been in and out of juvie, so you'd be a tremendous source of inspiration.
My college roommate married her high school sweetheart who at the time was serving 7 years for 1/2 a joint found in a search warrant in Texas, 1973. She got him freed, they traveled to Iowa to get their masters' degrees and he's been teaching criminology for years in Kentucky.
A the dude says in la Bamba, "Life's a trip, Carnal."
Best of luck!