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by Arthur Lee Jr. Hall (Author)
Prison Rap: Stories from the Inside, is an accumulated literary forum by one prisoner incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections began with the author reaching out to numerous community-based newspapers in hopes of being given an opportunity to express his views and share his personal experiences in life as well as what he has observed and lived through in twenty years in prison. Out of all the query cover letters that were sent to editors across the country, the idea of adding a Prison Rap column drew the attention of only one newspaper -The Miami Times, which ran weekly in the author's own hometown.
Stopping the press to make room for a serious weekly discussion about the life of a prisoner, had proven to be a successful move as made evident by the positive feedback in letters submitted to D. Kevin McNeir, Senior Editor at the Miami Times.
While prison life has always in some way been at the core of every Prison Rap discussion, with each passing week, the many topics raised had naturally began to run wild-ranging from events occurring in prison to events occurring in the free world: from learning how to forgive to being thankful for small blessings, from sharing personal moments of the past to reports about the interesting lives of fellow convicts, from engaging in spiritual conversations to motivational pep talks, from expressing the love for a mother to being equally appreciative of a grandmother, from nostalgic love to romantic relationships involving prisoners and individuals in the free world, from health issues to preparing for life after death, from life tragedies to weathering troublesome times, from believing that dreams can come true to achieving success in spite of being designated the underdog by others.
As the author continues to write a weekly column for The Miami Times, his well of multiples topics have certainly not run dry. At some point, though, the thought of putting a collection of his most well-received work into a book from had crossed his mind.
Over time, what began as a bright idea had become a passionate dream eventually brought to life. In all, 72 heartfelt weekly writings made the drafts, and at least two selected writings are follow-ups to others previously ran in the paper.
Chiming in briefly at the beginning and the conclusion of the book are wise sayings and encouraging excerpts from several previously ran columns. Included in the book are wise sayings, encouraging excerpts from movies, and a few of well- known people.
One unequivocal fact about Prison Rap is that it is heavily laced with love, motivation, hope for tomorrow, survival, resilience, information about prison and sharing with an overall concept of leading life to improvement whether one is in prison or in the free world.
Amassing great riches has never been the primary goal of the author presenting his collection of writings to the world. More important to him is succeeding at conveying to his readers the personal sentiments and in-depth feelings of a man held captive away from society while demonstrating that the heart and mind of a prisoner is indeed capable of functioning humanely despite poor decisions made in the past. Whether one can find pleasure in reading any part of the book is something readers must determine for themselves. What the author can guarantee, though, is that an honest illustration of a prisoner's life will be offered in the book, which he hopes will become etched in the hearts of every soul that judges it.
