{"product_id":"pen-pal-prison-letters-from-a-free-spirit-on-slow-death-row-paperback","title":"Pen Pal: Prison Letters from a Free Spirit on Slow Death Row - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eTiyo Attallah Salah-El\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eMike Jr. Africa\u003c\/b\u003e (Preface by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTiyo Attallah Salah-El died in 2018 on \"Slow Death Row\" while serving a life sentence in a Pennsylvania prison. He was a man with a dizzying array of talents and vocations: author, scholar, teacher, musician, and activist: he was the founder of the Coalition for the Abolition of Prisons. He was also, as is apparent from the letters written over a decade and half to his friend Paul Alan Smith that make up this book, an extraordinarily eloquent correspondent.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTiyo's missives present a vivid picture of the tribulations faced by those incarcerated, especially the nearly 60% who are non-white: habitual racism, arbitrary lockdowns, brutal beatings and hospitalizations, stifling heat and bitter cold. Here too are descriptions of Tiyo's individual struggles with cancer, aging, and the sirens of personal demons.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTiyo's refusal to succumb to such hardships is evident in dispatches that are generous, philosophical and often laugh-out-loud funny. Through them we learn of his many friendships, including those with the historian Howard Zinn, a range of activist\/advocate supporters on the outside, and two fellow people in prison who were leaders of the Black liberation group MOVE.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAt a time when the appalling racial bias of America's police and criminal justice system is under the spotlight as never before, \u003cem\u003ePen Pal\u003c\/em\u003e is both a vital intervention and moving portrait of someone whose physical confinement could never extinguish an extraordinary free spirit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eTiyo Attallah Salah-El served a life sentence, primarily in the State Correctional Institute at Dallas in Pennsylvania. He was the founder of the Coalition for the Abolition of Prisons, the author of an autobiography, and a teacher of law and GED classes in prison. He died in prison in 2018. His papers are archived at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 256\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.52 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 15, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50359553163501,"sku":"9781682193044","price":21.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0020\/8918\/9441\/files\/UxdImh9A9B9781682193044.webp?v=1785365240","url":"https:\/\/www.webster.direct\/products\/pen-pal-prison-letters-from-a-free-spirit-on-slow-death-row-paperback","provider":"Webster.Direct","version":"1.0","type":"link"}