Letters to an Incarcerated Brother: Encouragement, Hope, and Healing for Inmates and Their Loved Ones

Written by Hill Harper

Narrated by Kevin R. Free

After the publication of the bestselling Letters to a Young Brother, accomplished actor and speaker Hill Harper began to receive an increasing number of moving letters from inmates who yearned for a connection with a successful role model. With disturbing statistics on African-American incarceration on his mind (one in six black men were incarcerated as of 2001, and one in three can now expect to go to prison some time in their lifetimes), Harper set out to address the specific needs of inmates. A powerful message from the heart, Letters to an Incarcerated Brother provides advice and inspiration in the face of despair along with encouraging words for restoring a sense of self-worth. As the founder of Manifest Your Destiny, a nonprofit outreach program for at-risk teens, Harper has seen firsthand the transformative effect of mentorship and the power of a positive role model. This latest addition to Hill Harper' s Letters series delivers visionary, compassionate responses to the real-life circumstances of inmates. As with the other Letters books, Harper includes moving contributions from top educators, activists, thought leaders, and entertainers. Uplifting and insightful, Letters to an Incarcerated Brother provides the hope and inspiration inmates and their families need.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781470387679

Reviews for Letters to an Incarcerated Brother

[dysmonia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I should have read the title of this book more carefully before I began reading, because I was expecting to hear more from inmates than the author. Hill Harper, Harvard Law graduate, actor, humanitarian, and all-around pompous advice-giver, certainly has a lot to say about a system in which he has never been locked up. But, after the first quarter of the book or so, I warmed up to him. Although I found him a bit pedantic throughout, he truly does seem to care about the disenfranchisement of prisoners in this country. He has good statistics and other information, and he certainly does worlds to help the particular inmate with whom he is corresponding in the book. Harper's overall attitude toward life is healthy and positive. I began to find reading his words comforting. He's definitely someone that anyone, inmate or not, would be lucky to have in his/her corner. I applaud him for bringing the issues of the prison industrial complex to the fore.

Harper puts quotes at the beginning of each chapter/letter, and there was one in particular I enjoyed:

"Drug misuse is not a disease, it is a decision, like the decision to step out in front of a moving car. You would call that not a disease, but an error in judgment." -- Philip K. Dick

As someone who used to overdrink/was a drunk/was an alcoholic/whatever, I appreciate this line of thinking. I never believed in the AA disease model. I didn't have a motor control problem; therefore, I could choose not to drink. And I didn't contract "alcoholism" from a bacteria, or a virus, and it didn't make me powerless. It was a negative coping mechanism I chose to use for a time. Not much more to it than that.