One of the most common stock images used by the San Quentin News website is that of a 17 century woodblock print of Fortuna and Sapientia - FATE & WISDOM. Critical thinking will not emerge on its own. Humans rarely abstract general principles from examples, therefore, we use STORY to help identify and formulate the common strategies and methods that underlie critical thinking. A significant aid to learning uses a narrative environment rich in retrieval cues, i.e., making use of associations. We call this narrative construct, story. … [Read more...] about RISK LITERACY: WOODBLOCK FORTUNA & SAPIENTIA
Book Review
Becoming Ms. Burton: … by Susan Burton
Of the many memoirs that have landed on my desk, Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women (2010) is one of the most inspirational. In the foreword, writer Michelle Alexander sets the stage by drawing a comparison between the memoir’s author, Susan Burton, and the legendary Harriet Tubman. Tubman helped create the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves yearning to be free; Burton helps women held captive by our prison system make a constructive break for freedom and rebuild their lives. “African … [Read more...] about Becoming Ms. Burton: … by Susan Burton
Beyond the Messy Truth by Van Jones
Beyond the Messy Truth: How We Came Apart*How We Come Together (2017) is a frank reading of American-style democracy that encourages an honest debate on how to shape the country. Author Van Jones travels around the country, touting The Beautiful Work: Four Solutions that he says would clean up the “Messy Truth” concerning the way Americans came apart and what conservatives and progressives could do to find unity. Beyond the Messy Truth takes readers through a fact-based history that is hard to dispute. In 2016, American voters were fed up … [Read more...] about Beyond the Messy Truth by Van Jones
The Manson Women and Me; Monsters, Morality, and Murder by Nikki Meredith
It took Nikki Meredith more than two decades of prison visits, trips into the California desert, and prolonged research to knit her memories, reactions, opinions together and write the words that describe the crime and the punishment in The Manson Women and Me; Monsters, Morality, and Murder (2018). What makes The Manson Women and Me a compelling read is the close scrutiny Meredith applies to investigating the mindsets, before and after, of Leslie Van Houten and Patricia Krenwinkel, two of the three women at the center of the … [Read more...] about The Manson Women and Me; Monsters, Morality, and Murder by Nikki Meredith
Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein
Last month’s review, The Left Hand of Darkness, dealt with earthlings’ effort to increase the human galactic footprint. Ursula K. Le Guin took readers way, way into the future to tell a tale about humanizing other worlds. By comparison, authors of Saturn Run, John Sandford and Ctein peered just around the corner of time in Saturn Run, (2015) to tell a tale about Earth’s first alien contact. Everything takes place in the late 2060s after a large object headed to Saturn is spotted and is decelerating. What follows is a space race between the … [Read more...] about Saturn Run by John Sandford and Ctein
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
When Ursula K. Le Guin died earlier this year, she left her fans a rich history of literature. In much of that literature she tackled humankind’s quest for dignity. Her stories make us think deeply about how we treat each other — most famously in her groundbreaking 1969 science fiction masterpiece, The Left Hand of Darkness. Le Guin was a courageous writer -- she wrote about sexuality, truth to power, and imperialism at a time when these topics were considered revolutionary. 25 percent of millennial-age American men think asking a woman who is … [Read more...] about The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Only By Flashlight by Ed “Foots” Lipman
The famed incarcerated poet, Ed “Foots” Lipman was born New Year’s Day 1941. After he spent nearly half his of 34 years behind bars, he died of natural causes on Sept. 8, 1975. “I have never been so affected by poetry…I looked up his name on the internet, found little to nothing, and felt overwhelmingly compelled to change that,” said researcher. S.J. Lawrie. By publishing Only By Flashlight, Lawrie brought to life Lipman’s collection of 55 raw and blunt poems. I had the opportunity to experience Lipman’s work while attending Zoe … [Read more...] about Only By Flashlight by Ed “Foots” Lipman
The Southern Phoenix by Rosemary Jenkins
The Southern Phoenix, written by Rosemary Jenkins, is the perfect book to read during Black History Month. By linking fictional characters to real-life civil rights events, Jenkins insightfully recreates the Black experience in mid-century America. This historical novel, published last year, provides readers with a vivid portrayal of the post-World War II racial divide in the American South and how it created the civil rights movement. Jenkins depicts iconic events—the 1965 Watts riots, bus and lunch counter sit-ins, the voting rights … [Read more...] about The Southern Phoenix by Rosemary Jenkins
The Prisoner in His Palace by Will Bardenwerper
What history leaves unsaid will always be a point of controversy, especially for the defeated or the powerless. It is the job of the all-inclusive historian to look back and find parts of the record that are missing in order to put everything in place—to balance the interpretation of what took place. The Prisoner in His Palace by Will Bardenwerper (2016) is about Saddam Hussein’s last days. Bardenwerper, a military veteran, waited 10 years after … [Read more...] about The Prisoner in His Palace by Will Bardenwerper
What We Never Had by Zach Wyner
Imaginative storytelling, tension and drama linked to how we see the world are what good novels are made of — Zach Wyner does this in: What We Never Had (2016). But what’s unique about this debut novel isn’t the plot, which is a familiar coming-of-age story -- it’s the second-person point of view. Josh, the protagonist, is a 20-something tutor who gives his 20-something friends the specialized help they need as they confront the challenges of post-college life. In describing these relationships, the second person magically provides both … [Read more...] about What We Never Had by Zach Wyner