How books can transform the landscape of the American prison system
After receiving a nine-year sentence at age 16, Reginald Dwayne Betts discovered the power of literature to preserve sanity. This talk explores his mission to replace incarceration-focused resources with vast libraries for the incarcerated.
Reginald Dwayne Betts, now a lawyer and poet, shares how reading helped him navigate his youth in prison. His experience led to the creation of hundreds of Freedom Libraries throughout the United States, providing incarcerated individuals with the same books he once longed to read.
Betts argues that hope is a shared commodity that can be passed between people. He advocates for a fundamental shift in how we approach imprisonment, suggesting that instead of filling prisons with millions of people, we should focus on filling them with millions of books.
Source: Reginald Dwayne Betts: Why I’m building libraries inside prisons
