LETTERS TO THE SONS OF SOCIETY

Reflections on love, freedom, and Black lives.

In 1991, 19-year-old Senghor was convicted of murder and sent to prison. During his 20-year incarceration, which included a total of seven years in solitary confinement, the author and his father exchanged hundreds of letters about being a father, a son, and a Black man. Treasuring that correspondence, Senghor writes his own candid letters to his two sons: 30-year-old Jay, who grew up while his father was in prison, and 9-year-old Sekou, born about a year after his release in 2010. Now a mentor, criminal justice activist, and memoirist, the author pledges to be both an attentive father and engaged citizen. “We can choose to ignore or get angry or let the bile of racism fill our throats,” he writes. “Or we can choose to be entirely present with those around us, entirely open to honest conversations, loving but firm, known as someone who stands for something at all times.” Although “the world doesn’t always look like a place filled with love,” he assures Sekou, “trust me, love is present.” But so, sadly, is systemic racism. The world tells Black children to “suck it up, to be tough, that emotion is weakness, that the cold world is coming for us so we’d better be ready.” The narrative about Black men is “so distorted. We are only ever seen in a one-dimensional way—as trouble or danger or a problem to solve.” Senghor encourages his sons to actively resist, as he has, to change that narrative. He describes in raw detail the degradation he experienced in prison and the consequences of living as an ex-felon. “There is no such thing as full freedom for a man who has served time,” he tells Jay. His achievements as a writer, college teacher, and public speaker have been hard-won. “This book,” he promises his sons, “is my commitment to you that you won’t face what I faced.”

Heartfelt counsel from a loving father and solid proof that redemption is possible.