This work was created to reverse the glorification placed on the stagnating roles of our culture; drug dealers, killers, gang bangers, and pimps, which only perpetuate the demise of one’s quality of life.

The ultimate goal of the author is to inspire change by expounding on the resilience of individuals challenged by the difficulties attached to existing in underserved communities of Urban America. The reader should be able to take something from this book and apply it to their life to improve the conditions of their circumstance by making better decisions.

What genre is it?
African American Literature.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
African Americans, Black Historians, Inner City Youth, Troubled Adults, Academics.

Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love this book.
the movie Django.

We’ve heard of Willie Lynch. Remind us who he was.
Willie Lynch was a slave owner that shared his theory on how to make a slave, and how to keep a slave a slave to other slave owners on the St. James River  of Virginia in 1712. This theory was proclaimed to work for 300 years if implemented.

What is the aim of your book? What is the reader supposed to take with them? How are we meant to feel?
Empowered and Empathetic by the African American experience in America.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

A.J. Briscoe is an author, entrepreneur, orator, and prison literacy advocate striving towards the opportunity to explode the stereotype placed on individuals living in underserved communities across America.

A 7th grade dropout, and five time repeat felon that has experienced over ten years of incarceration, Mr. Briscoe chose to reevaluate the importance of education and pursue a crime free lifestyle.

While in prison he developed a passion for reading and writing that brought on a newfound form of expression, which evolved into a way to vent emotions and frustrations. He is very well read. His stories describe the traumatic and inspiring events witnessed and experienced in the communities of the Mid West and Southern Regions.

“I had made mistakes over and over again, so I said that if I committed the same energy into trying to change, over and over again, I had no choice but to experience some form of success.”

Utilizing books to identify skill sets is a strategy used to reach the youth he interacts with in order to improve our community’s literacy level. His passion directed him to found the literacy campaign “To Succeed You Must Read,” that advocates the importance of reading in underserved communities in the Greater Twin Cities area.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
http://www.stompent.com.

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
https://www.facebook.com/albert.briscoe.9?ref=tn_tnmn.

What’s next?
“To Succeed You Must Read” Summer Book Club