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INSIDE A THUG’S HEART
Rikers Island is the centerpiece of the New York City Department of Corrections, a sprawling prison city of concrete and steel with housing for more than 16,000 inmates. Early in 1995, it was also the temporary home of legendary rapper and actor Tupac Shakur, incarcerated for a crime he swore he did not commit. And it was there that Angela Ardis, acting on a late-night wager among her friends and coworkers, sent a letter, along with a photo and her phone number. To her utter delight and amazement, Angela's phone rang a short while later. Tupac Shakur was on the line.
Over the next several months, Angela and Tupac shared a near-daily exchange of letters, poems and phone calls, and their the relationship quickly grew into something neither of them could quite define, a kinship of souls that touched each in unexpected ways. Those original poems and letters, many of them written after Tupac’s transfer from Rikers to Dannemora State Prison, are presented here, along with the increasingly passionate and personal phone calls that touched on every subject imaginable. Far from the media spotlight, Tupac was by turns playful, sensual and serious, offering sharp observations on prison, music and the uncertainties of life. His letters to Angela reflect how he felt about being shot five times and left for dead one terrible night in New York in 1994, and his heartfelt verse encapsulates his dreams for the future—a future that would be so tragically cut short just over eighteen months after their correspondence began.
Tupac Shakur was shot on September 7th, 1996 and died a week later from his injuries. His murder remains unsolved, an ending as enigmatic as his life. But while Tupac may be gone, his words live on here, giving every fan a rare glimpse inside the mind and unbroken spirit of a passionate and unpredictable musical icon.
241 pages
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MY MIND’S POETRY
A lifetime of experiences, trials and tribulations, heartaches and joy, drama and pain mixed with lessons learned. A real perspective to life through analogies and poetic expression. Nothing like you’ve ever read before. No mixed words or sugar-coated verbiage. Poetry on one side and a journal for room to express one's thoughts on the blank pages that proceed. Lightly illustrated. The first of a series of poetry books that read like novels but leave room for the reader to create their own.
400 pages
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THE BLOCK
The Block follows the lives of five, ten year old; children who struggle to survive in a neighborhood infested with the walking dead; these children, who wake up each morning, to the horrors and nightmares of their world. Who, through happenstance, meet and form a unified dream and commitment to leave the hell that they all know as ‘The Block.’
Tina’s mother and father fight to no end, always drinking and smoking weed. Her mother loves her and because of her love for her mother, she constantly finds herself in the middle of the battles between her parents.
Reigna’s mother is never home. Being that Reigna is a product of rape, her mother holds a deep hatred for her. She is a street broad, bouncing from one man to the next staying with them long enough to escape her own demons, then she’d move on before they’d return. Normally drunk or high, when she would come home, she would find some reason to lash out her frustrations onto Reigna’s small body. Ironically, Reigna only felt loved when her mother beat her. She craved the attention.
Troy had it bad. It’s a wonder how he stayed so fine with all the beatings his father laid on him. His father is an ex-boxer whose wife died giving birth to Troy. He’s never forgiven Troy and wished Troy would have died instead.
Robert and his older brother, Strong, were abandoned by their parents when Strong was 15 and Robert was a newborn. Strong was taken under the wing of the neighborhood dope man when he was 10 and took over after his death. Strong loves Robert and takes good care of him and because of that, Robert has it the best of all the kids on the block.
Kora’s mother is strung out on anything she can get her hands on and her father loves her too much. Through horrific scenes of sexual abuse, she finds someone inside herself to take over and deal with the father who turns out to be her uncle.
Through the horrors of mental, verbal, sexual and physical abuse, these five children search for understanding of their daily circumstances, survival from their conditions, and strength and maneuverability to escape the block once and for all. The block captures raw childhood, innocence lost, miracles of ‘everything happens for a reason’ and sheer determination and drive for a common goal…to get off THE BLOCK.
335 pages
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