My Soul Said to Me

by Roberts, Robert E.

• ISBN13: 9780757300646
• ISBN10: 0757300642
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-02-01
• Publisher: Hci

Summary

This unforgettable memoir by Robert E. Roberts, founder of Project Return is an eye opening window into the human suffering, courage and triumph in America's correctional system. My Soul Said To Me will leave readers deeply inspired, encouraged, impassioned and in awe of the human capacity to survive. Richard Gere Productions is currently reviewing the book for its feature film potential.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Seeds of Transformation	1	(30)
The Long Descent into Community	31	(28)
Malcolm	59	(28)
The Search for Initiation: Remembering the Song of Africa	87	(46)
Things Fall Apart	133	(40)
Confusion and Despair	173	(28)
Grace, Healing and Forgiveness	201	(22)
The Never-Ending Stories	223	(62)
Epilogue: A Sad Farewell and a New Beginning	285	(10)
Postscript	295	(2)
Notes	297

Excerpts

From Chapter 8 - The Never-Ending Story The next spring, while several of us were reminiscing about our times at DCI, Andrew Webster (formerly Psycho) asked Malcolm and me if we had heard anything about Larry Brown and Bubba Sanders. Malcolm said Larry had relapsed on drugs, but had admitted himself to a state recovery center in Mandeville and was, for the time being, doing well. I had kept up with Bubba for about a year after he left Hope House in Baton Rouge. He had been arrested for possession and use of marijuana, but he was also charged with being in a car with another convicted felon. After six months or so in the parish jail, he left Baton Rouge to live with his grandmother near Lafayette. The last time I had spoken with him, he was going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly and had a good sponsor and a decent job. But I had no recent news. The last time I'd called his grandmother's number to check on Bubba, the service had been disconnected with no forwarding number.Since we'd heard nothing from either of them for awhile, we agreed that Malcolm would look up Larry and I would find Bubba. I remembered that Bubba's full name was Hardy Sanders Jr., so I began an Internet search for his father. Mr. Sanders remembered me and was glad to give me Bubba's number. It was about 7:30 in the evening when I called Bubba. His voice sounded terrible as he asked me to hang on while he took the cordless phone outside so we could talk in private. He began crying in disbelief that I had called on this of all nights, the night he intended to commit suicide by overdosing on cocaine. The woman he lived with was a cocaine dealer from whom he could get enough dope to kill himself. He explained that he had fallen deep into debt to someone whom he could not repay. Apparently, this person said that if Bubba would help him burglarize a tobacco store, he would forgive the debt. In doing so, however, they had set off the alarm and were caught, leaving Bubba to face another prison term of five years. Sobbing, Bubba added, "And, Bob, I think I have AIDS." I asked him why he thought so. He said he had slept with a woman who later told him she was HIV-positive. Bubba had gone to Charity Hospital in Baton Rouge and was tested, but the results would be a month in coming back. He said, "Bob, I go for sentencing next week. There ain't time to find out. An' Bob, I don't want to die in prison. I don't want to die there." That's every prisoner's worst nightmare, I thought. I told Bubba that if he could catch a bus to New Orleans the next morning, I would have him tested at Tulane's blood lab and find out the results the next afternoon. Then he and I made a contract that he would not overdose, at least until after the test result was in. The next morning, his father drove him down for the test. Afterward, I took them to lunch and Bubba filled me in on events surrounding the burglary charge.Bubba had already confessed to the crime. All that remained was to get the ju

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Excerpted from My Soul Said to Me: An Unlikely Journey Behind the Walls of Justice by Robert E. Roberts, Robert Roberts
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