Family & friends

Empowering People

Our nonprofit provides free resources to help your loved ones navigate the challenges of the criminal justice system. We offer books, courses, and self-directed lessons designed to help individuals prepare for better outcomes during sentencing, incarceration, and beyond. With these resources, family and friends can play an active role in empowering their loved ones to build resilience, document their growth, and work toward successful reentry and lasting freedom.

Straight-A Guide

The Straight-A Guide is the cornerstone of every course I create for individuals navigating crisis. I'll always be deeply grateful to the mentors who guided me in developing this transformative framework. In this video, I share the profound impact these mentors had at various stages of my journey, offering encouragement and insight to anyone facing challenging times. My story underscores that it's never too late to recalibrate, make intentional decisions, and forge a pathway toward a brighter future.

The Straight-A Guide outlines a clear, actionable path, taught through ten comprehensive modules:

1. Define Success: Clearly visualize the ideal outcome to navigate beyond your crisis.

2. Set Goals: Establish goals that align deeply with who you're determined to become.

3. Attitude: Commit fully and passionately to achieving your defined success.

4. Aspiration: Cultivate a vision of your best life—one filled with purpose, meaning, and dignity.

5. Action: Consistently act in ways that reflect your commitment to your goals.

6. Accountability: Develop systems and tools to measure your progress and hold yourself accountable.

7. Awareness: Remain vigilant and fully engaged each day, letting your commitment become evident to others.

8. Authenticity: Avoid superficial success; live as the genuine leader of your own life, making deliberate and resourceful decisions.

9. Achievement: Celebrate incremental successes that cumulatively lead to significant opportunities.

10. Appreciation: Embrace gratitude daily for all blessings and opportunities that come your way.

Mastering these ten modules enabled me to overcome the daunting crisis of a 45-year prison term, transforming adversity into a meaningful and successful life. I firmly believe anyone who learns and applies these lessons can similarly recalibrate and rebuild their lives. This video provides an overview of these powerful concepts.

Million Stories

The Singleton Foundation sponsors numerous programs aimed at teaching financial literacy to underserved populations. One such initiative is the FacePlant series, which highlights inspiring stories of individuals who've faced significant adversity but discovered pathways to rebuild and transform their lives. I was honored when they approached me to feature my journey.

People entering the justice system often feel overwhelmed and uncertain about the future. They need to know their current crisis doesn't have to dictate their life's trajectory. Every individual has the power to make strategic decisions during difficult times that can lead to positive outcomes. To share my experience, the FacePlant producers visited my home and created a high-quality video interview. In it, they explored the pivotal choices and mindset shifts that allowed me to move beyond the daunting challenge of a 45-year prison sentence.

Influential leaders guided me to adopt new ways of thinking, enabling me to recalibrate my perspective and rebuild my life from the inside out. These transformative lessons carried me through 26 years of incarceration and laid the groundwork for establishing multiple income streams after my release.

We are all navigating our personal journeys toward new chapters in our lives. By preparing proactively and thoughtfully, we position ourselves to seize emerging opportunities. That's precisely the message I aimed to convey through my story in this brief but powerful video.

Soft White Underbelly

Mark Laita is a renowned photojournalist who created the impactful platform Soft White Underbelly. With a dedicated audience of over 10 million followers across YouTube and other channels, Mark provides a compelling space for individuals to share their stories of struggle and resilience. I was honored when he invited me to participate.

When I visited Mark’s studio in Santa Monica, I was accompanied by my friend Matt Bowyer. Matt is well-known for extensive media coverage portraying him as one of America's largest bookmakers. His notoriety intensified following a widely publicized scandal involving baseball star Shohei Ohtani, his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, and prominent Las Vegas casino executives. Mark initially intended to profile Matt, and through that connection, I had the chance to share my own story.

In the studio, Mark initially suggested I discuss experiences related to large-scale drug trafficking. However, I explained that my narrative was different. My journey was more about the process of recalibrating and rebuilding after profound adversity. Prison provided the backdrop, but the essence of my story was deeply human, highlighting strategies taught by influential mentors. Mark usually conducts interviews by asking questions, but he suggested I might tell my story uninterrupted. So, I sat down and spoke unscripted for an hour.

Earning Freedom

People going into a difficult situation sometimes have a hard time find the way out. It's helpful to learn from others who've through difficult journeys, but came out successfully. Such stories can bring a person hope.

When I was 23, I needed that hope. Authorities had charged me with crimes related to the distribution of cocaine. I did not have violence or weapons in my case, but a combination of the quantity and the organizational structure exposed me to a severe sentence.

Fortunately, I read about others who had gone through struggles of long-term confinement. Those stories helped me. In Earning Freedom: Conquering a 45-Year Prison Term, I hope to help others.

I wrote Earning Freedom to share my personal journey of transformation and to inspire others facing adversity. By the time a federal judge sentenced me, I had served about one year in solitary confinement. While there, I read about Socrates, Nelson Mandela, Viktor Frankl, Frederick Douglass. Those men gave me hope. They inspired a conscious decision to grow, learn, and contribute positively during the time that I served.

I structured Earning Freedom in three distinct sections, modeled after Julius Ceasar:

Veni (I came):
I describe entering prison and facing the harsh reality of my sentence.

Vidi (I saw)
In this section, I show the process of observing my surroundings and making deliberate plans to educate myself, build relationships, and create opportunities.

Vici (I conquered).
Reveals how I conquered the adversity of prison life, how academic degrees contributed to my building a strong support network, and ultimately preparing myself for a meaningful life after incarceration.

Readers will gain practical insights into setting clear, achievable goals, maintaining relentless discipline, and developing resilience in the face of significant challenges.

Through this story, I show how anyone can turn setbacks into stepping stones, using structured strategies to prepare for success and create lasting positive change. I aim to empower others to believe in their ability to transform their lives, regardless of their circumstances, and to provide them with a clear blueprint for personal growth, achievement, and freedom.

Testimonials

[AI-generated images to preserve privacy] We receive unsolicited letters from people in jails and prison every day. They describe how daily lessons from Prison Professors motivate them to prepare for success upon release.

Making an Impact

We create targeted content and resources specifically for the unique needs of each group we serve—including family members, people facing charges, justice-impacted individuals, correctional staff, universities, businesses, and media professionals. All of our content shows that regardless of what challenges a person faces together, we can always work toward better outcomes.