Reading saved this ex-con's life

Reading saved this ex-con's life

Literacy saved A.J. Briscoe’s life. Now a free man for the first time since he was 14, he’s using books to inspire high-risk kids.

Star Tribune: 10.11.2014 by Gail Rosenblum

A.J. Briscoe woke up on Monday, Sept. 29, 2014, to relentless rain. The downpour forced him to cancel a meeting at his favorite coffee shop because his van had broken down the day before. So he worked from the dining room table of his small, impeccably decorated home in north Minneapolis, marveling that weather and car repair were the biggest headaches of this “amazing” day.

Liberation Day.

For the first time in 22 years — since Briscoe was 14 years old — the former Vice Lord and five-time felon was free of any kind of state supervision. Twenty-two years of reporting his daily actions, of submitting to unannounced visits, of living only where other people said he could were over.

Now Briscoe can vote for the first time. Leave the state without asking permission. Fully pursue his dream to become an entrepreneur and literacy advocate for young people of color, to stop them from being sucked down the intoxicating pipeline that entrapped him.  READ MORE !