Shaka Senghor

Shaka Senghor is a writer, mentor and founding CEO of Drop a Gem
Publishing, LLC, a company he founded while serving nineteen year in
prison. Refusing to allow his circumstances to define who he was or
what he was capable of, Shaka spent his incarceration studying and
preparing for life after prison. Through years of self-reflection, he transformed
himself from an uncaring “thug” into a principled, progressive
man determined to rewrite his story and guide other youth from the
destructive path that led him to prison.
Once a very angry, bitter young man, it was books that saved him from
self-destructing and allowed him to see beyond the barbed-wire fences
that held him captive. In an environment where hopelessness and
despair grow like weeds, writing became his refuge. While incarcerated,
Shaka used the tools available to him to develop his writing skills, eventually
penning six novels and countless poems and articles. He is the
author of the highly addictive street series “Crack,” and is currently a staff
writer for The Michigan Citizen, covering stories that lift up Detroit and inspire the best in the city.
Determined to beat the odds, Shaka hit the ground running as soon as
he was released in June 2010, working with youth at the Detroit Job
Corps, Cody High School and the City of Southfield's alternative high
school. In January 2011, he made his acting debut in the “Mocha
Monologues: Male Edition,” playing Darren, a single father who is often
misjudged by society.
Whether writing street lit or poetry, Shaka speaks the truth about the
oppressive conditions of the 'hood and the not-so-glamorous side of the
streets. He writes in a way that compels his readers to see the hope and
humanity of a discarded generation shaped by the crack epidemic, the
fall of the auto industry and the rise of the prison industrial complex.

Website: http://www.dropagempublishing.com
Twitter: @thegemdropper
Blog: http://shakasenghor.blogspot.com

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