Inside prison, Dwayne Betts writes, he encountered young men who were staring at what was essentially a death sentence.
Reginald Dwayne Betts is a poet, essayist and national spokesperson for the Campaign for Youth Justice. He is the author of a memoir, A Question of Freedom (Avery/Penguin 2009), and a collection of poetry, Shahid Reads His Own Palm (Alice James Books, 2010). In 1997, at age 16, Betts was prosecuted in adult court, and spent more than 8 years in an adult prison. In 2011, he was awarded a Radcliffe Fellowship to Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Studies.