From Solitary to Yale: How Books Helped One Man Reimagine What Life Could Be

Black History Month is here, and there’s no better time to learn about Reginald Dwayne Betts. He’s a Black lawyer and a poet with several acclaimed collections to his name, as well as a memoir. His many honors include being a 2010 Soros Justice Fellow, a 2011 Radcliffe Fellow, a 2012 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow, and a 2021 recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Foundation grant. It should come as no surprise that books and reading have played key roles in his life and career. In fact, as a teen, he was in gifted programs and was an honor student in his high school.

That appeared poised to change for the worse when he and another student carjacked a vehicle occupied by a sleeping person. Betts was charged as an adult and sentenced to prison, where he spent more than eight years, including fourteen months in solitary confinement.

It was during his time in solitary confinement that he began reading poetry (illicitly—books weren’t allowed in solitary, but someone smuggled books into bedding from the general population). The first book he read while in solitary was an anthology called The Black Poets, edited by Dudley Randall, and he credits that book with changing his life. He began reading and writing every day because what he read convinced him there were other ways to live than the life he had been living.

He earned his high school diploma and thought ahead to life after prison. His first job after being released was at a bookstore, where he was eventually promoted to manager while attending college. Eventually, he earned his law degree from Yale Law School.

Books and reading played a significant role in his successful return to life outside prison. He has used his experience to talk to other incarcerated individuals and to at-risk youth, providing encouragement and hope for a better future. He understands the critical role prison libraries can play in helping incarcerated people not just pass the time but move toward a potentially better future.

Freedom Reads

Crucially, he has also become a fierce advocate for getting books to other people in prison, giving them the opportunities he’s had, through a program called Freedom Reads. He founded the nonprofit in 2020 with a $5.25 million grant from the Mellon Foundation.

The mission? To open libraries in prison cellblocks, giving incarcerated people access to the same sources of inspiration and education that helped motivate Betts and put him on a different path. It’s not only a matter of inspiration and education, though; it’s meant to acknowledge and reinforce the humanity behind the “prisoner” label by recognizing and honoring it.

So far, Freedom Reads has opened more than 500 Freedom Libraries in 52 adult and youth prisons in 13 states.

The libraries themselves are carefully considered and designed. They’re built by teams of people who have spent time in prison and understand the value of having a beautiful space where community can meet and discuss books and reading.

Each library starts with a five-hundred-volume collection that is not a hodgepodge but a curated collection with a balance of poetry, literature, and nonfiction, among other types of materials. Betts has said, “Freedom begins with a book,” and Freedom Reads is focused on providing freedom as much as possible.

Betts knew that some prisons had libraries, but not all prison libraries are created equal. A library of damaged books that are out of date and not relevant to the reading population isn’t going to inspire anyone, nor is having books in bad repair or in an unwelcoming environment. 

Putting a curated collection into a beautiful space can make the difference in helping people become interested. One formerly incarcerated man, James Davis III, noted that the arrival of the Freedom Reads library in his prison changed the culture there. People began meeting in the space and developed informal book clubs. It opened up conversations no one had been having before.

Improving Life Inside and Outside of Prison

Betts understands that prison libraries can serve as a starting point for those most in need. They can bring hope, empathy, and community to incarcerated people who need them. But his advocacy doesn’t stop there. Freedom Reads is staffed by several formerly incarcerated people, including James Davis III, who called it a dream come true.

For those still incarcerated, Betts does readings in prisons, which have proven popular. He reads his own poetry and encourages writing by incarcerated individuals. To that end, he launched the Inside Literary Prize, which is a writing award judged by and for people in prison. Betts has learned that the writing, readings, and award are bringing a sense of joy and pride that had been lacking.

Betts also works with prison advocacy initiatives, including campaigning for juvenile justice reform with the Campaign for Youth Justice. Besides giving literary readings, he also gives talks at detention centers and inner-city schools about his past and experience. Life in prison is difficult, but Betts’s message is that there are other ways of living—and they can start with a book in a prison library.

If you’re interested in supporting the important work done by Betts and Freedom Reads, consider donating to Freedom Reads. Other options include supporting literacy initiatives in prisons near you and advocating for equitable access to books in prison libraries. Books, and the libraries that collect them, can accomplish amazing life changes.