I CAN TAKE IT FROM HERE

An ex-convict and current social justice entrepreneur chronicles how she overcame the prejudice and obstacles that stood in the way of a successful post-prison life.

"Growing up," writes Forbes, “outsiders thought we were a godly household.” However, her real life was much darker: “An older brother sexually molested me for years, my sisters bullied me, my father drank, and my mother talked about ‘the last days.’ God would destroy the world’s nonbelievers, she said, including me.” Forbes did her best to ignore or suppress her rage and pain, but she wasn’t aware that if she didn’t adequately address her trauma, she would suffer the same mistreatment in future relationships. Not long after she graduated high school, she met James, a seemingly reliable man who became the father of her young daughter, Mercedes. However, he quickly revealed his cruelty in the disrespect he showed her, and he went back on his promises to marry her and support Mercedes. When Forbes accidentally discovered that James had married a woman he called his “cousin,” she stabbed him; he died the next morning. Forbes faced unfair bias throughout the sentencing process, and she was sentenced to 25 years in prison, making James seem like the only victim. Determined to make something of her life once out of prison, Forbes was a model inmate and earned multiple educational certificates. She was released early, just as Mercedes turned 16. Back in society, the author faced uphill battles seeking housing, work, and an end to the trauma she carried throughout her life. Working to become a “restored citizen,” Forbes turned to advocacy for those who, like her, had suffered prejudice, trauma, and other significant life challenges. Candid and harrowing, this book calls into question the nature of the “justice” meted out to the impoverished in the U.S., joining a vast and growing body of literature on the broken criminal justice system.

An inspiringly courageous memoir.