Chris Young, author of the new book The Wound Is Where the Light Enters: A Memoir of Resilience, has a remarkable story to tell. Sentenced to life in prison at age 22 for nonviolent drug offenses under draconian “three strikes” laws, Young and a dedicated group of advocates fought for his freedom.

Released from prison after more than a decade of incarceration, Young has used his tenacity and the education he gave himself behind bars to earn a degree in economics and public policy from Southern Methodist University, launch a career as a consultant and author a memoir about his life experiences and the criminal justice system. Young spoke exclusively with Blavity about his story.

Learning through life and through books

Young’s memoir details his life from childhood through incarceration and through his release from prison. He discusses how crack cocaine devastated his Clarksville, Tennessee, community and his own family, along with the irony of eventually selling the same substance that had caused so much damage. He talks about the years spent behind bars and the fight to secure his freedom, even after reforms eliminating such harsh sentences freed others but not him.

“It was very cathartic, and it was very painful, too,” Young s. “It’s like pouring alcohol on a scab and the burn reminding me ‘oh, this is not fully healed.”

One of the themes of Young’s memoir is the role books played in his life, from Harry Potter to philosophy and science. Young recalled ignoring Hamlet when it was assigned in high school — he was focused on making money and staying out of poverty — only to read Shakespeare’s play while incarcerated and see himself in the title character.

“That pressure, that ambivalence that Hamlet was facing was very close to home, and I think it makes more sense for someone incarcerated to be reading it than someone who is a child who doesn’t have any lived experience.”

Young said “it feels amazing” to now be the author of his own book.

“It feels like I’m fulfilling my purpose. It feels empowering to know that my words will be in the world.”

Young also noted the power of words, from Scripture to advertising.

“The Bible says, in the beginning, there was the Word.”

Young’s speech set off a decade-long fight for freedom

Words define the pivotal moment in Young’s book — and possibly in his life — when he gives a nearly hour-long speech at his sentencing hearing.

Despite knowing he would receive a mandatory life sentence, Young gave a speech that drew extensively from history, economics, science, literature and more to discuss his own actions and the circumstances that influenced his life and others.

The speech eventually led to his case being covered by Vice and inspired the judge in his trial, Kevin Sharp, to resign his lifetime federal judicial appointment and become an advocate for Young and others facing cruel sentences. Young’s speech and case gained him additional advocates, including attorney Brittany K. Barnett, Alice Marie Johnson and Kim Kardashian, ultimately leading to Young receiving a commutation from President Donald Trump on the last night of his first term in office.

Young explained why he was bold enough to give his speech, even as those around him warned it would be useless or even backfire.

“I got that courage, that boldness, that tenacity and audacity from the adversity I had already faced and overcome,” Young explained. “I had seen and witnessed and survived some very extreme situations, and to survive those situations, you have to overcome all fear.”

Young also credits his lifelong love of hip-hop for developing the skills to give such an extensive address to the court with no notes.

“That artform sharpened my memory throughout my childhood,” he said, reminiscing on memorizing rhymes with his childhood friends. “I’m blessed that I had the perception of seeing that I had transferable skills.”

Seeking to reform the criminal justice system and give hope to others

Young describes his book as “50/50” in terms of self-expression and promoting change in society.

“My motive was to preserve the record and to tell the truth because it’s my story, but it’s a generational story, one all too common for ‘80s babies surviving the crack epidemic, surviving mass incarceration.”

He wants the book to have real-world impact.

As far as public policy, Young argues “one of the simplest and just to me most common sense changes that should come out of this is making retroactive the First Step Act, which eliminated the federal three strikes and you get life law.”

Young details in the book how the First Step Act led to other incarcerated people gaining their freedom but not Young, who was convicted before the change in law and therefore needed a presidential commutation to gain his freedom.

“If a law is wrong today, it was wrong yesterday. If a person doesn’t deserve it today, they don’t deserve it yesterday,” Young declared, speaking on the plight of people still “incarcerated under outdated laws.”

Beyond reforming sentencing, Young hopes the American prison system is transformed into “a completely different system altogether” that focuses more on rehabilitation than retribution and corporate profits.

“People fail to realize how inhumane and how torturous that system is.”

Young also hopes his book will inspire people who find themselves in situations similar to those he faced.

“First and foremost, breathe,” Young gave as advice. “That sounds cliché, that sounds mundane, but you have to calm down so you can think,” he continued. “Once you calm down, try to get the information.”

Young’s story is one of a man with an almost unlimited thirst for information and an undeterred mission to secure freedom for himself and others. His new book, The Wound Is Where the Light Enters: A Memoir of Resilience, will be released Aug. 4 and is available for preorder now.