Most women in U.S. prisons were, first, victims.

It’s estimated that 85 percent of locked-up women were, at some or

many points in their lives, physically or sexually abused, or both.

Disproportionately, these women are black and poor.

I was born and raised in those statistics. My life is now devoted to

stopping this cycle.

This book is dedicated to my son, K.K.

And to my daughter, Toni, and granddaughter, Ellesse.

And to all the women who may lie on their prison bed

dreaming of a new way of life.