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Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women
One woman’s remarkable odyssey from tragedy to prison to recovery—and recognition as a leading figure in the national justice reform movement
Susan Burton’s world changed in an instant when her five-year-old son was killed by a van on their street in South Los Angeles. Consumed by grief and without access to professional help, Susan self-medicated, becoming addicted first to cocaine, then crack. As a resident of South L.A., an impoverished black community under siege by the War on Drugs, it was but a matter of time before Susan was arrested. She cycled in and out of prison for fifteen years; never was she offered therapy or treatment for addiction. On her own, she eventually found a private drug rehabilitation facility.
Once clean, Susan dedicated her life to supporting women facing similar struggles. She began by greeting women as they took their first steps of freedom, welcoming them into her home, providing a space of safety and community. Her organization, A New Way of Life, now operates five safe homes in Los Angeles that supply a lifeline to hundreds of formerly incarcerated women and their children—setting them on the track to education and employment rather than returns to prison. Susan is now nationally known as an advocate for restoring basic civil and human rights to those who have served time. Ms. Burton not only humanizes the deleterious impact of mass incarceration, it also points the way to the kind of structural and policy changes that will offer formerly incarcerated people the possibility of a life of meaning and dignity.
Susan Burton’s world changed in an instant when her five-year-old son was killed by a van on their street in South Los Angeles. Consumed by grief and without access to professional help, Susan self-medicated, becoming addicted first to cocaine, then crack. As a resident of South L.A., an impoverished black community under siege by the War on Drugs, it was but a matter of time before Susan was arrested. She cycled in and out of prison for fifteen years; never was she offered therapy or treatment for addiction. On her own, she eventually found a private drug rehabilitation facility.
Once clean, Susan dedicated her life to supporting women facing similar struggles. She began by greeting women as they took their first steps of freedom, welcoming them into her home, providing a space of safety and community. Her organization, A New Way of Life, now operates five safe homes in Los Angeles that supply a lifeline to hundreds of formerly incarcerated women and their children—setting them on the track to education and employment rather than returns to prison. Susan is now nationally known as an advocate for restoring basic civil and human rights to those who have served time. Ms. Burton not only humanizes the deleterious impact of mass incarceration, it also points the way to the kind of structural and policy changes that will offer formerly incarcerated people the possibility of a life of meaning and dignity.
228 pages, Hardcover
First published April 18, 2017
160 people are currently reading
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Susan Burton
7 books27 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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June 21, 2025
Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women is one of the best and most important books I have read in 2025. Highly recommend!
The prologue, by Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is powerful. Alexander compares Burton to Harriet Tubman because Burton has dedicated her life to helping those held captive today. Burton helps others make a genuine break for freedom, rebuild their lives, and hopefully begin to heal from the trauma.
Alexander shares that it is through the power of stories that we come to reinterpret the world and develop empathy and compassion for others. Burton's life story is filled with trauma, struggle, and true heroism. It is precisely the kind of story that has the potential to change the way we view the world.
Burton has experienced sexual abuse, violence, drug abuse, and over 15 years in and out of prison. Her five-year-old son, K.K., was accidentally killed by a Los Angeles police officer who ran over K.K. while he was in a crosswalk. The police officer didn't stop or pull over and he never apologized.
Through the help of others, particularly one mentor, Burton found a new way of life. She created A New Way of Life which consists of small, group homes where women who are recently released from prison can live together. This gives them a chance to make it on the outside while being provided with shelter, food, and safety.
Burton also co-founded All of Us or None, an advocacy group focused on the restoration of basic civil and human rights. Burton trains women to be leaders, spokespeople, and organizers in order to transform their communities and the nation.
Burton's lived experience demonstrates profound ways of knowing and seeing what severe racial and social injustice looks like. It is a breathtaking story about the utter fragility and resilience of the human spirit.
Statistics from the book:
* Typical prison recidivism rates are 50%. Women in Burton's New Way of Life have a recidivism rate of 4%.
* In the U.S., there are 2.2 million people in prison.
* Since 1980, the rate of incarcerated women has risen 700%. Most are nonviolent offenses.
* More than 60% of incarcerated women report having been sexually assaulted before the age of 18.
* More than 75% of incarcerated women had at least one child as a teenager.
* Every year 650,000 Americans are released from prison. This is larger than the populations of Wyoming and Vermont.
* The majority of incarcerated women are mothers of underage children. Over 40% of these mothers report that, upon incarceration, they were the only parent in the household.
* One out of three black men will see the inside of a jail cell.
* The average time served by African-Americans for nonviolent drug offenses is virtually the same as the time Whites serve for violent offenses.
* One out of 125 White children have a parent behind bars. For African-American children, the rate is one in 9.
* Estimated that as many as 94% of incarcerated women were victims of physical or sexual abuse.
* In large urban areas, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, up to half of those on parole are homeless.
* 65 million Americans with a criminal record face consequences that restrict employment, housing, professional licensing, child custody rights, student aid, voting, and even the ability to visit an incarcerated loved one.
* The lifetime likelihood of imprisonment for white women is one in 118; for black women, it is one in 19.
* Women commit far fewer murders than men but receive longer sentences. A woman who kills a male partner, on average, receives a 15-year sentence. A man who kills a female partner typically receives 2 - 6 years.
* No other country deprives people of the right to housing because of criminal histories.
Burton believes that telling her story is a call for mobilization....to speak up, to write and call elected officials, to advocate for change, to get involved.
Burton's book includes a list of books for further reading and a robust list of reading group discussion questions.
Books that I've read regarding incarceration that I recommend include:
* The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
* Just Mercy
* The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing
* Orange Is the New Black
Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women is a book everyone should read.
The prologue, by Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is powerful. Alexander compares Burton to Harriet Tubman because Burton has dedicated her life to helping those held captive today. Burton helps others make a genuine break for freedom, rebuild their lives, and hopefully begin to heal from the trauma.
Alexander shares that it is through the power of stories that we come to reinterpret the world and develop empathy and compassion for others. Burton's life story is filled with trauma, struggle, and true heroism. It is precisely the kind of story that has the potential to change the way we view the world.
Burton has experienced sexual abuse, violence, drug abuse, and over 15 years in and out of prison. Her five-year-old son, K.K., was accidentally killed by a Los Angeles police officer who ran over K.K. while he was in a crosswalk. The police officer didn't stop or pull over and he never apologized.
Through the help of others, particularly one mentor, Burton found a new way of life. She created A New Way of Life which consists of small, group homes where women who are recently released from prison can live together. This gives them a chance to make it on the outside while being provided with shelter, food, and safety.
Burton also co-founded All of Us or None, an advocacy group focused on the restoration of basic civil and human rights. Burton trains women to be leaders, spokespeople, and organizers in order to transform their communities and the nation.
Burton's lived experience demonstrates profound ways of knowing and seeing what severe racial and social injustice looks like. It is a breathtaking story about the utter fragility and resilience of the human spirit.
Statistics from the book:
* Typical prison recidivism rates are 50%. Women in Burton's New Way of Life have a recidivism rate of 4%.
* In the U.S., there are 2.2 million people in prison.
* Since 1980, the rate of incarcerated women has risen 700%. Most are nonviolent offenses.
* More than 60% of incarcerated women report having been sexually assaulted before the age of 18.
* More than 75% of incarcerated women had at least one child as a teenager.
* Every year 650,000 Americans are released from prison. This is larger than the populations of Wyoming and Vermont.
* The majority of incarcerated women are mothers of underage children. Over 40% of these mothers report that, upon incarceration, they were the only parent in the household.
* One out of three black men will see the inside of a jail cell.
* The average time served by African-Americans for nonviolent drug offenses is virtually the same as the time Whites serve for violent offenses.
* One out of 125 White children have a parent behind bars. For African-American children, the rate is one in 9.
* Estimated that as many as 94% of incarcerated women were victims of physical or sexual abuse.
* In large urban areas, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco, up to half of those on parole are homeless.
* 65 million Americans with a criminal record face consequences that restrict employment, housing, professional licensing, child custody rights, student aid, voting, and even the ability to visit an incarcerated loved one.
* The lifetime likelihood of imprisonment for white women is one in 118; for black women, it is one in 19.
* Women commit far fewer murders than men but receive longer sentences. A woman who kills a male partner, on average, receives a 15-year sentence. A man who kills a female partner typically receives 2 - 6 years.
* No other country deprives people of the right to housing because of criminal histories.
Burton believes that telling her story is a call for mobilization....to speak up, to write and call elected officials, to advocate for change, to get involved.
Burton's book includes a list of books for further reading and a robust list of reading group discussion questions.
Books that I've read regarding incarceration that I recommend include:
* The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
* Just Mercy
* The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing
* Orange Is the New Black
Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women is a book everyone should read.
May 17, 2017
A profoundly moving and personal story that was so captivating and vivid I finished it in one sitting and when I did, I looked up and I was startled I wasn't in South LA in the 70s and 80s. A must-read for everyone, but especially for those of us that came of age in California and will relate to this narrative on one level or another.
June 18, 2017
This is the story of Burton’s life. The co-author is journalist and writer Cari Lynn. The first part of the book is about Burton’s early years in which she suffered from emotional neglect and sexual abuse. After Burton’s five-year-old son was killed by an automobile, she became a drug addict. This began years of being in and out of prison.
The second half of the book reveals her path to recovery. She formed a nonprofit organization entitled “A New Way of Life Reentry Project”. This organization helps other women stay out of prison and re-enter society. Burton has won many awards for her work and the Los Angeles Times named her one of the Nation’s New Civil Rights Leaders. She advocated for a more humane justice system guided by compassion and dignity.
The book is well written and easy to read. Along with her life story, Burton also examines a number of issues in a broader context such as: How the lack of employment and housing opportunities increase the odds of a person returning to prison. She writes about ways to change these societal issues. Burton also provides statistics to reveal a fuller perspective of the problems of the prison system. Ms. Burton’s book not only inspires but educates.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is ten and a half hours long. Janina Edwards does a good job narrating the book. Edwards is a voice over artist and audiobook narrator.
The second half of the book reveals her path to recovery. She formed a nonprofit organization entitled “A New Way of Life Reentry Project”. This organization helps other women stay out of prison and re-enter society. Burton has won many awards for her work and the Los Angeles Times named her one of the Nation’s New Civil Rights Leaders. She advocated for a more humane justice system guided by compassion and dignity.
The book is well written and easy to read. Along with her life story, Burton also examines a number of issues in a broader context such as: How the lack of employment and housing opportunities increase the odds of a person returning to prison. She writes about ways to change these societal issues. Burton also provides statistics to reveal a fuller perspective of the problems of the prison system. Ms. Burton’s book not only inspires but educates.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is ten and a half hours long. Janina Edwards does a good job narrating the book. Edwards is a voice over artist and audiobook narrator.
June 20, 2017
I can't say enough about this book. Well written personal account of Susan Burton, a woman who had been incarcerated several times and now leads social justice fights on many fronts. The engaging narrative goes beyond telling Susan's story but describes how the forces in our society, her own actions, and luck played a role in her situation. In my mind, I kept comparing this to the excellent book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson but found this even easier to read as it covered just as important, difficult issues. Please read.
August 20, 2017
A temporally relevant read, as this is a very intimate look at how “the system” really is set up for the failure of African Americans. If you’re white, you go to detox, if you’re black you’re a felon and you’ve forever lost 45,ooo rights and privileges. Among the collateral consequences you’ll face on release are the loss of freedom to live with your family, or regain custody of your children, help with housing (no section 8, or even visiting public housing) or help with food (food stamps, for instance). No one will hire you once you’ve checked that little box that says you’ve been (in the past) convicted of a felony, and even if, by some miracle, you get yourself educated - most licenses are blocked - from cosmetology to law - to ex-felons.
Perhaps, as you have, after all, paid your debt to society, you feel you’d like to change this system. Sorry, in many states you are forbidden from voting, sometimes forever.
No possible job, food, housing, family support, and 44,996 other impediments - seems as though one would have to work in the underground economy, right? Or die?
Doesn’t it seem that the Powers That Be want the highest possible recidivism rate? Why could that be? Private prisons, discontinued by Obama, restarted by Trump - hmmmm. The prison guards union is the #one biggest funder of political campaigns in California? Oh, i see. Prisoners can be forced to work for pennies an hour? Reminiscent of slavery, don't you think? Kind of ironic?
Susan Burton’s family of origin wanted what most of ours did - a chance to work, live in peace, grow up. But redlining in LA kept housing limited (blacks were ‘allowed’ in 5% of the residential areas), and when the economy dipped Blacks were the first to be fired, as her father was. Enter poverty, hunger, anger….alcohol. Eventually the family is fragmented and things worsen. Susan is abused as a young child by the boyfriend of an aunt, then by a white man her mother is working for, and eventually becomes pregnant from a gang rape on Christmas eve as a young teenager, leaving her with a young child she is totally unequipped to handle, who is raised primarily by grandma.
Sue goes on to survive decades of crack and alcohol abuse, being sold for sex, suffering the loss of her 5 year old boy after a hit & run by a cop - the grief driving her deeper into crack - going in and out of prison, repeatedly disappointing and shaming her own daughter - living what seems to be an endless, empty cycle. Despite describing a childhood and adult life devoid of support, protection, honest affection, or options, she completely blames herself for her failures.
Eventually she learns (from a white cell mate) about the Civil Addicts Program - which is much kinder than the criminal program although not particularly therapeutic. Step forward half step back she lands in a mostly white (Santa Monica) live in program and actually gets clean. Enter Ms. Burton (her new, respectable, incarnation)- who with the knowledge she has of the inside is a powerful force for change.
Since 80% of women on release are unable to afford housing, Susan cobbles together enough to get a house. A place where women can have a home, support each other, stay clean. Most public housing is automatically denied these women. No other country deprives people of the right to housing because of their criminal histories. So this is a big step, but just a beginning.
“Naively, I had thought that if i could provide shelter and a nurturing environment, everything else would fall into place. But many days it felt like A New Way of Life was base camp at Mt. Everest.”
The book goes on to detail the amazing, astounding, almost unbelievable change she has accomplished since then - her organization has expanded to include political action, legal aid, and many homes.
Michele Alexander (The New Jim Crow) likens her to Harriet Tubman.
Each chapter begins with a mortifying statistic. Here are a couple:
75% of crack users are white or Hispanic, but 85% of people in Federal prison for crack are black.
The average time served by African Americans for nonviolent drug offences is the same as the time whites serve for violent offenses.
>70% of americans in prison can’t read above a fourth grade level.
When inmates are provided literacy help, recidivism drops from 70% to 16%.
(why on earth don't we fix that????)
Over 90% of women in prison were sexually abused as children
90% of the time a woman who kills a man has been severely abused by victim
(This IMHO self-defending woman) on average gets 15 years if she kills a man.
If a man kills a woman, he gets an average of 2 to 6 years.
(i guess that murdered woman was only 2/15 the value of a murdered man)
Overall, this is an important contribution to the conversation the USA needs to have about race, over-incarceration, inequity of opportunity, and treatment of those with criminal records. And, Susan Burton absolutely rocks. She remains optimistic, repeatedly making something out of nothing.
Perhaps, as you have, after all, paid your debt to society, you feel you’d like to change this system. Sorry, in many states you are forbidden from voting, sometimes forever.
No possible job, food, housing, family support, and 44,996 other impediments - seems as though one would have to work in the underground economy, right? Or die?
Doesn’t it seem that the Powers That Be want the highest possible recidivism rate? Why could that be? Private prisons, discontinued by Obama, restarted by Trump - hmmmm. The prison guards union is the #one biggest funder of political campaigns in California? Oh, i see. Prisoners can be forced to work for pennies an hour? Reminiscent of slavery, don't you think? Kind of ironic?
Susan Burton’s family of origin wanted what most of ours did - a chance to work, live in peace, grow up. But redlining in LA kept housing limited (blacks were ‘allowed’ in 5% of the residential areas), and when the economy dipped Blacks were the first to be fired, as her father was. Enter poverty, hunger, anger….alcohol. Eventually the family is fragmented and things worsen. Susan is abused as a young child by the boyfriend of an aunt, then by a white man her mother is working for, and eventually becomes pregnant from a gang rape on Christmas eve as a young teenager, leaving her with a young child she is totally unequipped to handle, who is raised primarily by grandma.
Sue goes on to survive decades of crack and alcohol abuse, being sold for sex, suffering the loss of her 5 year old boy after a hit & run by a cop - the grief driving her deeper into crack - going in and out of prison, repeatedly disappointing and shaming her own daughter - living what seems to be an endless, empty cycle. Despite describing a childhood and adult life devoid of support, protection, honest affection, or options, she completely blames herself for her failures.
Eventually she learns (from a white cell mate) about the Civil Addicts Program - which is much kinder than the criminal program although not particularly therapeutic. Step forward half step back she lands in a mostly white (Santa Monica) live in program and actually gets clean. Enter Ms. Burton (her new, respectable, incarnation)- who with the knowledge she has of the inside is a powerful force for change.
Since 80% of women on release are unable to afford housing, Susan cobbles together enough to get a house. A place where women can have a home, support each other, stay clean. Most public housing is automatically denied these women. No other country deprives people of the right to housing because of their criminal histories. So this is a big step, but just a beginning.
“Naively, I had thought that if i could provide shelter and a nurturing environment, everything else would fall into place. But many days it felt like A New Way of Life was base camp at Mt. Everest.”
The book goes on to detail the amazing, astounding, almost unbelievable change she has accomplished since then - her organization has expanded to include political action, legal aid, and many homes.
Michele Alexander (The New Jim Crow) likens her to Harriet Tubman.
Each chapter begins with a mortifying statistic. Here are a couple:
75% of crack users are white or Hispanic, but 85% of people in Federal prison for crack are black.
The average time served by African Americans for nonviolent drug offences is the same as the time whites serve for violent offenses.
>70% of americans in prison can’t read above a fourth grade level.
When inmates are provided literacy help, recidivism drops from 70% to 16%.
(why on earth don't we fix that????)
Over 90% of women in prison were sexually abused as children
90% of the time a woman who kills a man has been severely abused by victim
(This IMHO self-defending woman) on average gets 15 years if she kills a man.
If a man kills a woman, he gets an average of 2 to 6 years.
(i guess that murdered woman was only 2/15 the value of a murdered man)
Overall, this is an important contribution to the conversation the USA needs to have about race, over-incarceration, inequity of opportunity, and treatment of those with criminal records. And, Susan Burton absolutely rocks. She remains optimistic, repeatedly making something out of nothing.
June 5, 2017
This book was a great read. I found out about it through a NYTimes article that talked about her phenomenal work (link below). There were times I wanted to cry because it seemed like no matter how hard she tried to do better, she encountered a road block. I'm so glad Ms. Burton was able to start over and provide a second chance for those who are often left to fend for themselves. As I was reading this book, it reminded of a similar book entitled A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/op...
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/op...
May 21, 2017
Such a gripping narrative and so well written, I couldn't put it down! A remarkable story of a woman overcoming so many obstacles to finally achieve success and then go on to help others as only someone who has been there can do. A MUST READ for anyone who cares about promoting social justice, giving second chances and learning the story behind a trailblazing woman!
June 8, 2018
4.5 stars. What an amazing, powerful story. I have read several books lately about the systemic problems of the poor, particularly for people of color, and this was the most hopeful. Our national preoccupation with punishment for desperate people who pose little risk to society is both damaging and unnecessarily expensive, as Burton documents with both data and anecdotes. Highly recommended
The only thing this was missing was a way for me to take action. I’m all fired up on behalf of incarcerated women - who do I write? Where do I call? Where does my donation go? Legal issues are always changing and vary state by state but some resources would be appreciated.
The only thing this was missing was a way for me to take action. I’m all fired up on behalf of incarcerated women - who do I write? Where do I call? Where does my donation go? Legal issues are always changing and vary state by state but some resources would be appreciated.
September 9, 2017
This book is extraordinary - as is the woman who wrote it. One of the great strengths of the book is how it weaves staggering facts and statistics about mass incarceration into Susan Burton's deeply personal story. Each chapter begins with facts about different aspects of our criminal justice system, and the sprawling prison-industrial-complex, that are impacting generations of American families.
Sixty-five million Americans with a criminal record face a total of 45,000 collateral consequences that restrict everything from employment, professional licensing, child custody rights, housing, student aid, voting and even the ability to visit an incarcerated loved one. Many of these restrictions are permanent, forever preventing those who've already served their time from reaching their potential in the workforce, as parents, and as productive citizens.
"The result is that these collateral consequences become a life sentence harsher than whatever sentence a court actually imposed upon conviction." American Bar Association president William C. Hubbard
While factual information like that sets up the framework for each chapter of this book, it is Susan's narrative that breathes life into what this means for the people who are caught up in this revolving door of poverty, trauma and incarceration.
Knowing that 90% of incarcerated women have suffered some form of sexual abuse or physical violence isn't the same as hearing what that means when it is described from the point of view of a 3 year old, a ten year and a 14 year old rape victim now a mother. This is how Susan Burton's life began. A teenage prostitute, she was befriended by a bail bondsman name George who would be with her for 30 years - encouraging her to be the person he knew she could be. He was there from the lowest points of her life - working the streets, drug addiction, losing her son to a police van hitting him in the streets, forgery and theft to feed her drug habit - to the point at which she decided to get sober, get clean and start over. When she was named a Top Ten CNN Hero in 2010, she called him out by name at the awards event.
Susan's journey is remarkable for her ability to re-invent her life as an "ex-con" at the age of 46. It was a series of happenstance and circumstance that created opportunities for her to finally divert into a drug rehab program instead of back to prison. When she finally found the program CLARE in Santa Monica that got her into AA's 12 Step Program, she was on her way to a new life.
There were many remarkable people that helped her along the journey to what would become "A New Way of Life," a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated women in the Watts area of Los Angeles. This part of the book resonates with me because of my work with a re-entry program for women here in Alexandria, Virginia, called Friends of Guest House. Susan forged ahead with her vision of providing other women the help they needed to start their lives over after stepping off the prison bus. She did it herself, and she was determined to do it for others.
The impact of our broken criminal justice system on generations of families is a cycle that seems to have no end. The poverty, the trauma, the lack of educational and economic opportunities, is just compounded when millions of people are saddled with a lifetime of restrictions because of a criminal record. The impact on our country cannot be overstated - it's tearing at the fabric of our culture and our economy. Something must be done and it will only be done when more people are motivated by the injustice of our criminal justice system.
I would highly recommend this book to every reader, and it would be a particularly excellent book club choice. These are issues more people need to be talking about. Individually, we can be the voice advocating for change, and together we can move the needle on taking back our country from a broken system of justice that feeds mass incarceration and dooms future generations.
Sixty-five million Americans with a criminal record face a total of 45,000 collateral consequences that restrict everything from employment, professional licensing, child custody rights, housing, student aid, voting and even the ability to visit an incarcerated loved one. Many of these restrictions are permanent, forever preventing those who've already served their time from reaching their potential in the workforce, as parents, and as productive citizens.
"The result is that these collateral consequences become a life sentence harsher than whatever sentence a court actually imposed upon conviction." American Bar Association president William C. Hubbard
While factual information like that sets up the framework for each chapter of this book, it is Susan's narrative that breathes life into what this means for the people who are caught up in this revolving door of poverty, trauma and incarceration.
Knowing that 90% of incarcerated women have suffered some form of sexual abuse or physical violence isn't the same as hearing what that means when it is described from the point of view of a 3 year old, a ten year and a 14 year old rape victim now a mother. This is how Susan Burton's life began. A teenage prostitute, she was befriended by a bail bondsman name George who would be with her for 30 years - encouraging her to be the person he knew she could be. He was there from the lowest points of her life - working the streets, drug addiction, losing her son to a police van hitting him in the streets, forgery and theft to feed her drug habit - to the point at which she decided to get sober, get clean and start over. When she was named a Top Ten CNN Hero in 2010, she called him out by name at the awards event.
Susan's journey is remarkable for her ability to re-invent her life as an "ex-con" at the age of 46. It was a series of happenstance and circumstance that created opportunities for her to finally divert into a drug rehab program instead of back to prison. When she finally found the program CLARE in Santa Monica that got her into AA's 12 Step Program, she was on her way to a new life.
There were many remarkable people that helped her along the journey to what would become "A New Way of Life," a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated women in the Watts area of Los Angeles. This part of the book resonates with me because of my work with a re-entry program for women here in Alexandria, Virginia, called Friends of Guest House. Susan forged ahead with her vision of providing other women the help they needed to start their lives over after stepping off the prison bus. She did it herself, and she was determined to do it for others.
The impact of our broken criminal justice system on generations of families is a cycle that seems to have no end. The poverty, the trauma, the lack of educational and economic opportunities, is just compounded when millions of people are saddled with a lifetime of restrictions because of a criminal record. The impact on our country cannot be overstated - it's tearing at the fabric of our culture and our economy. Something must be done and it will only be done when more people are motivated by the injustice of our criminal justice system.
I would highly recommend this book to every reader, and it would be a particularly excellent book club choice. These are issues more people need to be talking about. Individually, we can be the voice advocating for change, and together we can move the needle on taking back our country from a broken system of justice that feeds mass incarceration and dooms future generations.
July 17, 2021
Wow.
This was the best memoir I've read in a long time. Don't get me wrong, it's not an easy read. The beginning especially is so harrowing and tragic that I could only take it in small doses and not read it before bed (the morning bus ride works well for this). Susan was let down so terribly by so many people in her life that it shouldn't come as a shock that she moved into the position of being the one who let others down. The inhumanity of the prison system and our racist and arbitrary criminal laws is in abundance here, but this experience is also what fuels Susan's passion and determination, once sober, to become a nonprofit leader and advocate.
I mean, you should probably just read the book, but one thing in particular that struck me was how thoroughly she embraced the complexity of blame for what she went through. There's plenty of it to go around. Susan Burton doesn't shy away from taking responsibility for her own actions or the harmful individual actions (her mother, yikes), but she also has plenty to say about the prison industrial complex and the way the criminal justice system is set up to keep Black people as a permanent underclass. It's beautifully and thoughtfully done, and it'll make you sad and it'll definitely make you angry.
This was the best memoir I've read in a long time. Don't get me wrong, it's not an easy read. The beginning especially is so harrowing and tragic that I could only take it in small doses and not read it before bed (the morning bus ride works well for this). Susan was let down so terribly by so many people in her life that it shouldn't come as a shock that she moved into the position of being the one who let others down. The inhumanity of the prison system and our racist and arbitrary criminal laws is in abundance here, but this experience is also what fuels Susan's passion and determination, once sober, to become a nonprofit leader and advocate.
I mean, you should probably just read the book, but one thing in particular that struck me was how thoroughly she embraced the complexity of blame for what she went through. There's plenty of it to go around. Susan Burton doesn't shy away from taking responsibility for her own actions or the harmful individual actions (her mother, yikes), but she also has plenty to say about the prison industrial complex and the way the criminal justice system is set up to keep Black people as a permanent underclass. It's beautifully and thoughtfully done, and it'll make you sad and it'll definitely make you angry.
November 9, 2020
This is a very important read! It’s a very personal look at the flaws in our criminal justice system and how they create a cycle of recidivism. We have a system that locks people up and does nothing to help them lead productive lives after they get out. Our prison system disproportionately affects people of color and has created more problems than it has solved. The first half of the book is about the author’s experience in and out of the prison system and the second half is about her efforts to advocate for previously incarcerated people. I first heard about this book when the author was interviewed on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard, highly recommend listening to that and reading this book!!
June 19, 2017
Very vivid and moving book about author's life and amazing work she has done. Really recommend this one.
November 25, 2018
This was a very well written book by a woman who has proven herself to be quite remarkable. She acheived, against huge odds, her own redemption, and is working tirelessly for others. I admire how she did it largely outside the "system". However, being on the other side, looking and dealing with renters and in charge of hiring, I found myself bristling a bit at the complaints of discrimination and this decriminalization of crime. Many of these anti discrimination laws, though well intended, have also produced a new set of victims. No doubt the system is not working and anyone who has remorse and has changed deserves a chance. No one wants to be forever branded by their worst moment. Sue Burton makes the case beautifully, however, for non government intervention, consisting of people who feel invested in their charge's outcome and care enough to be sure they succeed.
February 11, 2024
I read this book in 2 days, that’s how engaging it was. I learned so much about the prison system, laws, organizing, etc. It also demonstrates how a necessary work done with the right heart is its own reward. Ms. Burton is an extraordinary human.
February 7, 2018
What a life! What a woman! She had a voice and used it long before the #MeToo movement. Inspiring read. Highly recommend.
May 9, 2022
So much resilience and hope wrapped in one journey. I get to meet this author on Wednesday which I am so hyped about! I recommend this book for everyone.
September 27, 2019
This is a memorable book. Ms. Burton is a woman we should all know about. Her story as a former incarcerated woman to re-entry advocate kept me emotionally hooked, sometimes crying, sometimes outraged, and always in shock that I still have more to learn about our criminal justice system. If you only read a few books each year I suggest you put this book on your to read list. It ranks up there with Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption.
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April 12, 2017Reviewed for ALA's "Booklist Online" -- appears in the April 15, 2017 issue. If you have a subscription, you can read my review at BooklistOnline.com at:
https://www.booklistonline.com/Becomi...
https://www.booklistonline.com/Becomi...
September 27, 2017
”So I keep asking the questions. Why are black Americans incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites? Why are prison sentences for African-Americans disproportionately higher? Once released, why do people face a lifetime of discriminatory policies and practices that smother any chance of a better life?”
Susan Burton is an amazing woman. She has won the CNN heroes award. Nicholas Kristof who writes for the New York Times, has called her a national treasure. (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/op...) I knew nothing about her until this book was brought to my attention. That is a shame. It is an even bigger shame that we need Burton to call our country to justice. Why are her questions still valid? Why don’t we see what the loss of these peoples’ talents do to impoverish our whole nation?
I cannot recommend this memoir enough. Burton’s story and all the women she is helping need to be better known. Please consider reading this book – you will be upset by what needs to change, but also in awe of Burton’s work to make those changes.
Susan Burton is an amazing woman. She has won the CNN heroes award. Nicholas Kristof who writes for the New York Times, has called her a national treasure. (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/op...) I knew nothing about her until this book was brought to my attention. That is a shame. It is an even bigger shame that we need Burton to call our country to justice. Why are her questions still valid? Why don’t we see what the loss of these peoples’ talents do to impoverish our whole nation?
I cannot recommend this memoir enough. Burton’s story and all the women she is helping need to be better known. Please consider reading this book – you will be upset by what needs to change, but also in awe of Burton’s work to make those changes.
May 13, 2021
Ms. Burton is hope, gratitude, perseverance, grit, dogged determination, inspiration, brilliance. Her life's work is the lifting up of formerly incarcerated women and giving them all the tools they need not just to succeed, but to bloom and blossom into the women Ms. Burton knew they could be.
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
June 20, 2017
It's one thing to read a moving story of personal redemption and quite another when you know the subject personally. The determination, commitment and brilliance that is Susan Burton came through in the pages of this book but truly knowing all she has been through broke my heart. Read this book knowing that none of it is embellished. Susan is a gift to this world and I am thankful that my path has crossed with hers.
March 11, 2021
What a humbling read. This is so well written, with honesty and earnestness. Ms. Burton is remarkable. She chronicles her experiences in the American justice system, and then her efforts to battle the places where the systems were failing. One of the most inspiring and eye-opening stories I have read.
July 4, 2018
So so
I enjoyed the first half of the book but found the secondhand to be preachy . Ms. Burton is an amazing woman and I admire what she is doing . But I was unable to finish the book .
I enjoyed the first half of the book but found the secondhand to be preachy . Ms. Burton is an amazing woman and I admire what she is doing . But I was unable to finish the book .
November 12, 2017
Her story and her voice deserves to be heard! A beautifully written book.
March 17, 2021
This was by far the most life-changing book I have ever read.
June 18, 2021
Ms. Burton is an angel. I’d love to meet her and give her a big hug and say thank you.
January 3, 2023
A must read for anyone who wants to learn about mass incarceration and the war on drugs in the US.
July 29, 2020
I loved Kendi's compendium of racism in America and Coates' personal story, but situated somewhere right in the middle of them sits the outstanding Becoming Ms. Burton, this powerhouse autobiography that manages to embed one woman's incredible journey from near self-destruction to magnificent civic service within an astonishingly powerful evocation/indictment of the soul-sucking carceral, police, economic, and social systems currently plaguing whole communities. Offering a straightforward depiction of her hellish early life, Burton embodies resilience and the ability to overcome. She demonstrates the significance and value of people and organizations that offer a hand up and out of the prison system and more, up and out of the generational reiteration of traps that were set for Black Americans back when they were enslaved and brutalized, out of that legacy of corporal punishment, the systematically reduced opportunities and near-guaranteed failure, and the deliberate dehumanization. Burton makes you seethe with fury at the system, and bureaucracy, and bureaucrats, and politicians - not to mention profiteers and opportunists - who don't blink at people suffering, don't use the rules at their disposal to help people who are in trouble, but instead treat them as burdens, as less-than, as worthless and useless and lost causes. In contrast, though, she describes not only her own organization's amazing evolution, but all of the people and organizations she began to encounter and work with, civil society focused on providing aid, a boost, an opportunity, the ladder up from hopelessness. Her descriptions of specific individuals and groups, specific laws and political decisions, make so clear how easy it is to construct systems that hurt and how much effort it takes - an effort that people make - not only to mitigate those systems' effects, but to improve the systems themselves. It's a deeply inspiring book, even if Burton and Lynn make it completely clear how much work has yet to be done, how many people need to be given the means to help themselves, how retributive and cruel so much policy and law is, how much racism infuses politics and their implementation. I whole-heartedly recommend this book to everyone. You will want to get out the vote, open your wallet, man the phones, change the world. And good.
Also, as an aside, Burton's book reminded me of the specific power of autobiography. I read autobiographies ravenously as a child and then began to think of them, as I got older, as vanity projects. I'm sure many are. But this one reminds what a powerful vehicle an autobiography can be, using someone's own trajectory as the foundation for exploring some aspect or aspects of the conditions in which they live. This one is particularly well-organized, cleanly written, presenting the facts of Burton's life alongside contextualizing information in a way that tells two stories - individual and meta- with precision that creates an unavoidable visceral and cerebral response.
Also, as an aside, Burton's book reminded me of the specific power of autobiography. I read autobiographies ravenously as a child and then began to think of them, as I got older, as vanity projects. I'm sure many are. But this one reminds what a powerful vehicle an autobiography can be, using someone's own trajectory as the foundation for exploring some aspect or aspects of the conditions in which they live. This one is particularly well-organized, cleanly written, presenting the facts of Burton's life alongside contextualizing information in a way that tells two stories - individual and meta- with precision that creates an unavoidable visceral and cerebral response.
August 29, 2017
This is the autobiography of Susan Burton, an African-American, formerly incarcerated woman leading the fight against the rampant civil injustices present for women like her. This book opened my eyes to a world I know so little about -- for all of the buzz words in the news today about the "new Jim Crow" and "white privilege," my personal experience with those words has largely been limited to Facebook articles volleyed between people playing (what can seem like) games of "I'm more self-aware than thou".
Susan Burton's story is a refreshing and sobering breath of air. It's a story and a life, not a buzzword or a statistic (although it also has statistics, and they are no less sobering). It is the story of a women with the odds stacked against her, with a life story of abuse and rape and drugs and incarceration already written for her, whether she knew it or not. It's the story of her struggle to escape into a new life, but the laws and regulations and biases that kept her entangled. And most of all, the story of a woman who, once she escaped, started a movement to change these broken systems however she could.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, to everyone, on every side of the political spectrum. Let this story open your eyes to the lives behind the buzz words. And then maybe, if you feel so inclined, jump in and do something about it.
Susan Burton's story is a refreshing and sobering breath of air. It's a story and a life, not a buzzword or a statistic (although it also has statistics, and they are no less sobering). It is the story of a women with the odds stacked against her, with a life story of abuse and rape and drugs and incarceration already written for her, whether she knew it or not. It's the story of her struggle to escape into a new life, but the laws and regulations and biases that kept her entangled. And most of all, the story of a woman who, once she escaped, started a movement to change these broken systems however she could.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough, to everyone, on every side of the political spectrum. Let this story open your eyes to the lives behind the buzz words. And then maybe, if you feel so inclined, jump in and do something about it.
February 5, 2019
You don’t know what you don’t know and this book is a heartbreaking education of how terribly broken our criminal justice system is. It is devastating to read the statistics at the beginning of every chapter. It is devastating to hear a first hand account of someone whose story is like so many others that are caught up in a broken and lopsided system. It is devastating to know we spend $60K to hold someone in prison for one year when we could use that money for rehab or education. Think of the productive people we would have. It is devastating to know that once they serve their time, they face insurmountable battles to secure the basics of a job, housing or food, let alone be reunited with their children...for committing a petty crime. One of my favorite paragraphs that we should all heed: “It can’t just be a handful of big mouths like myself; it has to be a community. The community is the ears, eyes, and mouths required to keep the system functioning for the good of the people. We all must speak up, we all must step up. I wanted to tell my story as a call for mobilization. Together, we can end discrimination. Together, we can push our government to remove barriers and open up doors for people who are qualified in the here and now. People who should not be held stagnant.” Amazing book Ms. Burton.
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