Goodreads asked Leon E. Pettiway:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Leon E. Pettiway Only for the Brave at Heart, which will be published in late October or early November, is the culmination of teaching courses on race, crime, and justice for more than thirty years, and during that time I have interviewed hundreds of drug users and criminals. When I did field research in Philadelphia, which resulted in two books (i.e., Honey, Honey, Miss Thang and Workin' It), the experience helped me to reconsider how researchers and social influencers have addressed issues of race, crime, and justice in this country. Moreover, my life as an African-American and my ordination as a Tibetan Buddhist monk have also influenced my perspective and have allowed me to provide a very different assessment of these issues, one that champions loving kindness, compassion, and wisdom.

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