9,833 books
—
22,381 voters
Jess Evans
https://www.goodreads.com/whosjessanywayew
“Reading was my salvation. Libraries and universities and schools from all over Louisiana donated books to Angola and for once, the willful ignorance of the prison administration paid off for us, because there were a lot of radical books in the prison library: Books we wouldn’t have been allowed to get through the mail. Books we never could have afforded to buy. Books we had never heard of. Herman, King, and I first gravitated to books and authors that dealt with politics and race—George Jackson, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Steve Biko, Eldridge Cleaver’s Soul on Ice, J. A. Rogers’s From “Superman” to Man. We read anything we could find on slavery, communism, socialism, Marxism, anti-imperialism, the African independence movements, and independence movements from around the world. I would check off these books on the library order form and never expect to get them until they came. Leaning against my wall in the cell, sitting on the floor, on my bed, or at my table, I read.”
― Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement
― Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement
“I've seen it happen over and over again: a black person gets killed just for being black, and all hell breaks loose. I’ve tweeted RIP hashtags, reblogged pictures on Tumblr, and signed every petition out there. I always said that if I saw it happen to somebody, I would have the loudest voice, making sure the world knew what went down.
Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak.”
― The Hate U Give
Now I am that person, and I’m too afraid to speak.”
― The Hate U Give
“Prison is designed to break one’s spirit and destroy one’s resolve. To do this, the authorities attempt to exploit every weakness, demolish every initiative, negate all signs of individuality—all with the idea of stamping out that spark that makes each of us human and each of us who we are. Our survival depended on understanding what the authorities were attempting to do to us, and sharing that understanding with each other. —Nelson Mandela”
― Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement
― Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement
“Once I was in the cold dim room, without furniture or carpet or rugs, only a dollhouse that wasn't as wonderful as the original, I opened the tall and narrow closet door and began my ascent up the steep and narrow stairs.
On my way to the attic.
On my way to where I'd find my Christopher, again...”
― Seeds of Yesterday
On my way to the attic.
On my way to where I'd find my Christopher, again...”
― Seeds of Yesterday
“Once you've seen how broken someone is it's like seeing them naked—you can't look at them the same anymore.”
― The Hate U Give
― The Hate U Give
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Jess’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Jess’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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