Three-Part Process to Breaking the Recidivism Cycle

About the Book

The mere fact that you are holding this book in your hands is proof that being an addict and having an X on your back isn’t a life sentence to failure. I was both an addict and prisoner for thirty years, yet today I live life as a clean, sober, and productive member of society—as a published writer and motivational speaker. I am living proof, and you can become proof also that “a thing men did, a man may do again.” I wrote this book because I saw everybody dedicating their time, effort, and money to try to solve every problem of society except answer the question “What is going to get the brothers off the corner and keep them out of prison?” Since I was once one of the brothers on the corner and in prison, I figured that it might help if I shared with those still on them and in prison how I broke the cycle of going in and out of rehab, prison, and the mental hospital. My experience has shown me that there is a way out of the revolving door of recidivism, but it requires work and commitment to change. There was a three-stage process to me ending my involvement in the penal system and addiction. It included (1) admitting the problem, (2) accepting responsibility for my role in it, and (3) surrendering to a higher power that could get me out of it. I believe this is a viable formula for anybody who wants to go from brokenness to wholeness. I encourage you to try it if you are tired of going around and around in the vicious cycle of addiction, prison, and purposelessness.

About the Author

Danny has been certified by Toastmasters International as a competent public speaker (1991, East Moline). He received his GED from the City Colleges of Chicago (1981) and obtained a certificate in graphic arts from Southeastern Illinois College (1987). He is a former member of the Pan-African Revolutionary Socialist Party. He spent twenty years in prison and ten in Elgin Mental Health Center. While in the hospital, he wrote over eight-hundred poems, three books of daily meditations, and numerous speeches and Afro-centric anecdotes. He also acted as a mentor for younger consumers while there, leading his own peer-support groups and chairing GROW for four years (2003–07). He has been clean of all illegal drugs and alcohol for fourteen years. His mission is to be the most infectiously optimistic and exceptionally giving person possible and to encourage others to be equally optimistic and giving. Danny is not one who believes you can’t make it because you have some strikes against you; he is one to tell you, “Anything you can conceive and believe you can achieve” (Napoleon Hill). You can post comments on his e-mail or contact him for workshops and testimony at dannycrystal7963@gmail.com or (773) 440-4062.