Rap and Redemption on Death Row
Seeking Justice and Finding Purpose Behind Bars

Alim Braxton (Author), Mark Katz (Author)

9781469678702

Hardback, published 9 April 2024

248 pages, 19 halftones
23.5 x 15.5 x 2 cm, 0.272 kg

A raw, contemplative account of a death-row inmate's journey toward redemption through faith, family, and rap . . . . An unvarnished look at a life reclaimed deep within the edifice of mass incarceration."—Kirkus Reviews

Imprisoned since age nineteen, Alim Braxton has spent more than a quarter century on North Carolina's death row. During that time, he converted to Islam and dedicated his life to redemption. Braxton, a rapper since the age of thirteen, uses his rhymes as a form of therapy and to advocate for prison reform, particularly by calling attention to the plight of the wrongfully incarcerated. This book, a hip-hop-rich prison memoir, chronicles Braxton's struggles and triumphs as he attempts to record an album while on death row, something no one has done before.

Braxton's world is complex: full of reflections on guilt, condemnation, incarceration, religious awakening, and the redemptive power of art. Ultimately, Braxton shows us that even amid the brutality of our prison system there are moments of joy, and on death row joy may be the most powerful form of resistance.