March/April 2024:
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
“The extraordinary manner in which Adjei-Brenyah writes and allows the reader to imagine what a prisoner might be feeling in this kind of situation is breath taking. The action and violence are almost secondary to the true human story that’s being told and the unasked question that is before us all: what would you do if you were in the situation?”
“Chain-Gang All-Stars was a disturbing book that grabs ahold of you and won’t let go and I tried to illustrate that feeling with my drawing. The story in this book serves to remind us that the criminal justice system is not designed to help us better ourselves, but to make us worse.
One thing that struck me was the detail in which the author used in describing the gladiators and the weapons they fought with. For this month’s drawing I was inspired to try and illustrate these weapons. The background is magenta colored flames that represent the living hell that all of the gladiators are caught in.”
Charles’ Reflection:
The book that we feature this month in our Words That Sustain Me book club is Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. We came to choose this book when my book club partner Ali asked me if I had heard about a book that imagines a world where prisoners can choose to fight in gladiator style to the death matches?
My reply was, "what?" Then, "no." Then Ali added yes, and if the prisoner can stay alive long enough they can win their freedom. I was immediately interested and knew we had to read it. I'm also delighted to announce that Chain-Gang All-Stars is another book that we will read together with the TCADP' book club and we'll have an online zoom meeting with them on April 10th ,2024.
I must admit that when I first thought about Chain-Gang All-Stars I thought it would be some super hero type of fiction where the characters would never lose their lives. And the story would be light weight with lots of fighting and excitement. Boy, was I wrong.
When I began reading this book I was immediately struck by the realism of the author's writing. Adjei-Brenyah breathes life into his story and makes the reader realize that in a world where capital punishment is alive and well, and people are continually locked away with the key thrown away we're not too far away from to the death gladiator style matches.
The author approaches the story from many different angles. He combines to the death mixed martial arts style matches in a national football league type of atmosphere. And fans support different fighters instead of NFL teams.
The fighters are part of chain gangs that are dependent upon which United States of America prison system you are incarcerated in when you chose to became a CAPE (Criminal Action Penal Entertainment) and the ultimate prize is freedom.
The extraordinary manner in which Adjei-Brenyah writes and allows the reader to imagine what a prisoner might be feeling in this kind of situation is breath taking. The action and violence are almost secondary to the true human story that's being told and the unasked question that is before us all: what would you do if you were in the situation?
The tale unfolds through the fighters point of view, the abolitionists who want to end CAPE, and from the insane fanatics who support this "sport." Personally, I first identified with the fighters. Many were in solitary confinement and were being tortured and were so desperate they chose what was almost certain death over continued abuse that is solitary confinement. I've been in solitary confinement for twenty five years so I have a unique, personal comprehension of what it's like to "come apart in the hole."
What surprised me was me being able to relate to the addiction that the fans had with nonstop video coverage of everything that the star fighters did on Chain-Gang All-Stars BattleGrounds, and its sister show, LinkLyfe. I am crazy about NFL football and can easily image how insanely popular twenty first century gladiator style death matches would be.
Adjei-Brenyah was amazing with the way he layered the ultimate reason why these poor tortured souls would choose CAPE. Life had ground them to dust and squeezed every drop of hope out of them. They were all in a lot of pain. That sentence there contains a world of hurt within it and there have been times in my life when I've been pushed to the brink and stared into the abyss. Having heard its call but refused to give into it.
And that's the thing about pain if you don't transform it you will transfer it to others. All the fighters had lived through unbelievable trauma and were stuck in the middle of it. And this rigor mortis of the mind all to often resulted in the fighter falling into despair and taking their own life.
The ultimate prize was called "High Freedom." If you survived three years worth of death matches you could win your high freedom. Ironically, losing your life in battle was called low freedom. But 1 of the main stars named Sunset Harkless had the right of it. Sunset said that if you can forgive yourself you free yourself - that's the real high freedom.
Brother, do I know what you're talking about. If a poor soul can find the path to self forgiveness and from that moment on live for a higher cause, then they have won a great victory. This is how a man can salvage his life from the ruin that is being sentenced to death and begin to live for the Lord. That is how a group of men can transform a place that was once dark and filled with destruction called death row, into a place where light abounds and now call it life row.
That is a freedom nobody can take from you.
Chain-Gang All-Stars is an amazing book masterfully written with a story that will inspire and inform many conversations. It has found a permanent place in my personal library that I keep in my cell and will be reread time and time again. This awe inspiring novel has an unbelievable climatic ending that just brilliant! It must be read by all! That is what makes Chain-Gang All-Stars worthy to be one of the incredible book that we've read in our book club. I hope you read it and love it just as much as I do!
“I learned a long time ago. On this one thing you don’t negotiate. You love through all the people you’ve been and hope you have a chance at being better.
What I’m telling you is you can curse yourself to the moon and back and what will it have you feeling like? But try to look at yourself and say ‘I love you’ and see what happens.”