Breaking Chains, Building Futures

Explore the realities of life behind and beyond bars through a collection of compelling, first-hand stories

In Breaking Chains, Building Futures: Pathways to Redemption, Education, and Excellence, activist and endocrinologist Dr. Stanley Andrisse brings together a profoundly moving collection of first-hand accounts from individuals impacted by various lengths of incarceration. This powerful book sheds light on the struggles, triumphs, and enduring hope of people navigating life under the weight of harsh prison sentences and the daunting challenges of reentry.

Through these authentic stories, you'll witness the raw humanity of life behind bars and the determination of those striving to reclaim their futures. Meet inspiring individuals like:

• Oswald Newbold, sentenced to life at 20 after growing up with teenage parents battling addiction.
• William Freeman, who spent over two decades serving a life without parole sentence.
• Desiree Riley, a Black mother whose story highlights the intersection of race, gender, and parental incarceration.

Dr. Andrisse also shares his personal journey from incarceration to becoming a scientist and leading Prison to Professionals (P2P), a nonprofit empowering justice-impacted individuals to pursue higher education and redefine success. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the human impact of criminal sentencing and incarceration. Breaking Chains, Building Futures is more than a chronicle of hardship-it's a testament to courage, resilience, and the unyielding pursuit of a better tomorrow.

DR. STANLEY ANDRISSE is an endocrine scientist and faculty member at Howard University College of Medicine. He is a formerly incarcerated person with three felony convictions who was sentenced to 10 years in a maximum-security prison. After persistent advocacy-including writing multiple letters to judges and correctional officials-he was accepted into a drug rehabilitation program while incarcerated.

Upon his release, Dr. Andrisse was accepted into a PhD program at Saint Louis University, where he earned his PhD-graduating at the top of his class and two years ahead of schedule.