A man ain’t nothing without his word.
-- Ruby Edwards (chapter 1)

Importance: Edwards, Woodfox’s mother, says this after she wins a wrestling match with the seven-year old Albert Woodfox. Because of his loss, Woodfox had to wear a dress all day. Although he found it a terrible punishment, he wore it because that was the deal of the game. This virtue, the one of keeping his word, was instilled early in Woodfox’s life, and he tries to live up to this quality, especially after he takes the Black Panther Party oath and returns to Angola prison.

It was the first time I understood that something was terribly wrong in the world, and nobody was talking about it.”
-- Albert Woodfox (chapter 1)

Importance: Woodfox was in a sixth grade social studies class reading a textbook that depicted white America, and none of the information depicted his and his community’s reality. Although he mentions it was not the...