Darnell Wright - The Compass of a Conscience

Contents

Foreword

Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.

Booker T. Washington

This quote is telling in the life of my dear friend and colleague, Darnell Wright. His tireless dedication to this book, The Compass of a Conscience , is remarkable and apparent as I look back on our countless conversations and his late nights of writing with the purpose of properly conveying his story to readers. As an avid reader of literary biographies, I gravitate to the stories of individuals who possess the grit and tenacity to press through the hardships faced in life. The Compass of a Conscience is a story of hardship and redemption. Darnell uses his experiences of life on the hard streets of Pensacola, Florida, and his incarceration to touch the lives of wayward youth by building relationships that undoubtedly related to the youths individual struggles. The events of Darnells life, such as his growing up in poverty, the lessons taught by his unschooled but wise grandmother, and the death of his brother, take readers on a journey through the rawness of his reality, on his road to self-discovery, and to hope. The Compass of a Conscience chronicles Darnells (Donnell Whites) mentorship of Rodriquez (Brandon Bright) and how that relationship awakened true purpose in Darnell that he wasnt aware was there. The Compass of a Conscience tackles the depths and complexity of life that many are sheltered from. It is my hope that many read this book and see the humanity of the experiences and how we are not all afforded with the same opportunities. With this consciousness, we should not be swift to judge another without knowing their full story. I also hope that others use the book as evidence that you can rise above circumstances brought on by meager beginnings, or even by your past mistakes. Credibility cannot be distorted when it is based upon not only experience but also awareness and the willingness to reflect upon oneself.

Mr. Wright has done this inner work, and The Compass of a Conscience was birthed because of it.

Kameetra Ellis, M.Ed., author and educator

I met Darnell Wright seven years ago. A federal judge in the Northern District of Florida asked me to help mentor Darnell. Darnell had recently been released from federal prison in Atlanta, where he served several years for a major drug-trafficking conviction. Before prison, Darnell had made a very lucrative living in the drug trade. Now, he was being returned to society to make his way, to make an honest living, and to resist the pressures from others in his old neighborhood who would have him return to his former life. Adjusting to this new life would be as tough a thing as he had done in his life. Getting and holding employment now presented a high probability of failure. And how easy it would be to be tempted to return to the drug trade.

Would I help this man? Of course. I would try. I felt ill-equipped to be his mentor. Why would he even consider listening to any advice I might offer? Would we like each other? Would we respect each others points of view? Would the mentor-mentee relationship survive for long?

Seven years after his release, Darnell is working hard, running a business. He is successful in his business, but the success came with sacrifice. He had tried to get in the concrete business but couldnt get the work from the general contractors he would need to succeed. But with hard work and a lot of risk and determination to earn well and earn honestly, he now owns his own company, is happy, and provides for his family.

Through this process of Darnells re-entering society, our relationship has remained close. We took meals together. He shared his faith in Christ and gave me books to read that influenced his faith. He invited me to attend, and even participate in, volunteer group-therapy sessions in which he engaged with very troubled youths serving in a detention center. I watched him turn his very tough life experiences into lessons that seemingly got through to troubled teens who couldnt be reached by other adults. He became their coach, if you will, by telling them the brutal truths about where bad life decisions lead. He became their mentor.

And oddly, he became my mentor in an unexpected juxtaposition of roles. His faith in Christ helped make my faith stronger. His amazing optimism and belief that his struggles would enable him to succeed in an almost impossible endeavor to overcome his situation as an ex-convict inspired me more than any inspiration I ever offered him.

Darnells book, The Compass of a Conscience , tells the story of his life. He believes deeply that his story can be of help to others. And it can be. This is a book anyone can benefit from reading, but particularly it can benefit young men and women who can use a little guidance to get their lives straight. And on top of everything, his story is one that shows readers like me a life I had hardly ever realized is one lived by a lot of people in our society.

Dennis Ketler Larry, retired trial attorney

I

The Big Break

May 4, 2011, was probably just another typical day to most people, but not to a guy named Donnell White. To him, there was nothing typical about that day at all. That day would become what hed often refer to as his second chance at life, the moment when he knew his life would never be the same again.

At the Holcomb County Jail, located in Holcomb, Florida, a young man is sitting inside a six-by-ten-foot two-bunk cell. The young man is being held at this location because it has a contract with the government to act as a hub for housing federal inmates. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, hes waiting to be transported to a federal courthouse in Pensacola, Florida, where his case, overturned on a successful appeal, will be resentenced.

Hes already served three years of the fifteen-year sentence currently imposed on him. His celly, the person whom he shares the cell with, is sound asleep. For this young man, though, sleeping is the farthest thing from his mind. Anxiously, he paces the short distance from the cell bars to the small rectangular window at the back of the cell hes in. The scheduled time for his court appearance is 9:15 a.m.

His eyes are now fixated on the circular clock that hangs on the wall in the common area outside his cell. It is now 8:40 a.m., and he wonders why the officers havent come to get him yet. His patience starts to wear thin, and just as he wraps his hands around the bars to squeeze them, a voice comes across the intercom.

White...

Yeah! he replies.

You got court this morning. Come on out.