More Than My Sentence

More Than My Sentence: The Lives Built After Incarceration is a collaborative nonfiction collection featuring eight firsthand stories of incarceration, reentry, accountability, resilience, and rebuilding.Curated by Ms Cat, this first volume of the This Should’ve Took Me Out series brings together the voices of Jerome L. Barber, M.S.; Bernard Mitchell Sr.; Brian Young; Kevin A. Bruno; Damion JaDonne Walker, MBA; Nicole DeMoss; Virreece 'Mesiah' Seaberry; and Ivery Dorsey.Each contributor shares a different journey shaped by incarceration and the realities that came after it. These stories explore what led to life-changing consequences, what was lost along the way, the impact incarceration had on families and relationships, the difficulty of returning home, and the barriers that often remain long after a sentence has been served.But this book is not only about what happened.It is about what happened next.Through honest reflections on setbacks, closed doors, personal responsibility, difficult choices, and unexpected turning points, the contributors reveal what it can take to rebuild a life when the world continues to see the record before it sees the person.Some stories speak to the challenge of learning how to live again after years of confinement. Others examine identity, purpose, family, community, and the work of becoming someone different from the person who first entered the system. Together, they offer a broader picture of reentry-one that acknowledges both accountability for the past and the possibility of creating a different future.These are not stories asking readers to erase history, excuse harmful choices, or pretend that rebuilding is easy.They are stories about growth, responsibility, resilience, second chances, and the human capacity to change.More Than My Sentence challenges readers to look beyond a conviction, a prison number, or the worst decision a person has ever made. It reminds us that a record may tell part of someone’s story, but it does not tell the whole story.A sentence may end on paper long before its consequences disappear in real life.But the sentence does not have to be the ending.