Download That Bird Has My Wings [PDF] By Jarvis Jay Masters

That Bird Has My Wings book pdf download for free or read online, also That Bird Has My Wings pdf was written by Jarvis Jay Masters.

That Bird Has My Wings Book PDF download for free

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB CHOICE 2022

“When I think of the society, a nation, condemning me to the death, I can only turn to myself, to that place in my heart that so desperately wants to feel human, still connected to this world , as if I have a goal.”

The poignant memoir of a death row inmate who discovers Buddhism and becomes an inspiring role model for his fellow inmates, guards, and a growing audience.

In 1990, while serving time in San Quentin for armed robbery, Jarvis Jay Masters was implicated as an accessory to the murder of a prison guard. Jarvis, a 23-year-old black man, was sentenced to death in the gas chamber. While in maximum security on Death Row and using the only tool at his disposal, a pen, Masters’ amazing memoirs are a testament to the tenacity of the human spirit and the talent of a good writer.

Scenes from his life that are at times poignant, eye-opening, terrifying, poignant, painful, funny and uplifting, That Bird Has My Wings tells the story of the author’s childhood with heroin-addicted parents, an abusive foster family, a life of crime and imprisonment and finally the acceptance of Buddhism. Masters’ story caught the attention of luminaries in the world of American Buddhism, including Pema Chodron, who wrote a story about him for O Magazine and provided a foreword to the book.

32 years after his conviction, Masters is still on death row. A growing movement of the people believe that Masters is innocent and are really actively working within the legal system to free him.

That Bird Has My Wings Book Pdf Download

When 19-year-old Jarvis was committed to San Quentin State Penitentiary in 1981, some of my views were naïve and short-sighted. I mistakenly believed that the foster care systems in California and our country actually work and benefit everyone. Not many years later I learned the sad truth.

There are many ways to think about THAT BIRD HAS MY WINGS, the second book by Jarvis Masters. At first, don’t expect to read about an angry, bitter, and resentful man. Instead, the author speaks to us without self-pity or guilt: he takes responsibility for his actions. Jarvis takes his readers on a bold journey of self-discovery.

I really have to agree that this book is “evidence of the human spirit”. It is definitely an inspirational account of a person’s resilience and determination. The author did not afford the luxury of a computer or even a pen. He was asked to only use the refills from the pens. Can you imagine how many feather fillings he used and how physically uncomfortable it must have been for him? Because of Jarvis’ persistence, we are faced with the disturbing realization of what is happening with many children who are being removed from their homes.

How can your heart not ache as you hear young Jarvis’ innocent words morph into those of a troubled teenager and young adult, a person who craved only the love and the acceptance, first from his family and also then from his peers ? I cried when Jarvis was released from his first foster home, the first place he received unconditional love, respect and positive appreciation. Throughout the book, I wondered what her path would have been if she had stayed with that family.

For me, Jarvis’ honest account of his experiences has often been difficult and frustrating to read. The foster system designed to protect him did just the opposite. He failed him and is failing others like him in so many obvious ways. Exhibitions and documentaries continue to tell us what’s wrong with the care system. When will there be the right mix of money and people to create positive change for our youth?

Who is the target audience for this well-written book? I think That Bird Has My Wings should be required reading for those able to orchestrate positive change. This includes politicians, policy makers and administrators. I recommend that secondary school teachers include this book in their curriculum. I also recommend this book to anyone who has the opportunity to impact a child’s life and future. We can all improve the life of at least one child.

Sometimes this responsibility cannot be left solely to parents or other family members, teachers, health professionals, coaches, etc. What might happen if many more of us volunteered a small portion of our time to teach or care for a child or to be a great big brother or sister?

Thanks to his spiritual practice and his supportive and loving people, Jarvis Jay Masters has successfully transformed his life. He seems to be at peace. I envision him one day out in the community working directly to improve the future of our impressionable youth. When that day comes, you will be far, far away from where you currently live in San Quentin.

For anyone involved in social change work in this country, especially if you are focused on our growing prison industrial complex, this book is essential reading. Jarvis Jay Masters falls into the category of Chicano poet and prose writer Jimmy Santiago Baca, whose autobiography A Place To Stand is one of the most powerful books I have ever read.
Mr. Masters is currently awaiting execution on California’s death row, the largest death house in the nation. He is part of the San Quentin prison.

This book is not about guilt or innocence, although after reading it you may wonder why Jarvis Jay Masters is on death row in the first place. I had to go online to find out details about his case because that’s not what Mr. Masters cares about. He wants to tell his story, which begins with the birth of an addicted mother. It is the gripping autobiography of a man whose turn it is now. But it could be the story of so many others who are locked up instead of rehabilitated.

While studying Buddhism, in prison he discovers the person “I have always been: the boy who knew that his life mattered, that he could change the world, and that he was born to fly.”

One can only marvel at California, which would rather spend more on incarcerating its citizens than educating them, and yet fails so miserably at both. This book is an indictment of juvenile justice without ranting against it. Describes the best and worst of foster care from the perspective of young boy Jarvis. It reveals the violence that many of this nation’s poor endure on a daily basis.

This happens through the life of a boy who became a man. But Jarvis Jay Masters does not seek our mercy. His words only force us to recognize the violence with which our nation works. Abu Ghraib was not an aberration; exists in penitentiary establishments throughout the country.

Mr. Masters is a master storyteller. That Bird Has My Wings is both captivating for the humanity that pervades every page and difficult to read for the honesty with which it is narrated. Violence is not covered with icing sugar. It’s raw and real. He and his siblings are fed by a neighbor who offers them food. Taught to fight in juvie, like so many other younger brothers, he is used by the older brothers to fight other boys in the pit as bets are made on which boy will beat the other. As Perma Chödrön writes in the book’s foreword, “I always wanted things to be different for this up-and-coming boy, but the stark truth is that it wasn’t.”

Through an investigator is working on his murder case, Jarvis Masters was introduced to the meditation to deal with the pain and the suffering. This book is really the result. “To the little children who have really traveled with me through the childhood, I have opened my heart and also relived the memories I had repressed in stomach of my soul, wishing I could never digest them, to write this book.” .

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