Chris Napier

Poverty and Prison: Frustrations of My Past Chris Napier

Chris "Champ" Napier was only four years old when he witnessed his father's murder. By the time he was thirteen, Napier had lived in seven different homes in seven different ghettos. Biologically and socially, he was raised in a pool of piranhas, barbarians, and sharks. At eighteen, Napier was convicted of killing a man and was sent to prison.

This memoir narrates Napier's story as he navigates a childhood of poverty in Prichard, Alabama; serves more than a decade and a half in prison; and transforms his life by becoming Muslim and devoting his life to Allah.

We were so broke I had to eat dry saltine crackers or ketchup sandwiches with the end parts of the bread and drink sugar water, when we didn't have kool-aid. These times were hard for us. ... I can recall a lot of times on the weekend that someone from the club or from somewhere would burglarize our house and we would have to play like we were asleep until they left. The only thing they could not steal was a small black and white TV and portable radio.