To look at him now, you might never guess the hell that Abdul Lloyd-Bey was forced to endure as a young man.
As a boy he thought death row was his likely future because of where he lived and the color of his skin. Arrested for armed robbery at the age of seventeen, he served nearly thirteen years for his first offense while his white codefendant, a repeat violent offender, got off with just five. While serving his time within New York's most dangerous prisons, Lloyd-Bey survived three near-fatal attacks-one involving an ice pick that left him temporarily paralyzed.
But though violence and discrimination have greatly impacted Lloyd-Bey's story, they aren't the final authority on his life. A victim of abused power, he chose to change the criminal justice system by learning how to ensure justice for all. And now, as a criminal defense attorney, he shares his personal insights and experiences from both sides of the bench in the hope of further transforming how we, as a nation, prosecute crime.
No Throwaway Boy is a triumphant story you will never forget.
About the Author: First-time author Abdul Lloyd-Bey is an African American attorney, an adjunct professor of paralegal studies and criminal justice lecturer at CUNY. His is the proud father of two wonderful children. Prior to attending law school, he worked with thousands of New York City public school students, serving as both a director of Medgar Evers College's youth services program, which provides tutoring and college prep, and the director of the National Youth Sports Program.
But when Lloyd-Bey was seventeen, none of these achievements seemed remotely possible. Arrested for armed robbery, he would first have to endure nearly thirteen years in prison-surviving the discrimination of the criminal justice system and multiple near-fatal attacks from other convicts. Behind bars he read his first book and then went on to earn his GED and literacy coach certification in order to help his fellow prisoners.
Now Lloyd-Bey candidly shares his incredible life story in No Throwaway Boy.
