On November 14, 1967, David Thomas, a black man, was arrested in Los Angeles. He claimed to be innocent, but was persuaded to plead guilty in exchange for the promise of a light sentence. Four years later, Thomas was dead, murdered while trying to escape the Northern California prison where he was serving a life term. In those four years, he experienced more than most men do in a lifetime. He educated himself by studying Paine, Guevara, Fanon, Hugo and Gorki. He started an underground prison newspaper and had a book published. He served two years in solitary confinement. He fell passionately in love. He became internationally famous as an articulate, sensitive and powerful writer and revolutionary.
