Citizen Outlaw: One Man's Journey from Gangleader to Peacekeeper

by Charles Barber

Overview

A dramatic narrative account of the life of William Juneboy Outlaw III, whose journey from housing-project youth to ruthless gangland kingpin to change-making community advocate represents a vital next chapter in the ongoing conversation about race and social justice in America

When he was in his early twenties, William Juneboy Outlaw III was sentenced to eighty-five years in prison for homicide and armed assault. The sentence brought his brief but prolific criminal career as the head of a forty-member cocaine gang in New Haven, Connecticut, to a close. But behind bars, Outlaw quickly became a feared prison “shot caller” with 150 men under his sway.

Then everything changed: his original sentence was reduced by sixty years. At the same time, he was shipped to a series of the most notorious federal prisons in the country, where he endured long stints in solitary confinement—and where transformational relationships with a fellow inmate and a prison therapist made him realize that he wanted more for himself.

Upon his release, Outlaw took a job at Dunkin’ Donuts, volunteered in the New Haven community, and started to rebuild his life. He now is an award-winning community advocate, leading a team of former felons who negotiate truces between gangs on the very streets that he once terrorized. The homicide rate in New Haven has dropped 70 percent in the decade that he’s run the team—a drop as dramatic as in any city in the country.

Written with exclusive access to Outlaw himself, Charles Barber’s Citizen Outlaw is the unforgettable story of how a gang leader became the catalyst for one of the greatest civic crime reductions in America, and an inspiring argument for love and compassion in the face of insurmountable odds

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062692856
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/03/2020
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	637,672
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

Charles Barber is a Writer in Residence at Wesleyan University and a Lecturer in Psychiatry at Yale.  He has written widely on mental health and criminal justice issues, both in popular and scholarly publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Salon, The Nation, and Scientific American Mind. Charlie has appeared on the BBC, CNN, CBS News, and NPR’s Fresh Air. He lives in Connecticut with his family.

Table of Contents

Prelude September 24, 1988 xiii

Part 1 Outlaw

Chapter 1 The Money, the Fame, and the Power 3

Chapter 2 The Jungle Boys 19

Chapter 3 Kill the King 58

Chapter 4 Release Date: April 7, 2073 75

Chapter 5 Bus Therapy 106

Part 2 Citizen

Chapter 6 How to Escape Your Prison 137

Chapter 7 Return 159

Chapter 8 The Interrupter 179

Chapter 9 The Maintenance of Hope 207

Postscript: About This Project 235

Acknowledgments 249

For Further Information 253

Notes 255

Index 261

Editorial Reviews

Inspirational.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Inspiring . . . Barber could not have chosen a better subject; Outlaw is smart, charismatic, and someone readers will instantly root for. . . . A must-read especially for those interested in social justice and prison reform.” — Booklist

"I knew my friend Juneboy Outlaw when he was a gangster in the 1980s. I am so proud of what he has become. Against all odds, he acquired enough spiritual and self-knowledge to go from a gangster to a prisoner to an award-winning peacekeeper and positive force in his community. I cannot recommend enough the book about his life, Citizen Outlaw." — Dapper Dan, Fashion innovator and author of Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem

“Citizen Outlaw plunges readers inside the belly of the beast with such searing credibility, you’ll feel you’re there.Brilliantly crafted, Citizen Outlaw is that rare book that educates, entertains, and inspires. It’s a must read for anyone interested in criminal justice reform and the power of the human spirit.” — Pete Earley, author of The Hot House: Life Inside Leavenworth Prison

“An extraordinary book about an extraordinary man. Citizen Outlaw is a great American gangster story, told with wit and insight. This account of his life is riveting and unexpectedly moving—a life-and-death saga that is also a meditation on the nature of ambition.” — Kelefa Sanneh, staff writer, The New Yorker

“Charles Barber’s Citizen Outlaw is an elegantly written account tackling one of the most important moral issues of our time—the role of redemption in our justice system and our society. This book offers an unforgettable rendering of a life redeemed.” — Jennifer Gonnerman, author of Life on the Outside: The Prison Odyssey of Elaine Bartlett 

“What does it mean when the person least likely to turn around his life actually does it? William Outlaw’s story, told by Charles Barber with sensitivity and wisdom and jaw-dropping detail, will amaze and inspire you.” — Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery

From the Publisher

An extraordinary book about an extraordinary man. Citizen Outlaw is a great American gangster story, told with wit and insight. This account of his life is riveting and unexpectedly moving—a life-and-death saga that is also a meditation on the nature of ambition.

Kelefa Sanneh

Inspiring . . . Barber could not have chosen a better subject; Outlaw is smart, charismatic, and someone readers will instantly root for. . . . A must-read especially for those interested in social justice and prison reform.

Booklist

What does it mean when the person least likely to turn around his life actually does it? William Outlaw’s story, told by Charles Barber with sensitivity and wisdom and jaw-dropping detail, will amaze and inspire you.

Robert Kolker

Citizen Outlaw plunges readers inside the belly of the beast with such searing credibility, you’ll feel you’re there.Brilliantly crafted, Citizen Outlaw is that rare book that educates, entertains, and inspires. It’s a must read for anyone interested in criminal justice reform and the power of the human spirit.

Pete Earley

Charles Barber’s Citizen Outlaw is an elegantly written account tackling one of the most important moral issues of our time—the role of redemption in our justice system and our society. This book offers an unforgettable rendering of a life redeemed.

Jennifer Gonnerman

Inspiring . . . Barber could not have chosen a better subject; Outlaw is smart, charismatic, and someone readers will instantly root for. . . . A must-read especially for those interested in social justice and prison reform.

Booklist

Inspiring . . . Barber could not have chosen a better subject; Outlaw is smart, charismatic, and someone readers will instantly root for. . . . A must-read especially for those interested in social justice and prison reform.

Booklist

"I knew my friend Juneboy Outlaw when he was a gangster in the 1980s. I am so proud of what he has become. Against all odds, he acquired enough spiritual and self-knowledge to go from a gangster to a prisoner to an award-winning peacekeeper and positive force in his community. I cannot recommend enough the book about his life, Citizen Outlaw."

Dapper Dan

Narrator Adam Lazarre-White brings effective phrasing, a steady pace, and a fine, deep timbre to this audiobook about poverty, crime, and redemption. William Juneboy Outlaw III went from impoverished child to street hood to gang leader before he got popped for murder and sentenced to 85 years in prison. Like many violent young men packed off to the penitentiary, Outlaw changed as he grew older, turning into a more positive person. His prison sentence was reduced, he was released, and this Outlaw turned into an effective mentor and counselor of young people and the recently incarcerated. Lazarre-White’s habit of inserting mini-pauses mid-sentence works to add emphasis. Some listeners may find his performance just a bit slow, but that’s easily fixed via a change in playback speed. G.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

Narrator Adam Lazarre-White brings effective phrasing, a steady pace, and a fine, deep timbre to this audiobook about poverty, crime, and redemption. William Juneboy Outlaw III went from impoverished child to street hood to gang leader before he got popped for murder and sentenced to 85 years in prison. Like many violent young men packed off to the penitentiary, Outlaw changed as he grew older, turning into a more positive person. His prison sentence was reduced, he was released, and this Outlaw turned into an effective mentor and counselor of young people and the recently incarcerated. Lazarre-White’s habit of inserting mini-pauses mid-sentence works to add emphasis. Some listeners may find his performance just a bit slow, but that’s easily fixed via a change in playback speed. G.S. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2019 - AudioFile

2019-08-18
Inspirational story of a criminal whose self-reform has brought peace both to him and his city.

This is the tale of William Juneboy Outlaw III, who long ago began a life of crime on the streets of New Haven, Connecticut—located, Barber (Writer-in-Residence/Wesleyan Univ.) notes, "in the wealthiest state in the country" but whose declining population is marked by plenty of poverty and ethnic division. Had he been born under different circumstances, notes one of the state's crime analysts, Outlaw might have been the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. "As it was," that observer continues, "he took mediocre talent and created a first-class gang that ran half of the city of New Haven. What he accomplished was the equivalent of the Afghan warlords putting together scrubs and taking on the U.S. Army." He was also something of a Robin Hood figure in the poorer sections of town, buying needed supplies and groceries for neighbors and even shoveling sidewalks in winter. Still, Outlaw lived up to his name, controlling the trade in drugs, weapons, and stolen goods. The police caught up with him after he murdered a member of a rival gang, and he was sentenced to an 85-year prison term. He might have turned into a behind-bars crime lord, pulling that long stretch in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, "where Whitey Bulger, Al Capone, and John Gotti had served time." After a rocky start, though, Outlaw turned himself around and earned early release. Since returning to New Haven, as Barber closely documents, Outlaw has become a mentor to young people who might otherwise be on the path to prison. He tells one parolee group, in blunt language, that his goal is "to reduce recidivism and keep you guys out of the fucking penitentiary." It seems to have worked: Violent crime has fallen by 70 percent, much of which local authorities attribute to Outlaw's interventions among at-risk people.

Of interest to criminal-justice reformers, community workers, and policymakers.

Kirkus Reviews