by Dorsey Nunn
I never imagined that I would be writing to y’all about my book, “What Kind of Bird Can’t Fly,” being banned in every California State Prison. Many of you know I was arrested at the age of 19, convicted in 1971, sentenced to life in 1972, paroled in 1981 and discharged from parole in 1984. I learned how to read and more importantly how to reason while incarcerated.
One of the things that inspired me to learn how to read was that brothers on the prison yard were teaching me with books that I could see myself in. I could remember reading “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” and fantasizing that I could be someone different from the person they arrested. I read the book “Blood in My Eye” by George Jackson copied in longhand by other prisoners because it was contraband. The brothers fed me book after book.
The price of my education was the promise I made to men in prison that I would return to the community an asset instead of a liability. I honestly can say that I lived up to that promise. I spent the last 44 years fighting for the full restoration of civil and human rights to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people.
I retired last year as the executive director of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, and at that time I had 31 people employed including four attorneys. I spent the last six years of my employment purchasing a $2.5 million office building in Oakland so the next generation of organizers would never have to pay rent.
I also utilized some of those years writing my book, “What Kind of Bird Can’t Fly.” I have also walked through a couple of different kinds of gates, those at San Quentin and those at the White House when I was being given the Champion of Change Award.
Somehow people are beginning to recognize my book. I thought it was a fluke when I won the Pen Oakland Award or to discover my book as part of the Black Spaces exhibit at the Oakland Museum and being sold in its gift shop. I have spoken at Harvard and Stanford, and this fall “What Kind of Bird Can’t Fly” will be a part of a class at UC Berkeley.
Now I’ve been put on the shortlist and nominated for the Northern California Book Award (NCBA) for Creative Nonfiction, as one of the best works by a Northern California author in 2024. The ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 6. I don’t know how to tell the event publicist that my book has been banned from all California State Prisons.
I’ve noticed that my audience is beginning to change. When I wrote the book I knew I had something important to convey to incarcerated people, but I never thought thousands of people who were not incarcerated or formerly incarcerated would buy and read my book. I think that I have already won something because I completed the book and I sent a couple hundred books into the incarcerated community. I donated one book,out of every four I sold when selling and doing personal appearances and book signings. I see it as a plus that thousands of other people are reading my book.
I know that we currently have major problems that we are facing with Trump attacking or attempting to change the narrative about formerly enslaved people. I doubt that society as a whole can see the current practice of book banning by the government. Can you help and will you help by pushing out this message to people you think may care or want to be educated.
Will you stand up and speak for the person in prison who wants to be more than he or she was at the time of arrest? There are other people who deserve to see themselves in the literature that they read and dream that they could be an asset. We ultimately could use their help because I know our current journey is an uphill climb. If you have not read or purchased my book, I suggest that you visit my website (www.dorseynunn.com) because it is more useful information about who I am.
In Constant Pursuit of Freedom and Justice,
Dorsey E. Nunn
The ban letter by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
The letter is addressed to Heyday Books in Berkeley, publisher of Dorsey Nunn’s book.
Dear Publisher:
This notice serves to advise that upon conclusion of departmental review by the Division of Adult Institutions (DAI), the publication titled, What Kind of Bird Can’t Fly, A Memoir of Resilience and Resurrection, by Dorsey Nunn (2024) has been placed on the Centralized List of Disapproved Publications by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and shall not be delivered to incarcerated persons housed within the Department in accordance with the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 15, Section 3134.1(d) General Mail Regulations.
This decision is based on a violation of CCR, Title 15, 3006(d) Contraband, which states in part that anything in the possession of an incarcerated person which is not contraband but will, if retained in possession of the incarcerated person, present a serious threat to institution security or the safety of incarcerated persons and staff, shall be controlled by staff to the degree necessary to eliminate the threat. Various pages of the publication violate this policy section.
This decision may be appealed in accordance with CCR, Title 15, Section 3137(c), which states in part that persons other than incarcerated persons should address any appeal relating to departmental policy and regulations to the Director of the Division of Adult Institutions (DAI).
If you have any questions, please contact Victor Espinoza, Correctional Lieutenant, Standardized Procedures Unit, DAI, at (279) 223-3592.
Sincerely,
Melanie Bruns
Chief, Office of Policy Standardization
Division of Adult Institutions
cc: H. Moseley, Associate Director, Office of Appeals
M. Freeland, Captain (A), Standardized Procedures Unit (SPU), OPS, DAI V. Espinoza, Lieutenant, SPU, OPS, DAI
P.S. from the Bay View: Dear CDCR, Prison incarcerates the body, not the mind. Your purpose is not only to punish but to rehabilitate and prepare prisoners for reentry into society. Access to and familiarity with the internet is essential and should be available to everyone in your custody. – ed.
