Henry Morales

Journey of a Man: Packing Sneakers and a Gun Henry Morales

When Henry Morales was orphaned at six years of age, he left home carrying sneakers and a bag of toy guns. This memoir follows Morales' life-as a black Puerto Rican-American child funneled through the institutional system of America, to his survival on the streets of Brooklyn, to his twenty-year incarceration, and his life after release.

A true story of abandonment, abuse, robbery, and murder, Journey of a Man follows Morales as he loses his family, fights for survival, and evolves into manhood without love or conscience. Born a "New York Rican," Morales was sent to a convent after his mother died. Stripped of his identity, he began a quest for acknowledgement of his experiences and his unique existence as a black-Latino. Without personal affection and attention, he turned his institutional homes and the streets of America up-side-down. He did terrible things and experienced vengeful joys.

An urban survival story, Journey of a Man records the triumph of the human spirit after spending years floundering on the edge of society's throwaways. This memoir shows how Morales overcame the horrors of his childhood and his criminal past and discovered the peace and beauty of life.