A Place to Stand

Too often in American society, many believe poor minorities (or just minorities) fall into crime because of their nature. I think Jimmy Santiago Baca’s book, A Place to Stand, does a good job calling the nature vs nurture debate into question. Baca recounts his life from first memories to multiple family member’s abandonment to hard time in jail and then release. The first time he is taken to jail, it is because he committed the crime of homelessness. His jailer told Baca, “ ‘Remember, you’re not here because you did something wrong. It’s only because you don’t have a home’ ” (20). A small comfort for a boy of 13, abandoned by his mother, grandmother, aunt and father, and still the strongest lesson here is, “Your home is behind bars.”
Baca does take responsibility for his mistakes and crimes, which he backs with his logic for survival at the time, but also professes his constant desire to remove himself from the criminal system. This involved a new kind of battle with the justice system; refusing work in prison until they let him into GED classes. They never do but Baca teaches himself to read and write after a religious man begins sending him letters and then a dictionary. In prison all you have is time and Baca uses it wisely; first learning to read and write, soon moving on to what it think is the most difficult of literary forms, poetry.
As someone who has always found solace in the written word, I understand this freedom and desire to express myself, but I was lucky never to have to fight for this right. I could read from an early age, soon writing my own stories for entertainment, escape and explanation. I never had to resist to be taught. I was never jailed because I didn’t have a home. I never failed a class because no one had ever taken the time to teach me to read.
This “education taken for granted” is something many people in my similar situation often fall into, forgetting that literacy is not a right to everyone in the world or even the United States. We don’t want to think that is the case, but many do fall through the cracks and often straight into the criminal system. The importance of education, expression and having your personal story heard through writing has been vital to many American social movements: from slavery to suffrage to the LBGTQ movement today, great strides have been made once people’s stories have been heard. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank changed the lives of many people including the Freedom Writers. A Silent Spring by Rachel Carson jumpstarted the environmental movement. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was the first book to, as Hilton Als puts it, “write about blackness from the inside, without apology or defense” (The New Yorker).
To me, Baca's memoir is a perfect example of how hearing or reading a person’s story is the best way to empathy and we should never pass by that story by due to “nature”, income level or the perceived worth in the shade of someone’s skin.

Few people go through what this man has endured and come out with their soul in tact. Few have left the prison system and been able to articulate their experience in such a vivid manner. Jimmy shows you what life is like behind those bars and the abuses that take place when there are no checks and balances on the powers that be. While a man may enter the system having made a mistake in life, he becomes a hardened criminal when thrown into a world that demands you lose the ability for human feelings in order to survive.

This is not to say that murderers, rapists and those of their ilk should not be locked up. They should. But there are many in prison for other offenses that could have circumvented prison while still holding the person who committed the crime accountable. It is criminal on society's part to warehouse people in this kind of environment no matter what their crime. We are breeding criminals.
Lindagail

My favorite thing about reading books is the feeling you get when you find a book that engages you and you enjoy reading. A Place to Stand did just that for me. I really enjoy reading books based on true events and true people. A book that tells a story of someone's actual life. This book takes you on a journey through one boys life. He has a family that doesn't care, a life that doesn't count, and a dream that never came true. Imagine, living your life in the darkness of a cell, looking out at the beautiful world...that you will never get to experience. While reading this book, Baca's character descrIption and important theme let me do just that. Imagine. Right from the start, the characters get introduced magically. What I mean by this is that by the middle of the story, the pain that they feel hurts you; the sadness that they go through saddens you; the anger that they experience angers you just as fiercely. You feel as if you know the characters like you know your best friend. "No, prison was not new to me when I arrived at Florence; I had been preparing for it from an early age. I had visited it a thousand times in the screams of my father and my drunken uncles, in the tight-lipped scolding of my mother, in the shrill reprimands of the nuns at Saint Antony's orphanage; in all the finger-pointing adults who told me I didn't belong, I didn't fit in, I was a deviant" (Baca, 1996, 4). With just these couple lines, you can feel as if you know this whole boy's life. It hurts you to read about his pain and injustice, just like it hurt him. Along with loving the characters in this book, I also loved the theme. It impacts the way you see your life, others' lives, and the world around you. The message this book shares is a message I believe teens everywhere should read about. Especially because the "early teens" is the age when kids start to get introduced to drugs, alcohol, and our world's violence. Though the theme is not stated directly in the text as, "Stay away from drugs! Watch who your friends are! Don't Drink! Make sure you have moral support!" it was still clear that Baca was trying to introduce this to the reader. I have loved every second of reading A Place to Stand because of Baca's amazing characters and bitter-sweet theme.

I have read A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca and I found it to be very racist and prejudice against white people and honestly a pity party for prisoners I feel sympathy and pain for the life Jimmy Santiago Baca has lived through and it saddens me in the book to find that he percieves all white people to be raciest and deny him of anything because of his skin tone, when in fact he did some serious drug dealing that lead him to prison it wasn't a white person it was bad decision making and not taking responsibility for yourself and depending on the past as an excuse. My boyfriend is Mexican and even he finds it hard to agree with Jimmy throughout the book. He describes prison in his book as to a zoo and the prisoners are animals and we should feel pity on them for living in inhumane surcumstances when in reality they get hot meals and showers, a bed to sleep on, TV,cigarettes, coffee, magazines, ect. This is punishment? I'm sorry but I didn't know if I were going to do a serious crime I would have a mini vacation without the stress of bills or any real responsibility it's hard for me to open mind to this book with all the racism and pity he expects he tried to take the get rich quick easy way out of life by dealing drugs and it backfired on him he expected to get everything handed to him on a silver platter all because of the tired excuse its because of my skin tone that doesn't have anything to do with dealing drugs and being in prison. I am thankful I had a chance to read his book and understand him but I don't think degrading any race and blaming everyone and everything but himself for why he is in prison is a way to capture a reader not once did he ever say it was my fault, I screwed up.

Great, great memoir, A Place to Stand by Jimmy Santiago Baca, a great book to read about the struggle of being a chicano. Jimmy takes you through and amazing roller coaster ride from his early childhood life all the way to his mid 20’s. Jimmy goes through so much. He goes through abandonment, drugs, and prison. While reading this book I was able to compare some moments of the book to my family. Jimmy is abandon by his mom at a young age and Jimmy and his siblings end up living with their grandparents. After a while his grandfather passes away and Jimmy and his brother Meiyo get sent to an orphanage, after a while Jimmy escapes from the orphanage and his life starts going down the drain. This memoir is also a great example of having hope to change your life around which I agree. It does not matter what you do if you have hope you can always change your life around. I recommend you read it.

Jimmy Santiago Baca is the recipient of major awards for his raw and emotional poetry. In my opinion, these awards are more special than the average literary awards: They've been earned by a man whose literacy was truly hard won.

A PLACE TO STAND is a memoir of Jimmy's childhood of abandonment, his career selling drugs, and his time in prison. This is also an account of how an illiterate prisoner fought for the privilege to teach himself how to read--and then to write, by corresponding with Harry, a Christian man on the outside, and by writing poems for other cons in exchange for books.

This is not a pretty history. The epilogue tells the shocking tale of his mother's fate. Racism plays its usual dirty role through much of the book. And JSB's account of prison life makes most prison movies look almost civilized. (In an interview with Jimmy in a Santa Fe arts newspaper, he said that he even toned it down for this book because many people cannot accept the harsh truth of prison culture.)

This book is an inspiration to all writers and a testimony to the human spirit. Visit Jimmy's Website to read about his work with at-risk teenagers as founder of Black Mesa Enterprises. And if you haven't yet experienced his poetry, try it first on CD. His readings will blow you away.

I saw this book on the library shelf today and was reminded of the force it hit me with when reading it some years back. Not only is it a powerful story of survival and transformation but the writing just drips with sweat and emotion. I remember I gave my copy to a relative who isn't much of a reader. When I asked him later if he'd gotten a chance to read it he said a date he had over for dinner saw it on the table and began perusing its pages. She eventually couldn't put the book down and asked if she could borrow it. She would later praise him for his choice of literature. I don't think he ever told her that he hadn't read it, but he did begin reading it once she returned it with praises. The power of the written word and a pretty woman can transform a man.

A Place to Stand is a towering story to climb onto!

I had never heard of Mr. Baca until I saw him discussing this book and a new book of his poetry on public television. It is the searing account of his childhood in New Mexico, his life as a drug dealer in San Diego and Arizona and his five year sentence in a maximum-security prison for a crime that he says he did not commit. The things that happen to Mr. Baca would have killed a weaker person. He is abandoned by both his parents, his father is an alcoholic, he spents time in an orphanage, he becomes a drug dealer, he is in and out of jails, he is illiterate, he spends most of his five year sentence for dealing drugs in solitary. While in prison Mr. Baca teaches himself to read and becomes a poet; he quite literally is saved by language. He is awakened to the beauty of language by poets like Wordsworth, Lorca and Whitman. I think he would disagree with W. H. Auden's line that "poetry makes nothing happen." Mr. Baca's account of his discovery of language is as moving and transcendent as his searing account of prison life is an indictment of America's racism. One has to admire the writer's courage, his refusal to become an animal in horrible prison surroundings. But I must say I was put off by his repeated use of the words "faggot" and "fag" The African American Mr. Baca attacks because he shows a sexual interest in him is called a "black ..." I wondered if he used the N word in prison but could not use it here for his readers. In my optimism I always hope that one minority-- Mr. Baca is Latino-- does not need to put down another.

The novel A Place to Stand is a mind gripping story on the author Jimmy Santiago Baca's upbringing, drug dealing days, and his life in prison. The book has many unexpected twists that both leave the reader in shock and astonished. Although at some points the contents of the novel makes you cringe and ask yourself how someone can withstand so much pain while at the same time keeping his composure.

Personally, I did enjoy reading the novel and liked the contents. I found his life story to be extremely rough/ violent and liked reading about the path he had to take to be where he is now. Baca ends up in prison in which he has to serve his time and manage to do it without being killed. While serving his time he manages to teach himself how to read and write poetry as well. This novel is packed with surprises, drama, and suspense, and the reader will not want to put it down until the end.

The only negative aspect of the novel which I personally did not like was Baca's poetic touch and his tendency to be extremely detailed. The reason why I did not like those two writing methods of the author is because it took away from the scene at hand. At some points the author was so detailed that you lose track of what he was originally talking about. Even though I did not like those two writing methods he used the book was overall very interesting and I would defiantly recommend it to someone.

I first came across Jimmy's work in a poetry class. Captured by his biography, I read on. His writings are beautiful and have wonderful imagery. In his book "A Place to Stand," he takes you away from the reality of prison life and into a secluded place of memoirs, an escape at the perfect time, which allows you to keep reading and not hide this book on a shelve. I relate to his experiences, some being my own, some belonging to my child who spent time in prison and was an at risk youngster. His book "A Place to Stand," made my son's experience more real to me and has brought me closer to him. Any parent with an at risk child should read this book.

A Place to Stand is one the most inspiring and truly eye-opening memoirs I've ever read. Jimmy Santiago Baca writes about his rough life living in California as a Mexican child who lived in an orphanage. Through his unfortunate circumstances he gets involved with the wrong crowd and ends up using drugs as well as dealing drugs too. This memoir is not for the faint-hearted. Although Jimmy Santiago Baca ends up finding a talent in writing he still has to endure the pain of suffering and the revelations of his past. Readers will become attached to the characters and experience intense emotions when reading his memoir. It is very inspiring that Santiago Baca taught himself how to read and write during his time in prison. This memoir is meant to teach readers life lessons and learn through Santiago Baca's experience that drugs, gangs, and racism are never the answer. This book should read by people because it shows one man's struggle and how he learns what he is capable of and how to better himself. He ended up turning his negative experience into something positive. I really enjoyed this book because it taught me that people have it harder in some parts of the world and yet they can better themselves to become award winning writers.

This inspirational film has brought together social and political issues through the insightful story of a mans journey to prevail over his own personal history, that of society, and the prison system, through poetry. This story has not only inspired viewers but it has also been implemented as a curriculum in educational and penitentiary institutions across the nation to create a literary outlet for youth to express themselves in order to stay out of the judicial system.

This book, for one is finally a book I literally could not put down. If there is a life ever on the verge of utter despair and grief, where the question of "what the hell..." comes up, this book proves that redemption still exists, and lives on all levels are worth not only second chances--but more. Also, being of a different race it was extremely strange to hear this voice--his voice--just read this book!

At first i did not find the book interesting, but one day at work i started reading it and i realized this book was amazing. I love how he gives details of what he's thinking about when he's in prison and you can actually envision it. It's amazing how much pain he been through in his life and still manage to become successful in the end. The ending of the book is very sad because he lost two people that he loved. Just finally when his mother finds happiness and comes back into his life she is violently murdered. This book was very unpredictable. His style of writing is unique. The only thing I did not like was that he kept reminiscing in every chapter and those are the only boring parts of the book.

Edwin
LLS 108
FALL 2011

Jimmy Santiago Baca has written a brilliant, honest, and extremely sad autobiography. Eventhough his life story is well detailed in this book-- I believe he revealed too much of his prison life. Yes, he was jailed for a considerable amount of time of any person's life, but he could have written more about his mother's life. She abandons her children and husband to live a life as an Anglo woman at a time in New Mexico, where Mexicans are perceived to be servants to the Anglo people. She marries an Anglo man and builds a new family and forever denies the existence of her Mexican children. As a consequence she pays dearly for her betrayal and greed. His father, brother, and himself for a brief period of his life, succum to a self-destruction runaway trip that kills many Mexicans even to this day. After reading this book, I was left with a desire to wish that Jimmy S. Baca write a second part to his autobiography.

This memoir revolves around the life of one of the best authors I've read. This story goes through the harsh life Jimmy Santiago had to endure. You get to see from a first person look the challenges that a victim of racism has to go through. Through his problems with drugs and drug dealing he gets thrown into prison, which is, were remorse and the great deal of drama comes out. One of great things about this book is that he puts you into his shoes for the entire story; you get to feel the sorrow, and pain he felt. As you go through book you see how horrible prison is and how prominent gangs are and how if you aren't in one you can be in some serious danger. You also see how he had been treated unjust and how people of high authority don't always use their power for the good of people or the help of people. The high degree of hate and abuse in this story really surprised me but never did turn me away from the involving and magnetic story. The most heart breaking parts of the story has to be in the end, don't worry I'm not going to spoil it but it does show the destruction, and control drugs, alcohol, and racism has over people. I felt that Jimmy Santiago had told his story in a detailed, and very powerful way. I would recommend this memoir to any reader looking for a dramatic and very forceful read.

A PLACE TO STAND is an adult level recollection of a 1950s-60s-70s childhood and youth pocked with pain. However, it is really an ideal book for mature high school kids. Those with reading problems are especially drawn to it, if their teacher will approach it with guided reading. Baca recounts his often searing personal history. The irony is that it took him years to overcome illiteracy, and as he did, he released his poet's heart onto paper. He became a writer. His book stands up for the downtrodden. Its content, by turns traumatic and reflective, makes you believe in the power of literacy.

This is a great Memoir Book. i really dont read much but this book is very interested. Sounds very sad what this author went through in life. Betrayal from love ones to make him end in the worst places. To try and achieve somewhere in life to live wealthy is hard to figure out. You would think you would go to college and get a good education to do things in life. This author managed to figure his life somewhere far from college. a lot of people end up in circumstances like Jimmy Saniago but this author shows a good example of how consequences helps to realize what you are doing wrong.

A Place To Stand, magnificent novel about the author, Jimmy Santiago Baca, and his career selling drugs, and prison. He talks about how he had to fight for his privileges to read. Then to write, all with the help of a nice old man named Harry. He also writes poems for other inmates for books. He tries to keep his rights and keep his life on track in prison.

He talks about his mother dieing, which just thinking about telling strangers about that happening to my mother would kill me. He also has to deal with a lot of racism through the whole thing, from his mom, to the present day. This book will show you that no matter who you come from, or what, you can always know the best for your life, and do the best for your life.

I've read a lot of books, and this is the best book I have ever read in my life time, well ok one of the top 3 books I've read ing my life! Anyone who doesn't get this one is really missing out! Jimmy S. Baca's Biography is a must have for any Chicano reader!

I fell upon this book in a Pasadena, California bookstore while looking for a book to read on my journey back to Saudi Arabia. I finished this riveting tale midway across the Atlantic. Mr. Baca's means of describing the details of his childhood hits a chord with fabulous descriptions of both the bitter and sweet moments in his life. I know that Jimmy's grandfather is looking down from heaven with pride in his grandson's accomplishments as a both a writer and outstanding human being. An awesome book Jimmy Santiago Baca! Thank You for letting me into your life.

This precious memoir was recommended to me by a friend. Finally took the time to read it and wow was it a journey. My heart went for Jimmy with every account of his life. I finished with a great desire to hug this man. Simply, amazing human endurance and perseverance. Y mucho mucho CORAZON.

I'm giving this book five stars, not because it is a literary masterpiece, but because it is a compelling memoir that I can't forget. I felt a gamut of emotions while reading this book, but for the most part I ached for Mr. Baca and the pain and anguish he suffered. I thank him for writing about his life so eloquently.

Being a Chicano, about the same age as Jimmy Baca and the son of a prison guard who worked for 28 years at Ariz State Prison, I read this story with great interest. I not convinced that all the details about Jimmy's time in the Joint were believeable but Mr Baca has my absolute respect for elevating himself and recognizing that surviving meant more than just "geeting out!". He writes with the anger, color and passion of a proud latino who understands that life only gets better if YOU change it. I recommend this work as well as Jimmy's poetry.

This is an excellent book. I dont read much but this book caught my attention fast. I can relate to this book alot because I grew up in some of the same sercomstances and had similar problems in life like Jimmy Santiago Baca did. And its good to know that no matter where u came from, what color or what youve been through u can pull out of the gutters and change your life like Jimmy did. It makes me proud to be Latino. I give this book 10 stars out of 5!

This is a tough story of a tough guy who really did overcome all the odds to create a new life for himself. This was accomplished despite extreme disadvantages. A self-taught reader, an almost Haiku-like poet with great humor and a strong writer - this man is to be commended and noticed as a fine addition to what is quickly becoming known as the Albuquerque School of Writing.
No Jimmy, I don't think you will always be a con but I do think you will always be a superb humanist. Keep writing, your audience appreciates your work.

Someone gave me this book, and I had absolutely nothing else to read, so not knowing anything about it, I started it. What a surprise! I couldn't put it down. Loved it. Talk about a crappy life or being dealt a bad hand. Poetry is not my thing, so I will not be buying his poems, but this book was great.

This memoir by Jimmy Baca will take you on a wild ride through his life and its hardships in the prison system. Baca describes the scenes with such great elegance and deep heart-felt feeling that it makes you feel as if you were there. This book comes with a great hardship of putting it down. You will want to know what will happen next. A great read!!!!

I'm not even sure where to begin with reviewing this book other than to say it is haunting, well-written and an incredible story. The rest you will have to find out for yourself. Excellent work, Mr. Santiago Baca. You made it...

This is a memoir of Jimmy's life before, during, and after spending five years in a maximum security prison. He led a very interesting life and for that the book is worth a read. It is hard to get past his attitude of blaming all his problems on everyone else. He takes no responsibility for his actions, even the troubles that landed him in jail. He clearly was involved in some serious stuff. He was dealing drugs and then he says that life is so unfair I didn't get to take all my drug money and start a new life. He continues to blame everyone, the guards, the legal system, the other inmates, his counselors, the warden. Stop whining!