On June 7, 2018, Alice Marie Johnson was freed from prison after President Trump commuted her life sentence for a nonviolent drug offense. This Black History Month, Johnson is celebrating a different milestone: HarperCollins has announced it will publish her memoir, USA Today reports.
"I feel humbled that the telling of my story gives hope and my years of pain were not in vain," Johnson said of the book.
The memoir, titled After Life: My Journey from Incarceration to Freedom will be released on May 21. A movie about Johnson's life could also be on the way as the film and television rights were sold to Endeavor Content ahead of the book's release.
In a statement, HarperCollins said the book will be an "honest, faith-driven memoir" that takes a "deep look into the systemic issue of mass incarceration."
As Blavity reported, Johnson was sentenced to life in jail in 1996 for nonviolent drug offenses and was denied any possibility of parole. Johnson has said she was severely depressed at the time. Her marriage was deteriorating; she had been laid off from her job, and she was dealing with the death of her son. She was sentenced to life for assisting a cocaine trafficking operation in Memphis. Johnson had no prior offenses.
Her case drew the attention of celebrities in recent months including Kim Kardashian and presidential adviser Jared Kushner. Before celebrities took up Johnson's cause, organizations such as The Ladies of Hope Ministries spent decades lobbying for her freedom.
Trump granted Johnson clemency in 2018, and as The Hill reports, she was the president's guest at the 2019 State of the Union address.
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