Intro: Baca’s autobiography of the events that led to his time in prison, his transformation there, and the lessons learned about being fully human. This is philosophy from the ground up, philosophy born of concrete, steel, and blood.

1. Social Alienation

1. Not Fitting In: acquired sense of having no place in which one belongs, c.f. the book’s title A Place to Stand –this has been Baca’s life struggle.
2. Personal History & Social Censure (see p. 4)

1. Apprenticeship: family history, time in prison, excessive punishment
2. Domination: treatment by others as a natural criminal, profiled as such

1. Language/Creativity as (means to) Autonomy & Authenticity

1. Hope: conviction in the promise of a Future, a Life –"…I learned to believe in myself and to dream for a better life." (p. 4)

1. Future/Life: Baca is referencing these as an honorific, something beyond where he can see his life heading
2. future/life: the threat is the loss of self-direction –"…I was not going to let them make me into a ward of the state." (p. 4, emphasis added)

1. Alternative Ways of Being

1. Creativity: expanding upon the possibilities of life.
2. Imagination: coming to understand, to re-image one’s life history, past present, and future.
3. Knowledge: new ideas, values, and principles are laden throughout poetry and literature

1. A Plan/Structure:

1. Poetry provided a route and direction to pursue –the chaos of the empty space of non-direction is overcome.
2. Poetry provided standards, a worthwhile endeavor to which one could aspire and measure oneself –a way to track oneself.

1. Self-esteem & Self-respect

1. Self-esteem: estimation of oneself based on accomplishments, deeds, "success" as measured by external/"objective" standards.
2. Self-respect: estimation of oneself based on factors independent of one’s deeds and overt accomplishments.
3. Poetry and Self-respect: poetry is a skill, but it is also a practice that enables one to alter way in which one understands one’s Life

1. Macaron: challenges to humanity

1. Prison

1. "a gigantic warehouse for storing unquartered human beef." (p.117) "Cons who went to Nam say it’s worse than jungle warfare…there ain’t no going home. You live hour to hour with your enemy standing next to you, eating next to you, walking next to you. The only thing that keeps him from killing you is respect. Do what you gotta do and do it now." (p.120)
2. Codes/Respect: "What you knew on the streets is over –this is a crazier world…tomorrow, strap down and ride…fight or get punked, step out or be turned out…–it’s real. Don’t show fear…don’t intimidate…take him out for disrespecting you. Respect is everything. It’s earned. You do what you gotta do." (p.119)

1. The Promise/Meritocracy:

1. Meritocracy: social system where one’s socio-economic position is directly correlated with one’s individual merit.
2. "He told me that if I stayed out of trouble, I’d go to school and get a better job. Implicit in his encouragement was that it was up to me to decide my fate, but it wasn’t really like that." (p. 121)

1. The Mind & El Corozon

1. Humanity: recurring theme of the difference between becoming a human animal and becoming a fully self-directed Human with a Life –note that the first indication of it is linked with killing or not killing: "So he was alive. Alive, and everything was new…all the harsh sounds and yelling…wasn’t as repulsive as I remembered it. He hadn’t died." (p. 126)
2. The Mind: part of person that is associated with one’s Humanity –"your reason for wanting to be a human being…family, dreams, hopes, plans" (p. 131, emphasis added)
3. El Corazon: part of person that struggles in the moment to survive at the most basic level of existence. I.e. the heart still beating and fighting to continue to beat another day –"The mind can’t accept being in a six-by-nine cell for years, but the heart understands it has to be done…the heart says, Deal with it and shut the fuck up." (p. 131)

1. The Fall: Macaron’s lost humanity

1. Hope: the part of a prisoner that cannot be captured in a file –their sense of continuity through time (my past, my future) along with the notions of "right" and "better" for each of these.
2. "Punishment that made no sense:" the world of the Mind is outrun, "your" time becomes "just time and more time" only for the sake of pain and suffering. –"I knew when the punishment was enough, and then it kept going on and on, and from that point it made no sense…Don’t ask why –there are no reasons." (p130-131)
3. Identity Lost: Macaron’s sense of self as a person with interests beyond the moment is lost; life is pointless and pointlessness is equated with being a criminal (c.f. Frankfurt’s wanton). –"I remember when it happened…Suddenly I lost hope…My soul broke. It died. That day, I became a criminal…There is no future, no past, only the moment; you will do what you have to do."