- What's the relationship between personal and societal responsibility in changing an individual? What are the limits in what either one can do alone?
- What convinces people to make radical transformations in their lives? What helps them stay with that change for the long haul?
- What makes a society good for all its members? How is American society doing?
- What happens if the system or society has failed you? Where do you find the strength to change?
- What is the goal of the American justice system? To change people who've committed crimes? To keep them from hurting other people in society? To exact punishment or revenge?
- What should the goal of a justice system be? Is this something universal, or specific to particular cultures at particular times? How is America's justice system doing?
- What is the American dream? Is it different for different people? Are we actually fulfilling it?
- How does racism, institutional and personal, play out in Shaka's memoir? How does he respond to it? What ideas does he have for challenging it?
- What is the role of reading and writing in Shaka's personal transformation? What does it provide for him that he didn't get from the community he grew up in?
- What is the role of community in Shaka's life? When is it helpful? When is it harmful? What's his vision of what a community should be?
- What does it mean for Shaka to take responsibility for his own life? What can we learn from his journey?