The Master Plan: My Journey from Life in Prison to a Life of Purpose

Wilson says that freedom feels “overwhelming” in both good and bad ways (283). Wilson relishes every experience, from eating shrimp to the peace in Erick’s backyard, but he also feels like he is failing. College is expensive. Women laugh at him because he has no car. Mr. Edwards encourages Wilson to make a budget and seek financial aid. Wilson takes the advice and works on his Master Plan. Meanwhile, Darico, now nearly 17, is serving five years in prison on a variety of charges, including auto theft and drug possession. Wilson resolves to “go from broke and homeless to the man my son needed me to be” (287).

After 52 days of searching, Wilson finds a job with the Greater Homewood Community Corporation (GHCC), a nonprofit dedicated to improving life in Baltimore’s poor neighborhoods, including Barclay, where Wilson now works. Wilson says that Baltimore is “the Detroit of the East Coast,” an “urban wasteland” that needs help (290). In Barclay, Wilson sees gangs and violence but also resources and opportunities. Meanwhile, with a criminal record, and earning $21,000 per year, Wilson struggles to find an apartment. He also fears losing his job when his boss, Karen Stokes, discovers that he was convicted of murder. Instead, she promotes him, increases his salary to $36,000, and puts him in charge of his own program. Wilson finally finds an apartment.

Wilson explains the myriad obstacles confronting poor Baltimore neighborhoods such as Barclay: lack of jobs, lack of money, the legacy of segregation, aggressive policing, and a lack of access to education and experiences beyond their own community. Wilson starts a weekly program, the Barclay School of Business, to teach the entrepreneurially-minded about habits, principles, and practices. Wilson finds a partner for an upholstery business, but Wilson’s lack of credit forces him to take a bad loan, and Mr. Edwards helps him pay it back. At Christmas, Wilson leases his first car.

Wilson enters the University of Baltimore’s business school. He wins business competitions at both the University of Baltimore and Johns Hopkins. After the celebratory reception at Johns Hopkins, Wilson has a harrowing experience when he and his friend are pulled over by the police while driving through a predominantly white neighborhood. They insist on searching the trunk of Wilson’s car. Wilson objects, worried that they might plant something, as corrupt police officers often did. Wilson has a friend on the police force who arrives and diffuses the situation. Wilson wonders: “What if I hadn’t been friends with a cop” (305)?

Jane Brown, a local philanthropist, helps Wilson with his expenses. Wilson asks for and receives a full scholarship from the University of Baltimore. He begins talking to new students and prospective donors. One such talk results in a seven-figure donation.

Barclay erupts in gang violence. Outside his apartment, Wilson watches as a young man dies after being shot through the neck. Wilson decides to move out of his apartment. He can afford a place in Bolton Hill, the predominantly white neighborhood where he had been pulled over, but landlords will not rent to him due to his criminal record. He finally finds an apartment owned by a young white couple, the Strebs. He says, “They took me in. They trusted me” (314).

Wilson enters the University of Baltimore’s Entrepreneurship Fellows Program and buys a partnership in a small Barclay contracting business. The business is poorly run, and Wilson loses $10,000, but he likes the business model, in part because it helps returning citizens. With additional help from Jane Brown, Wilson establishes the Barclay Investment Corporation (BIC). Wilson hires two construction crews consisting of returning citizens. After three months, the BIC is profitable.

Wilson becomes a regular speaker for GHCC, but only Karen Stokes and Jane Brown know his full story. That changes when Wilson records “The Giving Life” on NPR’s Stoop Stories. He wrestles with the decision, but in the end, he decides to tell his entire story. A business professor warns him that he made a mistake in sharing those details with the world, but Wilson’s business triples after Stoop Stories.