From the liner notes

The true story of Carl Upchurch, a Philadelphia ghetto native who is in and out of jail numerous times by the time he's a teenage - until a compassionate prison teacher and a book of Shakespeare's sonnets inspire him to turn his life around by embracing education. By the early 1990's, Carl has become a crusader for peace who organizes the first-ever national gang summit, persuading rival gang leaders to call unheard-of truces.