Shaka Senghor


Shaka Senghor is director's fellow of the MIT Media Lab, college lecturer, author, and was convicted of murder in American courts. As of October 2015, he also teaches a class as part of the Atonement Project, a partnership between him, the University of Michigan, and the MIT Media Lab. His memoir, Writing my Wrongs, was published in March 2016. Senghor was named to Oprah's SuperSoul 100 list of visionaries and influential leaders in 2016.

Early life

Senghor was raised in a middle class family in Detroit during the 1980s. He ran away from an abusive home at the age of 14, after which he was convinced to join the illegal drug trade by more experienced dealers.

Murder and imprisonment

In the summer of 1991, Senghor shot and killed a man, after which he spent 19 years in different prisons in Michigan, seven years of which were in solitary confinement. Of these seven years, four and a half were consecutive. He was released from prison in 2010.