Leon Pettiway index

  • His Story. Their Voices. Your Moment to Listen

  • LEON E. PETTIWAY

  • MONK · SCHOLAR · WRITER

Documenting Lives. Confronting Injustice. Inspiring Change

Dr. Leon E. Pettiway is an award-winning author, retired professor, and ordained Buddhist monk whose work brings voice to the unheard and dignity to the overlooked. For decades, he has explored the lives of marginalized communities through research, storytelling, and spiritual service — bridging the worlds of academia, activism, and compassion. Whether on the streets, in the classroom, or at the monastery, his mission remains the same: to seek truth, confront injustice, and foster healing.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LEON

Our Groundbreaking Books

Real stories. Bold truths. These books give voice to the unheard and bring light to lives that matter
Only for the Brave at Heart: Essays Rethinking Race, Crime, and Justice (Ebook)
Quickshop In reflecting on race, crime, and justice, Only for the Brave at...
Leon Pettiway Only for the Brave at Heart: Essays Rethinking Race, Crime, and Justice (Ebook)
From $9.99
Workin’ It (Women Living Through Drugs And Crime)
Quickshop Margaret, Charlie, Virginia, Tracy, and Laquita are all drug users involved in...
Leon Pettiway Workin’ It (Women Living Through Drugs And Crime)
$50.00
Honey, Honey, Miss Thang (Being Black, Gay, and on the Streets)
Quickshop Honey, Honey, Miss Thang is one of the first books to chronicle...
Leon Pettiway Honey, Honey, Miss Thang (Being Black, Gay, and on the Streets)
$49.99
New Harmony – A Novel (Coming September 2025)
Quickshop
Leon Pettiway New Harmony – A Novel (Coming September 2025)
$0.00

Real Reviews. Real Lives Touched.

These are the voices of readers moved by truth, storytelling, and the courage behind every page.
What Workin'It manages to accomplish is to offer, in the narratives of five women, some compelling testimony about real lives damaged by membership in a society that inadequately values such lives. The book serves as a timely reminder of the complexity of the racial and class dimensions of a number of contemporary issues, including and in particular the slow suicide of drug addiction. The book does this while also offering insight into the lived perspectives of the inner city poor who bear the brunt of social and political policies that may be driven as much by fear and misunderstanding (and by a degree of racism) than by enlightenment.

—Thomas Conroy, Vol. 20 Deviant Behavior: 281
What Workin'It manages to accomplish is to offer, in the narratives of five women, some compelling testimony about real lives damaged by membership in a society that inadequately values such lives. The book serves as a timely reminder of the complexity of the racial and class dimensions of a number of contemporary issues, including and in particular the slow suicide of drug addiction. The book does this while also offering insight into the lived perspectives of the inner city poor who bear the brunt of social and political policies that may be driven as much by fear and misunderstanding (and by a degree of racism) than by enlightenment.

—Thomas Conroy, Vol. 20 Deviant Behavior: 281