Michael Patrick MacDonald grew up in the Old Colony Housing Project in South Boston . After losing four of his eleven siblings and seeing his generation decimated by poverty, crime, addiction, and incarceration, he learned to transform personal and community trauma by becoming a leading Boston activist, organizer and writer. He is the author of the New York Times Bestselling memoir, “All Souls: A Family Story From Southie” and the acclaimed “Easter Rising: A Memoir of Roots and Rebellion.” He has been awarded an American Book Award, A New England Literary Lights Award, and a fellowship at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Study Center. As an activist, MacDonald has focused his efforts on multi-cultural coalition building to reduce violence and promote grassroots leadership from our most impacted communities. He has developed Gun Buyback programs and local support groups, which give voice to adult and youth survivors of poverty, violence and the drug trade.