Wilson defines bammas as “prisoners who were loud and obnoxious and couldn’t chill” (79). Elsewhere in the book, Wilson uses the term more broadly to describe young inmates who are unable or unwilling to pursue personal development, and who appear destined to return to criminal activity, perpetuate cycles of violence, and remain in the metaphorical cave.

In history, the Middle Passage refers to the trans-Atlantic voyage by which millions of enslaved African people were transported to the Western Hemisphere. The Master Plan is divided into five parts. Wilson entitles Part 2 “The Middle Passage,” and he entitles Part 4, “The Middle Passage, Part 2.” Aside from the fact that these are two of the book’s literal middle passages, Wilson uses the phrase to describe what is happening in his life during the periods covered by Parts 2 and 4: a metaphorical middle passage that transports him, first, to incarceration and later to Patuxent’s mental-health ward. Alluding to the historical Middle Passage indicates that these are not choices that Wilson makes for himself, but destinations determined for him by people in positions of greater power.