Welcome to Litsy!

This is one of those books everyone interested in race in America should read. Alexander makes a compelling argument that the War on Drugs was used systematically to incarcerate Black men and strip their right to vote, work in many professions, and in general to create a lower caste in America. She not only discusses how this affects these men, but also who benefits, how it came about, and why it continues.

I learned a lot in this book: supplementing awareness of white supremacist policies, with the main focus being the extreme imbalance between punishment of Black and White people in the US, with focus on drug crime, and extent to which incarceration is an industry. Lots that made me uncomfortable in a way that I need to be made uncomfortable. Now I want to learn what happens in Canada. #bookspin
#Nonfiction2023 #KillingInTheName first bingo line!

I‘m 💯going to say “police occupation” instead of “over-policing” from now on.

June #Bookspin
1. We Measure the Earth
2. Lesser known Monsters
3. Seeing Ghosts
4. River Sing
5. Bad Girls
6. Dream States
7. Pedagogy of the Oppressed
8. How Much of these Hills
9. The Savage Detectives
10. The Sleeping Car Porter
11. Fresh Banana Leaves
12. A Small Place
13. Night Tiger
14. Rememberings
15. Nasty Brutish
16. What You Have Heard Is True
17. Of Women and Salt
18. Beekeeper of Aleppo
19. Pure Colour
20. Wild Tongues

Five years for five joints. Once released, Drake found he was forbidden by law from voting until he paid his court costs…”I put my life on the line for this country. My son‘s in Iraq. My oldest son fought in the Persian Gulf conflict. This is my baby son over there right now. But I‘m not able to vote. They say I owe $900 in fines. To me, that‘s a poll tax…I was on the 1965 voting rights march from Selma. I was 15. When I was 18, I was in Vietnam.”

Racial bias is most acute at the point of entry into the system for two reasons: discretion and authorization. Although prosecutors, as a group, have the greatest power in the criminal justice system, police have the greatest discretion. Discretion that is amplified in drug law enforcement and unbeknownst to the general public, the Supreme Court has actually authorized racial discrimination in policing, rather than adopting legal rules banning it.

During 2006 NYPD officers stopped an astounding 508,540 people… who were walking down the street, often on their way to the subway, grocery store, or bus stop. Searches frequently required people to lie face down on the pavement or stand spreadeagled against a wall while police officers aggressively groped all over their bodies while bystanders watched or walked by. The vast majority were racial minorities and over half were African-American.

Alexander takes us from the Jim Crow era to today's war on drugs. I did not know a single drug offense leaves people without the right to vote, access to food, housing and other help. I didn't realise two drug offenses regardless of how small those offences are, can leave you in prison for the rest of your life.

The section on the Obama Presidency was also very interesting for me.

I learnt a lot in this book.

#bookspinbingo for November!
Big focus on Non-fiction. Not sure which to read first 🤔

Here's November! #bookspinbingo
@TheAromaofBooks

Mostly non-fiction. Assuming that the rules for #nonfictionnovember are just:

1) Read non-fiction

2) That's it...

Feel free to enlighten me if I've got the wrong end of the stick. (I'll probably stick to Plan A 😋)

Have to read the first chapter for school this week.

It was only after reading this book that I started to appreciate the scale of the prison industry and the caste-like system in the US.

Last book of the year - pic shows my new-mom-reading life! 😁

So so informative, but written in a way that is easy to follow and compelling. Really deepened my understanding of modern US domestic policy.

#Challenge2021

5⭐️

A must-read for anyone not attuned to the invisible goings-on of an inequitable and profit-driven society (me!). Mass incarceration of primarily black and brown men is, even ten years after this book's release, an issue that lies unacknowledged by many. As a system of control, mass incarceration relies upon our lack of compassion for others and public acceptance that people of color “choose“ a life of crime and thus “deserve“ marginalization.

I listened to the 10th anniversary edition and so much has stayed the same, but I feel like I hear more about social justice issues now. Parts were repetitive, but a fantastic book.

#NeverStopLearning

“The United States now has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, dwarfing the rates of nearly every developed country, even surpassing those in highly repressive regimes like Russia, China and Iran”.

A difficult book to read but an important one. The author makes a strong case for the war on drugs in the US as an extension of systemic racism against specifically black men. Eye opening.

This hits the #Booked2021 category Anti-Racism

I'm posting one book per day from the ever growing unread stacks in my personal library. No description or explanation, just books I own and plan to read. #tbr

Day 56 (Audible edition)

I fkn hate it here.

This book is so important and accessible. It gave me a lot of tools to understand modern (and old school) racism.
It‘s pretty enraging, and I don‘t understand why people aren‘t DOING MORE. Power concedes nothing without demand. Pls demand.

If you‘re looking for simple ways to get started with mutual aid or community outreach, feel free to reach out to me, or look up your local orgs 💖 Policy makers won‘t save us. We will.

#FreedomDay celebrates Lincoln's proposal of the 13th amendment, and the end of slavery in the United States. While celebrating this worthy milestone, it is important that we also keep in mind the complete picture of the 13th amendment. While ending slavery, it also led directly to the systemic criminalization of black people in the United States. Ava Duvernay's documentary 13th gives an eye opening look, it's very much worth the watch 👇

We don‘t talk abt cast bc we‘re ashamed of our history. We don‘t even talk abt class. There‘s a tendency to imagine that ones class reflects upon ones character. Despite all evidence of the contrary, people think that if one has enough discipline or drive, one can move up in life. We acknowledge that it may be hard, but mobility is always possible, so failure to succeed is ones fault.

But this is bs and you should read this book to know why 🖤

I put this on my TBR last summer, but knew it would be a tough read. I‘d put it off until my BLM book group picked it to discuss this month. It‘s such a thorough, informative, well-researched look at mass incarceration & the ramifications of the War on Drugs in the U.S. The hardest thing about a book like this is feeling helpless in the face of such a vast, far-reaching system. Definitely a motivator to research what I can do, beyond just my vote.

This book made me think deeply about the differences between a system that promotes equity versus one that focuses on equality. The fact that social liberties are unequally divided in this and many other countries, is something that all people regardless of social, political, or economic background should try to understand. This was an essential read for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks Bill!

https://www.gatesnotes.com/About-Bill-Gates/Holiday-Books-2020?utm_source=Sailth...

Necessary.

This has been on my list for awhile- and it‘s superb. With an overview of the war on drugs, incarceration and the judicial system, this book is informative and persuasive. It‘s ridiculous that after you serve your time, you don‘t get your voting rights back.

Some good news. This will restore the voting rights of some 50,000 Californians.

https://ktla.com/news/california/props-17-and-18-californians-split-on-measures-...

#LitFortuneCookie US Elections Edition!! There are so many literary characters this brings to mind—can‘t wait to see your picks—but since I can think of nothing but the election right now, this made me think about books that have educated me politically and informed my vote and this one‘s at the top of the list!

Tagging last week‘s players but open to all, of course! Please repost and tag some friends (and me too)!

The New Jim Crow is a must-read, outlining the ways in which the US has continued to enforce racial segregation and encourage the disenfranchisement of Black citizens through mass incarceration. If it hasn't yet made it into your list, I highly, highly recommend it! #BlackLivesMatter #StartsWithN #ForeverNovember
@OriginalCyn620 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This book starts from two simple premises: 1) police disproportionately enforce drug crimes in black communities and 2) those with criminal records face great barriers to rejoining society. Few would dispute either, but when combined, the conclusions are hard to deny. Alexander's arguments are eloquent and methodical in leaving no implication unexamined. She also pulls no punches about how difficult it will be to change this national disgrace.

🎧 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 2020.10.06

Whew. So much. I really had no idea how deep and broad the impact of the criminal justice system is on Black men. This book is both heartbreaking and infuriating...especially in these times, especially as a mother to 2 young Black boys and a wife of a Black man. This book is even more relevant now than it was when it was first published 10 years ago. #Blitsy #BlackLitsy #BLM #BlackLivesMatter

My #CurrentReads #blacklitsy #blitsy

This book is transformative. It fully details the new system of control of African Americans, specifically young male African Americans through mass incarceration. It a system of control that has been easy for us to overlook due to its nonracial outlook but on the other hand has been systematically being dismantling African American communities and families under the disguise of war on drugs.

Starting this read before the day gets busy. Looking forward to learning more over the course of this book.

#bookreport
Finished all except for The Woman in the Woods which I started this morning.
A mix of genres but I really enjoyed them and had a good reading week. Well, I‘m not sure I‘d say enjoy for Jim Crow, it is an informative, important read.

I think everything has been said about this book. 😢💔😡 surely we can do better as societies.
I‘m using for #bannedbook #booked2020 as it was banned in lots of prisons (surprise, surprise). I am surpassing my expectations in the NF choices recently, damn Litsy!

This book is actually sort of mind blowing. I like that she used a lot of math and statistics to prove her point. It's hard to argue with math. Another thing.... This book is 10 years old and not a whole lot has changed (other than the current president). I'm a little horrified honestly. And this sent my anxiety level through the roof. But I still definitely recommend it.

#BookSpinBingo square 23
@TheAromaofBooks

I was really looking forward to reading this. The content is so wildly important. Systemic racism in the USA is real, and it has far-reaching consequences.

The writing left a lot to be desired. The author was incredibly repetitive, both in terms of topics, stats, and wording. Passages were repeated so often that I really wondered if I had lost my place and gone backward (several times). Better editing would have changed my rating markedly.

Powerful, illuminating and insightful. I learned so much about our legal system and the history of the racial caste system in America. The author carefully illustrates where we‘ve been, where we are and where we need to go justice and equality to be fully realized as promised by American ideals. I encourage everyone to read (or listen) to this book for a better understanding of social justice. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

I imagine mine is not a popular opinion. I‘m not convinced. Although she tried to link it to black men, most of what she talked about holds true for all criminals with a record. I listened to the audio. It‘s hard enough to read a bunch of stats and such, but maybe harder still to listen to it. I was likely also tuning out more the longer the book went, so I very well may have missed a number of arguments.

This book looks closely at the “War on Drugs” and its effects on the black population, legislation, and societal underlying racist ideas leading to mass incarceration of black men. It is highly relevant and compelling, and hits hard and fast at significant issues in our culture at large, police and legal systems, and the impact on families and communities.

July Round Up Part 2: New Jim Crow wasn‘t a pleasurable read but it‘s so important. Pretty much all the rest (except Only Child which was just okay) were amazing. Hidden Valley Road is one of my books of the year.

Legal scholar Michelle Alexander makes the case that racial segregation has been replaced by mass incarceration as a form of social control over people of color, particularly over black men. Her analysis of racism and the American criminal justice system is still timely, illuminating and important.

*Winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction*

#nonfiction #BLM

W.E.B. Du Bois said: “The burden belongs to the nation, and the hands of none of us are clean if we bend not our energies to righting these great wrongs.”

We‘re not there yet, America, not even close. Our hands are still dirty. Every American needs to read this book. Then, vote. That‘s all. Peace out.

Simply breathtaking. One of the greatest pieces of non-fiction I have ever read.

Whew! This was sooooo long and I felt it was a little repetitive from time to time, but it was excellent and gave me a lot to think about. I listened to the 10 anniversary edition. #BLM

“This book is not for everyone.”

#FirstLineFridays