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Locking Up Our Own
Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America | James Forman, Jr.
In recent years, Americas criminal justice system has become the subject of an increasingly urgent debate. Critics have assailed the rise of mass incarceration, emphasizing its disproportionate impact on people of color. As James Forman, Jr., points out, however, the war on crime that began in the 1970s was supported by many African American leaders in the nations urban centers. In Locking Up Our Own, he seeks to understand why. Forman shows us that the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges, and police chiefs took office amid a surge in crime and drug addiction. Many prominent black officials, including Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry and federal prosecutor Eric Holder, feared that the gains of the civil rights movement were being undermined by lawlessnessand thus embraced tough-on-crime measures, including longer sentences and aggressive police tactics. In the face of skyrocketing murder rates and the proliferation of open-air drug markets, they believed they had no choice. But the policies they adopted would have devastating consequences for residents of poor black neighborhoods. A former D.C. public defender, Forman tells riveting stories of politicians, community activists, police officers, defendants, and crime victims. He writes with compassion about individuals trapped in terrible dilemmasfrom the men and women he represented in court to officials struggling to respond to a public safety emergency. Locking Up Our Own enriches our understanding of why our society became so punitive and offers important lessons to anyone concerned about the future of race and the criminal justice system in this country.
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Kristy_K
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Informative. Well-written. Thought-provoking.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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NAM99
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For those who follow me, you may have noticed I‘ve been reading a lot of books related to civil rights and prison reform. This is the first one I‘ve read about DC, where I live. It was very interesting to learn about DC history, where the Black community was and where it is now.

EchoLogical I have this one stacked on my Goodreads! 4y
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BarbaraTheBibliophage
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Forman divides his book into two sections—origins and consequences. As you can imagine, the first is history of legal and police policy from Reconstruction until recently. The second is the impact those earlier decisions, like the war on drugs, have had on communities of color. Very illuminating.

Full review http://www.TheBibliophage.com #thebibliophage2020 #nonfictionchallenge2020 #criminaljustice #massincarceration #readblackauthors

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BarbaraTheBibliophage
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If you scroll down under this book‘s posts, you‘ll see that this has been on my TBR for **2 years.** It‘s high time I give it a listen! #readblackauthors #blacklivesmatter #aboutincarceration #nonfictionchallenge2020

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bookwrm526
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A fascinating look at the incremental steps that led to some of the completely wrecked lats of today‘s criminal justice system, from the particular angle of the African American community - and, more hopefully at the end, a look at some of the baby steps that might possibly help fix it. Highly recommend, and the audio was well done too.

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Sumi
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Depressing and intriguing study of the policies and actions that led to our current situation of mass incarceration particularly in Washington DC.

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BarbaraTheBibliophage
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Here are the physical books on my #MayTBR. Two from TBR Pulitzer winners. One for my friend Barbara who just published her second book. My #ravenmail book, although I don‘t know how I‘ll feel about it. And more Alexia just because.

Should be a good month! #readingresolutions

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TheBookStacker
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Got this on standby while I apply for jobs! Fingers crossed I find a better job and I can move on from my current position!

megt Good luck in your job hunt! 6y
Lcsmcat 🤞🏻for your job hunt. 6y
wanderinglynn Good luck! 👍🏻🤞🏻 6y
See All 9 Comments
RealLifeReading Best of luck! 6y
TheBookStacker @megt @Lcsmcat @wanderinglynn @RealLifeReading thanks guys! This is why Litsy is the best! Love the positive vibes! 6y
Eyelit 🍀 6y
Notafraidofwords Good luck. That‘s tough ! 6y
Jas16 Good luck! 6y
TheBookStacker @Eyelit @Notafraidofwords @Jas16 thanks guys! Appreciate it!!! 6y
64 likes3 stack adds9 comments
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BookishMarginalia
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AlizaApp
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Necessary reading on how the American War on Drugs (including mandatory minimums for sentencing and stop-and-frisk policies at the law enforcement level) have resulted in such high rates of incarceration for black Americans. Really fascinating to find so much of the book focusing on DC, which has gentrified at a ridiculous pace in the last 20 years.

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Christine
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This is really well-done and an excellent companion to books like The New Jim Crow. I was impressed by the level of research and detail. Heartbreaking how so many well-intentioned responses to violence, drug addiction, and crime in black communities ended up having lots of unintended consequences due to the systemic racism underlying it all. Hopefully books like this can contribute to more justice in law reform/enforcement in the future.

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Nitpickyabouttrains
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I liked how fact based this book was. It talked about the prison system, drug arrests, gun laws. It talked about history and where it all came from. I thought it was provoking and well done.

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UrsulaMonarch
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I appreciated the thorough recent history of policing and race presented here, which provided a lot of context for current events, including #BlackLivesMatter .

I was surprised when I finished this on kindle - I thought I was only 2/3 done, but the rest was the notes (as pictured)!

Bambolina_81 That's a lot of notes!! 6y
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WanderingBookaneer
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