Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? by Mumia Abu-Jamal

Have Black Lives Ever Mattered? by Mumia Abu-Jamal

A powerful indictment on the history of police violence against people of color, from slavery to today's Black Lives Matter.

"When enough time has passed, as in when what was staring us in the face can actually be acknowledged, it will be significant that one of the clearest voices on the injustice of our justice system has spent much of his life in prison, and by many accounts, wrongfullyHere Jamal directs his attention at other people who have suffered at the hands of justice, and tells their stories. What a remarkable thing to be doing from the heart of one’s own ongoing travesty.”—John Freeman, Literary Hub "The columns list the roll call of victims in real time, from Abner Louima to Travyon Martin and beyond. This is a book containing examples of, as one column called it, 'legalized police violence,' killings and abuse 'you pay for . . . every time you pay taxes, endur[ing] this every time you vote for politicians who sell out in an instant.' To Abu-Jamal, 'Americans are blind to everything but color' because 'United States history is a history of denial.’”—Todd Burroughs, “Drums in the Global Village" “Capsulizing the history of white slave patrols, their relationship to today’s police departments and a justice system that preserves immunity for officers who kill, Abu-Jamal goes on to suggest how and why we’ve arrived at such a horrific place in American history.”—Denise Sullivan, Down With Tyranny

MUMIA ABU-JAMAL is an award-winning journalist and author of two best-selling books, Live From Death Row and Death Blossoms, which address prison life from a critical and spiritual perspective. In 1981 he was elected president of the Association of Black Journalists (Philadelphia chapter). That same year he was arrested for allegedly killing a white police officer in Philadelphia. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1982, in a process that has been described as an epic miscarriage of justice. In 2011, after spending more than 28 years on death row, his death sentence was vacated when the Supreme Court allowed to stand the decisions of four federal judges who had earlier declared his death sentence unconstitutional. He is now serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. In spite of his three-decade-long imprisonment, most of which was spent in solitary confinement on Death Row, Abu-Jamal has relentlessly fought for his freedom and for his profession. From prison he has written seven books and thousands of radio commentaries. He holds a BA from Goddard College and an MA from California State University, Dominguez Hills. His books have sold more than 100,000 copies and have been translated into seven languages.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780872867383
ISBN 10	0872867382
Title	Have Black Lives Ever Mattered?
Author	Mumia Abu Jamal
Series	City Lights Open Media
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	City Lights Books
Year published	2017-07-20
Number of pages	144
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.