Beast Side (eBook)

Living and Dying While Black in America

D. Watkins (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2015
176 Seiten
Hot Books (Verlag)
9781510703407 (ISBN)

Infos

A New York Times Best Seller!Searing Dispatches from the Urban Zones Where African American Men Have Become an Endangered SpeciesTo many in the age of Obama, America had succeeded in “going beyond race,” putting the divisions of the past behind us. And then seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot by a wannabe cop in Florida; and then eighteen-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; and then Baltimore blew up; and then gunfire shattered a prayer meeting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Suddenly the entire country awakened to a stark fact: African Americans—particularly young black men—are an endangered species.Now the country’s urban war zone is brought powerfully to life by a rising young literary talent, D. Watkins. The author fought his way up on the east side (the “beast side”) of Baltimore, Maryland—or “Bodymore, Murderland,” as his friends call it—surviving murderous business rivals in the drug trade and equally predatory lawmen. Throughout it all, he pursued his education, earning a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, while staying rooted in his community.When black residents of Baltimore finally decided they had had enough—after the brutal killing of twenty-five-year-old Freddie Gray while in police custody—Watkins was on the streets when the city erupted. He writes about his bleeding hometown with the razor-sharp insights of someone who bleeds along with it. Here are true dispatches from the other side of America.

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A New York Times Best Seller! Baltimore, one of our country's quintessential urban war zones, is brought powerfully to life by literary talent, D. WatkinsTo many, the past 8 years under President Obama were meant to usher in a new post-racial American political era, dissolving the divisions of the past. However, when seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot by a wannabe cop in Florida; and then Ferguson, Missouri, happened; and then South Carolina hit the headlines; and then Baltimore blew up, it was hard to find any evidence of a new post-racial order.Suddenly the entire country seemed to be awakened to a stark fact: African American men are in danger in America. This has only become clearer as groups like Black Lives Matter continue to draw attention to this reality daily not only online but also in the streets of our nation's embattled cities.D. Watkins. fought his way up on the eastside (the ';beastside') of Baltimore, Marylandor ';Bodymore, Murderland,' as his friends call it. He writes openly and unapologetically about what it took to survive life on the streets while the casualties piled up around him, including his own brother. Watkins pushed drugs to pay his way through school, staying one step ahead of murderous business rivals and equally predatory lawmen. When black residents of Baltimore finally decided they had had enoughafter the brutal killing of twenty-five-year-old Freddie Gray while in police custodyWatkins was on the streets as the city erupted. He writes about his bleeding city with the razor-sharp insights of someone who bleeds along with it. Here are true dispatches from the other side of America.In this new paperback edition, the author has also added new material in a section title Bonus Tracks, responding to the rising tide of racial resentment and hate embodied by political figures like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as well as the heartbreaking killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the impact this has had on issues of race in America. This book is essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of the chaos of our current political moment.

Autor

D Watkins is a columnist for Salon. His work has been published in the New York Times, the Guardian, and magazines, and he is a frequent commentator on NPR, CNN, and elsewhere. He holds a master’s in education from Johns Hopkins University and an MFA in creative writing from the University of Baltimore and teaches writing at Coppin State University in Baltimore. He was the winner of Baltimore magazine’s “Best Writer” award in 2015.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 8.9.2015
• Vorwort: David Talbot
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen
• Themenwelt: Recht / Steuern ► Strafrecht ► Kriminologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• Schlagworte: African American • African American civil rights • African American leaders • African American Studies • American public schools • American school system • American segregation • Black America • Black American lives • Black civil rights • Black experience • Black leaders • Black lives matter • Black men • Black men and women • Black men in America • Blackness in America • black women • breaking Black stereotypes • bribery and police • Civil Rights • Civil Rights Movement • cops abuse • cops bribes • cops corruption • cops killing • cops violence • economics of inner city • fixing American school system • food desert • food deserts in American cities • food deserts in United States • Freddie Gray • inner city • police abuse • police bribes • Police corruption • police killings • police violence • problems with the school system • race card welfare queen stereotype • Race relations • race relations in United States • School to Prison Pipeline • segregation in the United States • suburban migration • United States public schools • urban infrastructure • urban sprawl • US school system
• ISBN-13: 9781510703407 / 9781510703407