Hacker News Books

+1 for Locking up Our Own - really interesting study of how the crack war led to massive incarceration of black youth, using DC as the primary case study

IMO it starts with a deep knowledge, deeper than the immediate and primal realities of what is happening presently, I would dare say an intimate knowledge of our stories and struggles, both through narrative fiction as well as our critiques, philosophies and dogmas throughout written history:

Check this out, another HNer and I shared some books:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23399364

Adding to it though, other excellent books and writers I think any ally should find the time to read:

Roots - Alex Haley

Revolutionary Suicide - Huey P. Newton

Locking Up Our Own - James S. Foreman

Negroland - Margo Jefferson

A Raisin in the Sun - Lorraine Hansberry

Where we Stand - bell hooks

The Future of the Race - Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cornel West

Letter from a Birmingham Jail - MLK

When people ask "why isn't anyone talking about black on black crime?" or why aren't "we" in the black community talking about it, my response is usually to start by asking "Who is 'we'"?[0] and then to retort that "'We' are, 'we' have been" and several black authors have written and are writing about it.

- "Locking Up Our Own", James Foreman, an analysis by a black attorney discussing black crime, black recidivism and black involvement as attorneys and judges in the criminal justice system

- "In Contempt", Christopher Darden, an autobiography written by one of the attorneys in the OJ Simpson trial where swaths of the book are dedicated to Darner's views and interactions with other attorneys who tackled "black on black crime" in LA during the 90's prior to his time as a District Attorney

- "The Man Not" (the most recent publication in this non-exhaustive list), Tommy Curry, explorations on the victimization of black men by their black guardians, with some focus on sexual abuse and exploitation of their bodies as the lens through which Curry focuses a larger critique

- "Negroland", Margo Jefferson, a memoir of the black elite class of Chicago and ramifications of black success experienced sometimes at the expense of lower-class black Americans, perpetuated sometimes by upper-class black Americans

I'm a bit fatigued by the insinuation that black America is shirking a responsibility to tackle these in-group issues, because it's not as if there's a lack of poignant critical theory emerging from our group on the topic. It's all there and readily available, and the names and reference content I provided here isn't an exhaustive list either.

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[0] https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/who-is-we-1833100853