Not Guilty: Twelve Black Men Speak Out on Law, Justice, and Life [Paperback]

Jabari Asim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 3, 2002

Patrick Dorismond, Abner Louima, and Amadou Diallo -- hear what a jury of prominent African Americans has to say about the black man's struggle for justice in America

Prompted by the killing of Amadou Diallo and the acquittal of the four New York City police officers who mistook him for an armed criminal, this collection of essays by prominent black male writers offers twelve unique and startling perspectives on what it's like for a black man living in an inherently racist society.

Coming from a broad spectrum of economic and social backgrounds, the poets, journalists, lawyers, writers, and academics that make up this jury write forcefully and eloquently about growing up and raising sons, identifying with others and yearning to be set apart, attempting reasonable discourse, and succumbing to unspeakable anger. Together these essays deconstruct the monolithic myths that shroud our nation's black men and offer small rays of hope that on the streets, at school and work, and in the courtroom justice will be served.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

If these 12 men are angry, they pointedly refuse to let anger be the sole motivational force of their reflections here, solicited in the wake of the New York police's mistaken shooting of Amadou Diallo, an unarmed black man. As Asim, a poet, critic, playwright, and senior editor of the Washington Post Book World, writes, "[i]t is as easy to see us as angry as it is to assume we are criminal-minded." Rather than a unanimous jury for the American legal system and its means of enforcement, these essays work as an instrument for taking apart the myths of "monolithic black experience and the singular black perspective" on civil society. Christopher Cooper is an attorney, associate professor of sociology at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, a former Marine and former Washington, D.C., police officer who sits on the board of the National Black Police Association; he contributes a carefully reasoned piece on police mediation in black communities. Bestselling novelist E. Lynn Harris (Not a Day Goes By, etc.) writes of "Quitting the Club" "the please-don't-let-them-be-black club." Ricardo Cortez Cruz (Five Days of Bleeding) examines "My Flesh and Blood: Black Marks and Stigmata," the "massive brain trauma" of institutionalized racism: "At the mall or whatever, I see niggas walking around all the time wearing a mask, like it is nothing." Much more overtly violent and abhorrent images of encounters with police, crime and the justice system are sorted and kicked around throughout, and none of the writers here is under the illusion that his short, think piece-like reflections are going to change the country, let alone the world. But these frank attempts at personal reckoning with recent incarnations of liberty and justice are as good a start as any.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The killing of Amadou Diallo and the subsequent acquittal of four New York police officers who fired 41 shots into the unarmed man is the focus of this collection of essays by 12 black men, probing their feelings and perspectives on life for black men in America. These men constitute an impromptu jury of writers, lawyers, policemen, and law professors from a cross section of economic statuses, backgrounds, and social and political perspectives. As Asim, also a contributor, notes in the introduction, "Not all of these contributors have been arrested, pulled over, or otherwise harassed by police; not all of us have led squeaky clean lives." The assessments they render range from angry denunciation of the police to lamentation about the need for heightened vigilance against insult as well as injury by police and fellow citizens. The commonality is the ways that racism complicates even the simplest aspects of black men's lives. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (September 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060959975
• ISBN-13: 978-0060959975
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,486,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

JABARI ASIM is the acclaimed author of What Obama Means . . . For Our Politics, Our Culture, Our Future as well as the author of the highly praised and controversial The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn't, And Why.

He is the editor-in-chief of Crisis magazine, a preeminent journal of politics, ideas and culture published by the NAACP and founded by W.E.B. Du Bois in 1910. He spent 11 years at the Washington Post, where he served as deputy editor of the book review section. For three years he also wrote a syndicated column on political and social issues for the Post.

In April 2009, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation awarded him a fellowship in nonfiction, one of 180 fellowships awarded to artists, scientists and scholars in 2009 selected from a group of almost 3,000 applicants.

He is a frequent public speaker and commentator who has appeared on "The Today Show," "The Colbert Report," "Hannity & Colmes," "The Tavis Smiley Show," "The Diane Rehm Show" and countless other programs. He has lectured at many of the nation's finest universities, including Seton Hall University, Northwestern University, Syracuse University and the University of Florida.

His first novel for adults, A Taste of Honey, will be published in April 2010. The Road To Freedom, his first novel for young readers, was published in 2000. His other children's books include Whose Toes Are Those, Whose Knees Are These, Daddy Goes to Work, and The Road to Freedom. His next children's books, Boy Of Mine and Girl Of Mine, will be published in April 2010.

Jabari Asim lives in Illinois with his wife, Liana and their five children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Agreeance..., August 15, 2005

By 

soulonice (Arlington, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not Guilty: Twelve Black Men Speak Out on Law, Justice, and Life (Paperback)

I agree with the previous review. It's a decent piece for the fact you get contributions from a variety of brothers on some topics. It's a piece I finished somewhat quick, and you should be able to recognize a few of the authors in the book.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars essay after essay after essay, July 18, 2005

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not Guilty: Twelve Black Men Speak Out on Law, Justice, and Life (Paperback)

This book features 12 essays by black men about brothers, the courts, and the criminal justice system. It is definitely for essay lovers and the fans of columnists. The flavor of the writing reminds me a lot of Clarence Page, Gore Vidal, or Richard Rodriguez.

The book has a universal tone to which black males and non-black males could relate. This is not a militant discourse; conservatives won't be able to cry out "P.C.!" Some authors recall when they acted criminally. Others say anti-social tendencies start at home. This book is filled with everyday men asking how controversies in the news affect their lives. The specific one here is the Diallo murder and the subsequent police acquittal, but it could have been any other matter.

This book is subtly gay-friendly. The first essay mentions homophobia as an ill hurting the black community. The next essay is penned by a famous, gay African-American author. The third essay is by the editor who quotes from James Baldwin and Countee Cullen.

This essay has diverse contributors, featuring journalists, lawyers, and police officers. However, most of the essays sound alike. I am not sure if the editor made all essays sound like his or only chose essays written in his style. Unfortunately, this get repetitive after awhile. There becomes no need to read the whole book.

People may want to read this book alongside the books "Envy of the World" or "Living to Tell About It."