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

~ (Author) "I can see it in their eyes: "who is this nigga boy?..." (more)
Key Phrases: race industry, interpersonal disputes, mediation centers, Amadou Diallo, New York City, Law of Mothers (more...)

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.

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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.com Sales Rank: #1,974,952 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

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

By	soulonice (Arlington, TX) - See all my reviews

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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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."