Synopses & Reviews
In the middle of the first decade of the twenty-first century,African Americans made up approximately twelve percent ofthe United States population but close to forty percent of the United States prison population. Now, in the latter half of the decade, the nation is in the midst of the largest multi-year discharge of prisoners in its history. In
Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities, Anthony C. Thompson discusses what is likely to happen to these ex-offenders and why.
For Thompson, any discussion of ex-offender reentry is, de facto, a question of race. After laying out the statistics, he identifies the ways in which media and politics have contributed to the problem, especially through stereotyping and racial bias. Well aware of the potential consequences if this country fails to act, Thompson offers concrete, realizable ideas of how our policies could, and should, change.
Review
“Thompson provides a compelling argument that we cannot understand reentry, and indeed criminal justice policy broadly, without analyzing its racial dimensions. He also provides us with a clear road map that helps us to access the state of reentry today, and what we need to do politically and programatically to develop a system that is committed to both public safety and racial fairness.”
-Marc Mauer,Executive Director, The Sentencing Project
Review
“Three recent books by scholars who happen to be black men eloquently attest to these broader effects of the racial disparities in our criminal justice system. . . . For New York University law professor Anthony Thompson, author of Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities: Reentry, Race, and Politics, it is critical that we examine ‘the pervasive interplay of race, power, and politics that infuse and confuse our attitudes about crime. ”
-New York Review of Books,
Review
“The record size of the U.S. prison population in recent years has received some attention, and it is well known that young men of color are greatly overrepresented in this prison population. The inevitable release annually of hundreds of thousands of these prisoners very disproportionately into inner-city minority communities has been relatively little discussed. In this book, NYU law professor Thompson explores in considerable depth the devastating impact of this mass influx on these communities, and the deeply disturbing lack of adequate programs and appropriate forms of assistance to constructively reintegrate former prisoners back into such communities.”
-Choice,
Review
“Three recent books by scholars who happen to be black men eloquently attest to these broader effects of the racial disparities in our criminal justice system. . . . For New York University law professor Anthony Thompson, author of Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities: Reentry, Race, and Politics, it is critical that we examine ‘the pervasive interplay of race, power, and politics that infuse and confuse our attitudes about crime.’ ”
“Every member of the Obama administration, of Congress, and of state legislatures should read, study, and reflect upon Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities. A detailed account of how overcriminalization and overincarceration have destroyed individuals, families, and communities, Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities is scrupulously researched and footnoted.”
“The record size of the U.S. prison population in recent years has received some attention, and it is well known that young men of color are greatly overrepresented in this prison population. The inevitable release annually of hundreds of thousands of these prisoners very disproportionately into inner-city minority communities has been relatively little discussed. In this book, NYU law professor Thompson explores in considerable depth the devastating impact of this mass influx on these communities, and the deeply disturbing lack of adequate programs and appropriate forms of assistance to constructively reintegrate former prisoners back into such communities.”
“Accessible and comprehensive, Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities delves into the most pressing legal issue of prisoner reentry. . . . Thompson provides a much needed look at this dire social issue through an expert legal lens. This is an important book and I highly recommend it to legal scholars, policy makers, criminologists, and concerned citizens.”
“Thompson provides a compelling argument that we cannot understand reentry, and indeed criminal justice policy broadly, without analyzing its racial dimensions. He also provides us with a clear road map that helps us to access the state of reentry today, and what we need to do politically and programatically to develop a system that is committed to both public safety and racial fairness.”
Review
“Every member of the Obama administration, of Congress, and of state legislatures should read, study, and reflect upon Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities. A detailed account of how overcriminalization and overincarceration have destroyed individuals, families, and communities, Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities is scrupulously researched and footnoted.”
-The Federal Lawyer,
Review
“Accessible and comprehensive, Releasing Prisoners, Redeeming Communities delves into the most pressing legal issue of prisoner reentry. . . . Thompson provides a much needed look at this dire social issue through an expert legal lens. This is an important book and I highly recommend it to legal scholars, policy makers, criminologists, and concerned citizens.”
-Joan Petersilia,author of When Prisoners Come Home: Parole and Prisoner Reentry
Review
“Gerald Horne has brought a wealth of detail and insight to the life of Shirley Graham Du Bois, a writer and activist as significant in her own right as for her long and vital companionship with W. E. B. Du Bois.”-David Levering Lewis,Pulitzer Prize winner and author of W. E. B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century, 1919-1963
Review
“Horne's writing handsomely communicates the artistic, political and social climate of the world that created the multidimensional Graham Du Bois... You will not want to put it down."”-Black Issues Book Review,
Review
“A fascinating account of the extraordinary life of W. E. B. Du Bois's widow: a complex, creative woman who lived a colorful, meaningful life.”-Essence,
Review
“Horne is the first biographer to grant Shirley Graham Du Bois her due.”-Boston Globe,
Review
“Gerald Horne rescues Shirley Graham Du Bois from historical obscurity and from the shadow of her husband.”-The Women's Review of Books,
Synopsis
One of the most intriguing activists and artists of the twentieth century, Shirley Graham Du Bois also remains one of the least studied and understood. In Race Woman, Gerald Horne draws a revealing portrait of this controvertial figure who championed the civil rights movement in America, the liberation struggles in Africa and the socialist struggles in Maoist China. Through careful analysis and use of personal correspondence, interviews, and previously unexamined documents, Horne explores her work as a Harlem Renaissance playwright, biographer, composer, teacher, novelist, Left political activist, advisor and inspiration, who was a powerful historical actor.
About the Author
Anthony C. Thompson is Professor of Clinical Law at New York University School of Law. He is a former Deputy Public Defender in Contra Costa County, California. He serves on the Board of Directors of the National Council for Crime and Delinquency in Oakland, California, and is Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Reentry Institute of John Jay College in New York City.