In the United States, the police and prisons have always been used to harass, intimidate, and abuse Black people. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Although there are many books on the topic, here are a few that I regularly assign or recommend for my students.
Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis – If you only have time to read one book, make it this one. (It’s also the shortest on the list).
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander
Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America by Kristian Williams
Separated: Family and Community in the Aftermath of an Immigration Raid by William D. Lopez
When the Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú
Bad Boys: Public Schools and the Making of Black Masculinity by Ann Arnett Ferguson