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kevin_shepherd's review
4.0
The life and times of Eddie Conway and Paul Coates. Whether speaking individually or in conversation, these guys are raconteurs of the turbulent 1960s, the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and the Black Panther Party.
In 1971, Eddie Conway was the Security Lieutenant for the Baltimore BPP. He was targeted by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, as were most active Black Panthers, as a threat to national security and was subsequently prosecuted and convicted for a crime he did not commit. His fellow Panther, Paul Coats, spent the next 43 years tirelessly working to get Eddie out of prison. Their stories, Paul’s devotion and Eddie’s eventual exoneration, are inspirational.
Books about institutional racism in America tax the hell out of my stamina. I get so emotionally fired up, so disgusted and appalled with the systemic hypocrisy, that I wind up intellectually and psychologically exhausted.
Fortunately, when I get bone-weary, I can always take a break and get my shit back together. I have the advantage of putting all this crap aside and going about my life without being constantly reminded (via media and micro aggression) that inequality still resides here. Security personnel never follow me around a department store. Old ladies on the street never clutch their purses when I walk by. The last time the cops pulled me over was eighteen years ago, and that was for doing 90 in a 75 (and even then all I got was a warning). People like Eddie and Paul can’t take a breather from all the BS like I can because they can’t slip out of their skin. I’m not stoking white guilt here, I’m acknowledging that I have privileges in this country that POCs don’t have.
Thank you Susie Day for your transcription of these conversations and for formatting them into a book form that is as educational as it is engaging. This one wore me out (and that’s a compliment).
In 1971, Eddie Conway was the Security Lieutenant for the Baltimore BPP. He was targeted by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, as were most active Black Panthers, as a threat to national security and was subsequently prosecuted and convicted for a crime he did not commit. His fellow Panther, Paul Coats, spent the next 43 years tirelessly working to get Eddie out of prison. Their stories, Paul’s devotion and Eddie’s eventual exoneration, are inspirational.
Books about institutional racism in America tax the hell out of my stamina. I get so emotionally fired up, so disgusted and appalled with the systemic hypocrisy, that I wind up intellectually and psychologically exhausted.
Fortunately, when I get bone-weary, I can always take a break and get my shit back together. I have the advantage of putting all this crap aside and going about my life without being constantly reminded (via media and micro aggression) that inequality still resides here. Security personnel never follow me around a department store. Old ladies on the street never clutch their purses when I walk by. The last time the cops pulled me over was eighteen years ago, and that was for doing 90 in a 75 (and even then all I got was a warning). People like Eddie and Paul can’t take a breather from all the BS like I can because they can’t slip out of their skin. I’m not stoking white guilt here, I’m acknowledging that I have privileges in this country that POCs don’t have.
Thank you Susie Day for your transcription of these conversations and for formatting them into a book form that is as educational as it is engaging. This one wore me out (and that’s a compliment).
jack_iwashyna's review
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
4.5
A fascinating dialogue between two friends recalling their lives in the US military, their time in the Black Panther Party, a 40 year unjust prison stay, and building for a more equal US
austindoherty's review
4.0
The subject matter is really interesting, but I also really responded to the oral history format
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