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A review by thebookishfeminist
Big Black: Stand at Attica by Jared Reinmuth, Frank Big Black Smith
5.0
Big Black: Stand at Attica is an absolutely essential read. It follows Big Black, who was part of a group of prisoners demanding humane treatment at Attica Prison I’m the 1970s. This graphic novel is partially about Big Black’s life, history, lessons, and perspectives, and it’s partially about the history, legislation, and culture leading up to the rebellion that made such a rebellion necessary - and, unfortunately, makes it clear that the horrifying military response wasn’t surprising.
I loved learning about Big Black’s life, his family. There were also incredibly important historical, cultural, and sociology-political facts included that make this a must-read in my book. Readers will encounter the PPP cycle - prison to parole to prison - and start to really see the modern-day slavery system that our incarceration is.
We also get to learn about the response to this atrocity and how activism and perseverance can start to change a system. The last quotation is, “Wake up, because nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream! The struggle continues!” It’s a reminder - a plea - for us to see that this was not an isolated incident and we must continue to take up this fight. Black and Brown, including Indigenous, people are incarcerated with a frequency and severity that white people will never face, and this is, without a doubt, the way the system was designed to work. Big Black: Stand at Attica is a deeply moving, deeply igniting graphic novel that I hope to buy for my own collection. It’s important, engrossing, and tells the story of a true hero.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy.
I loved learning about Big Black’s life, his family. There were also incredibly important historical, cultural, and sociology-political facts included that make this a must-read in my book. Readers will encounter the PPP cycle - prison to parole to prison - and start to really see the modern-day slavery system that our incarceration is.
We also get to learn about the response to this atrocity and how activism and perseverance can start to change a system. The last quotation is, “Wake up, because nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream! The struggle continues!” It’s a reminder - a plea - for us to see that this was not an isolated incident and we must continue to take up this fight. Black and Brown, including Indigenous, people are incarcerated with a frequency and severity that white people will never face, and this is, without a doubt, the way the system was designed to work. Big Black: Stand at Attica is a deeply moving, deeply igniting graphic novel that I hope to buy for my own collection. It’s important, engrossing, and tells the story of a true hero.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advance copy.