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A review by seebrandyread
Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect?: Police Violence and Resistance in the United States by Maya Schenwar
Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect? is a collection of 16 articles originally written for Truthout, a nonprofit news site focused on social justice issues, by a diverse group of writers. Each article is thoroughly researched but most also offer the added context of personal experience such as a Latino reporter discussing the impacts of policing on Latinx people or a Black mother detailing Black parenting.
I recently read The End of Policing which offers a stark, impersonal look at the big, overarching problems of policing. WDYS, however, presents some of the more specific (and therefore overlooked) issues and the people impacted by them. For instance, one article focuses on the impacts of the carceral system on pregnant women. Another uncovers the historical and current use of torture by ALL US police forces. One of my favorites looks at the fraught relationship between Black and Native Americans in their fight for social justice.
The book is divided into 2 parts: the first half covering specific ways in which police have failed to serve and protect different populations, the second about different movements and methods to resist these forces and build alternatives. The second half especially gave me some avenues for further research. The book and its articles are now at least 4 years old (many were written in response to the shooting of Michael Brown and the subsequent Ferguson protests). I'm curious how some of the specific organizations mentioned have fared since and if they offer viable, sustainable models going forward.
One point brought up several times in different articles is the purpose of police in all their forms being to protect the interests and preservation of the state. Our state (aka America) was built and shaped for and by white, hetero, cis, wealthy, Christian men. You don't have to meet all these criteria to benefit from the state nor do you have to lack all of them to be oppressed by it. Addressing policing is important, but we ultimately have to address the state, its laws, and those who wield power over them.
I recently read The End of Policing which offers a stark, impersonal look at the big, overarching problems of policing. WDYS, however, presents some of the more specific (and therefore overlooked) issues and the people impacted by them. For instance, one article focuses on the impacts of the carceral system on pregnant women. Another uncovers the historical and current use of torture by ALL US police forces. One of my favorites looks at the fraught relationship between Black and Native Americans in their fight for social justice.
The book is divided into 2 parts: the first half covering specific ways in which police have failed to serve and protect different populations, the second about different movements and methods to resist these forces and build alternatives. The second half especially gave me some avenues for further research. The book and its articles are now at least 4 years old (many were written in response to the shooting of Michael Brown and the subsequent Ferguson protests). I'm curious how some of the specific organizations mentioned have fared since and if they offer viable, sustainable models going forward.
One point brought up several times in different articles is the purpose of police in all their forms being to protect the interests and preservation of the state. Our state (aka America) was built and shaped for and by white, hetero, cis, wealthy, Christian men. You don't have to meet all these criteria to benefit from the state nor do you have to lack all of them to be oppressed by it. Addressing policing is important, but we ultimately have to address the state, its laws, and those who wield power over them.