pjmian's review against another edition
just so frustrated and mad at how unfair this system is. the stories of rabbani and brightwell gutted me the most.
gingerrachelle's review against another edition
5.0
So well written of course he was a journalist. I know many people think people in prison obviously deserve to be there and deserve whatever atrocities they find there. I think this might change that point of view.
isaac_zurich1991's review against another edition
4.0
Mumia Abu-Jamal is, thankfully, no longer on death row, but he will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. He was convicted of the murder of a police officer, a crime which he is widely believed to be innocent of.
But even if the guilty verdict handed out in 1982 was accurate, we should ask ourselves if anyone should be subjected to the cruelty and dehumanization that is described throughout this work.
Abu-Jamal's first book is a collection of short essays, think of them as proto-blog posts, that document the day-to-day existence of living on Pennsylvania's death row. Throughout we are confronted by men who have been severed from their dignity through the daily physical and psychological violence which they are forced to endure. In many cases, as the author notes, the eventual state-sanctioned execution acts merely as a formality, for the toll which such a life takes on the prisoners kills them long before their pulse finally surrenders.
Live From Death Row also explores the explicitly racist system which ensures that black men are for more likely to see lethal consequences for allegedly committing the same crime as a white perpetrator. It's impossible to read this book without moments of shaking with anger, furious at a system that we all recognize. The book was first published in 1995, with most of the entries written before then, but one cannot read this work today without also seeing the uncomfortable reflection of our own world, the few changes being merely ornamental.
But through his writing, Abu-Jamal is reuniting these men with their dignity. Devastating though it may be, Live From Death Row is a book that cannot be ignored in our present age.
But even if the guilty verdict handed out in 1982 was accurate, we should ask ourselves if anyone should be subjected to the cruelty and dehumanization that is described throughout this work.
Abu-Jamal's first book is a collection of short essays, think of them as proto-blog posts, that document the day-to-day existence of living on Pennsylvania's death row. Throughout we are confronted by men who have been severed from their dignity through the daily physical and psychological violence which they are forced to endure. In many cases, as the author notes, the eventual state-sanctioned execution acts merely as a formality, for the toll which such a life takes on the prisoners kills them long before their pulse finally surrenders.
Live From Death Row also explores the explicitly racist system which ensures that black men are for more likely to see lethal consequences for allegedly committing the same crime as a white perpetrator. It's impossible to read this book without moments of shaking with anger, furious at a system that we all recognize. The book was first published in 1995, with most of the entries written before then, but one cannot read this work today without also seeing the uncomfortable reflection of our own world, the few changes being merely ornamental.
But through his writing, Abu-Jamal is reuniting these men with their dignity. Devastating though it may be, Live From Death Row is a book that cannot be ignored in our present age.
dougsasser's review against another edition
3.0
The essays are very well written. NPR decided not to air these reports at the last minute due to outside pressure. He gives us a look at a part of life most of us hope we will never know firsthand. I did not come away from the book feeling like the author made a good case for his innocence. If he did not commit the murder he is in prison for, he likely knows who did.
uncouthsibyl's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
damski's review against another edition
A searing exploration of the deeply ingrained racial injustices perpetrated throughout the criminal justice system of the United States of America, Mumia Abu-Jamal screams into the void in a last ditch attempt to change how people view the death penalty.
I first became aware of this book while reading Angela Davis's Are Prisons Obsolete? and decided, based on the intriguing title, to further educate myself on the state of American justice. What I was not ready for, however, was the breadth of topics Abu-Jamal touches upon throughout the book; whether the lifestyle of death row inmates or the political point-scoring that led to life destroying policies or the formation and inner workings of the Black Panther party and the subsequent MOVE party that spawned in its wake, Abu-Jamal is able to eloquently and effectively get his point across in a relatively short space of time. Some may see the book as being too wide spread with little deep insight into each topic discussed but I don't think Abu-Jamal is writing to give a brief history of the African-American experience, but instead to inflame the reader's morality. Abu-Jamal is hoping to spark a righteous flame in the reader and ignite another revolutionary.
The fires sparked in this book should not be only for the release of Mumia himself, but for the wider population. For any country in which the police are agents of the state, protecting the capital of the 1% rather than the good of the people. If you are a supporter of capital punishment, I find it impossible to believe you can read this book and not have your opinions swayed on the death penalty at least a little. There's a specific passage quoted by Mumia in the book that I found particularly apt and that I think speaks to the false nature of the "eye for an eye" concept:
"For there to equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not encountered in private life." - Albert Camus
I first became aware of this book while reading Angela Davis's Are Prisons Obsolete? and decided, based on the intriguing title, to further educate myself on the state of American justice. What I was not ready for, however, was the breadth of topics Abu-Jamal touches upon throughout the book; whether the lifestyle of death row inmates or the political point-scoring that led to life destroying policies or the formation and inner workings of the Black Panther party and the subsequent MOVE party that spawned in its wake, Abu-Jamal is able to eloquently and effectively get his point across in a relatively short space of time. Some may see the book as being too wide spread with little deep insight into each topic discussed but I don't think Abu-Jamal is writing to give a brief history of the African-American experience, but instead to inflame the reader's morality. Abu-Jamal is hoping to spark a righteous flame in the reader and ignite another revolutionary.
The fires sparked in this book should not be only for the release of Mumia himself, but for the wider population. For any country in which the police are agents of the state, protecting the capital of the 1% rather than the good of the people. If you are a supporter of capital punishment, I find it impossible to believe you can read this book and not have your opinions swayed on the death penalty at least a little. There's a specific passage quoted by Mumia in the book that I found particularly apt and that I think speaks to the false nature of the "eye for an eye" concept:
"For there to equivalence, the death penalty would have to punish a criminal who had warned his victim of the date at which he would inflict a horrible death on him and who, from that moment onward, had confined him at his mercy for months. Such a monster is not encountered in private life." - Albert Camus