No more excuses for the voters for whom Trump's racism wasn't a deal-breaker, and no more excuses for "those who prioritize peace and calm over justice and equality," either. This is the resolute stance journalist Issac J. Bailey (My Brother Moochie) takes in Why Didn't We Riot: A Black Man in Trumpland.
In 10 essays with edifying titles like "The Sensible Paranoia of Black People in Trumpland" and "Guilty Even if Proven Innocent," Bailey studies the ways systemic racism impairs Black people--in the workplace, legal system, media and beyond. At a time when U.S. protests against police brutality have unfolded on an unprecedented scale, Bailey's voice is worth listening to. He touches on well-known cases of racist violence (Dylann Roof's massacre in Charleston and Amber Guyger's murder of Botham Jean), but what he does best is bring to the fore lesser-known cases, introducing readers to Julian Betton and Jamar Huggins. He pairs this with his own trials as a Black man persevering in "Trumpland" where "the flag of... enslavers flies freely."
Why Didn't We Riot functions foremost as another lesson for white people on how they perpetuate systemic racism. However, it functions most fascinatingly as a rallying cry from a Black man who, by his own admission, has spent too long forgiving white people and too little time holding them accountable. "We hope against hope that our continuing efforts to reach out will be reciprocated. We do this even when we are the ones being killed." --Sylvia Al-Mateen, freelance reviewer and editor