Police Brutality and White Supremacy

December 15, 2021
"Stop letting the police investigate themselves." This response to a legacy of unaccountable police violence against Black Americans is especially powerful coming from a former vice president of the New York City police union, Joe Ested, one of the many voices to be found in former NBA player Thomas' timely collection of interviews. Thomas speaks with athletes, activists, religious leaders, and family members of victims of police brutality about systemic racism, exploring such topics as Rodney King, the Central Park Five, and the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The strength of this book lies in its range. Isaiah Thomas describes the police aggression he and his family endured in tumultuous late-sixties Chicago. White NBA player Kyle Korver recalls when he failed to side with a Black teammate who was verbally abused by a fan, an incident that awakened Korver to his unconscious bias. When billionaire Mark Cuban insists that he can't change police department policy, Thomas presses him to admit that his wealth comes with power and influence, providing Cuban and readers with an opportunity to evolve.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2021
Candid conversations about race and policing with key figures in media, sports, and social justice movements. Activist and former NBA player Thomas follows up his 2018 interview collection, We Matter, with Q&As informed by the turmoil of 2020 and 2021, with a similar assortment of interviewees: athletes (Isiah Thomas, Steph Curry, Breanna Stewart), media figures (Yamiche Alcindor, Jake Tapper), and family members of Black men killed or brutalized by police (Willie McCoy's brother, Rodney King's daughter). The prompts for discussion include George Floyd, defunding the police, the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, and the intersection of White supremacy and evangelical Christianity. The overall tone of the interviews is skeptical and dissatisfied with the lack of systemic change despite growing media attention. When Thomas tells the son of Black Panther Fred Hampton that "after Trump, Biden was a breath of fresh air," he snaps back, "I still ain't breathing." The sharpest rhetoric comes from activist and broadcaster Marc Lamont Hill, who pushes against softening the phrase "defund the police," likening it to shifting from abolishing slavery to "reform the plantation." Trumpism, most of Thomas' interlocutors agree, is just a more visible manifestation of White supremacy that's been part of American life from the start. Though the intensity and relevance of the conversations are clear, especially with members of victims' families, Thomas rarely sees his role as more than teeing up his interviewees to share experiences or familiar talking points, which blunts the overall impact. That's why his Q&A with entrepreneur and NBA team owner Mark Cuban stands out: Thomas actively challenges Cuban to use his wealth and position to extract meaningful change from police and fellow team owners, and Cuban's earnest but evasive replies reveal just how steep the challenge is. Other interviewees include Sue Bird, Rex Chapman, Chuck D, and Jemele Hill. A relevant, occasionally eye-opening collection of Q&As on race and privilege.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from January 1, 2022

Harlem-born retired NBA player Thomas follows his much-acclaimed book We Matter: Athletes and Activism with this exploration of white supremacy in the United States, focusing particularly on contemporary police brutality. Like his previous book, this volume is built on wide-ranging interviews. Thomas opens each of his 11 chapters with personal commentary, followed by transcripts of his conversations with current and former NBA and WNBA stars, coaches, team owners, sports journalists, and others. The deeply personal and revealing conversations cover police brutality incidents like New York's 1989 Central Park Five case, the 1991 LAPD beating of Rodney King, and George Floyd's 2020 murder by Minneapolis police. Other topics include the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and the complicity of Christian churches, schools, and the media in white supremacy's origins and persistence. Thomas seeks practical solutions to police brutality and stresses the importance of Black solidarity and white allyship. The book closes with a poem by Thomas's son Malcolm. VERDICT Thomas's interviews demand careful reading by all who want to expose racism, hold police accountable, and create an American society that practices social justice.--Thomas J. Davis

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