Full Description
This work highlights survivors' voices in the exploration of police violence and homicide in the United States. Making vital connections between U.S. colonialism, structured and deputized violence, history of policing, and armed resistance by grassroots movements, the authors expand readers' understanding of the purpose of U.S. policing.
Responding to data that showed that in 2016 and 2017, more than 135 children and teens lost their lives to police violence, the author team traveled to multiple locations across the United States to sit with, learn from, and capture survivors' stories and experiences. Utilizing in-depth and public interviews, the book presents breathtaking, honest, and heart-wrenching narratives surrounding the impact of youth killed by police on the family, community, and activists. This book makes important connections between colonialism, the history of police corruption, and police killings of marginalized groups. Survivors' narratives provide important, nuanced information surrounding the impact of youth killed by police, often with impunity, on friends, family, and loved ones of the victims.
Synthesizing these stories with an overview of the state of policing in the United States, this scholarship extends recommendations and strategies for organizers, activists, students, and scholars to redefine public safety, as well as police power and accountability, in Black, Brown, Indigenous, and poor communities.
Contents
1. A Caution to the Reader: Our Journey That Led to This Work
Police Killings of Youth Phases I and II
Police Terrorism of Youth and their Communities with Impunity
Deputized Violence
Book Overview
2. Understanding the History and Purpose of Policing in the United States: From Armed Resistance to an Epidemic of Police Killings
Part I: History
History of Radical Resistance to Colonialism, Slavery, and Police Violence
Militarization of Policing
Part II: Contemporary
Impact of Colonial and State-Sanctioned Violence on Survivors
3. Groundings with Families and Communities of Youth Killed by Police: Designing Their Stories
Research Design
Settings
Sampling Frame and Sampling
Procedures
Data Collection
Data Management and Analysis
Grounded Theory
4. Their Stories Matter: Lessons from the Family and Community of Youth Killed by Police
Participant Introduction
Community Members of Youth Victims
Findings: Family and Friends
Findings: Community Members (Activists, Reporters, Lawyers, and Neighbors)
Summation of Findings, the Ripple Effect: Impact of Youth Killings by Police on Families and Communities
5. Making Sense of the Senseless: Where Do We Go from Here
Impact of Youth Killed by Police on Family and Loved Ones
Impact of Youth Killed by Police on Community Members and Activists
Struggle for Justice, Community Organizing, and the Meaning of Activism
Transforming Policing in the United States: Recommendations
The Necessity for Restitution and Reparation Justice for Survivors of Police Killings
Limitations and Implications for Future Research
Conclusion
6. If Not Us Then Who?: Implications for Our Collective Involvement (Epilogue) Police Killings, Social Terror, and Cognitive Conditioning
Implications for Educators and Service Providers
Implications for Youth
Implications for Activists
