His Name Is George Floyd (Pulitzer Prize Winner)

His Name Is George Floyd (Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Author: Robert Samuels
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2022-05-17
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0593490622

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD AND LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE; SHORT-LISTED FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS PRIZE; A BCALA 2023 HONOR NONFICTION AWARD WINNER. A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic racism shaped George Floyd's life and legacy—from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing—telling the story of how one man’s tragic experience brought about a global movement for change. “It is a testament to the power of His Name Is George Floyd that the book’s most vital moments come not after Floyd’s death, but in its intimate, unvarnished and scrupulous account of his life . . . Impressive.” —New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice) “Since we know George Floyd’s death with tragic clarity, we must know Floyd’s America—and life—with tragic clarity. Essential for our times.” —Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist “A much-needed portrait of the life, times, and martyrdom of George Floyd, a chronicle of the racial awakening sparked by his brutal and untimely death, and an essential work of history I hope everyone will read.” —Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author of The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin. The video recording of his death set off a series of protests in the United States and around the world, awakening millions to the dire need for reimagining this country’s broken systems of policing. But behind a face that would be graffitied onto countless murals, and a name that has become synonymous with civil rights, there is the reality of one man’s stolen life: a life beset by suffocating systemic pressures that ultimately proved inescapable. This biography of George Floyd shows the athletic young boy raised in the projects of Houston’s Third Ward who would become a father, a partner, a friend, and a man constantly in search of a better life. In retracing Floyd’s story, Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa bring to light the determination Floyd carried as he faced the relentless struggle to survive as a Black man in America. Placing his narrative within the larger context of America’s deeply troubled history of institutional racism, His Name Is George Floyd examines the Floyd family’s roots in slavery and sharecropping, the segregation of his Houston schools, the overpolicing of his communities, the devastating snares of the prison system, and his attempts to break free from drug dependence—putting today's inequality into uniquely human terms. Drawing upon hundreds of interviews and extensive original reporting, Samuels and Olorunnipa offer a poignant and moving exploration of George Floyd’s America, revealing how a man who simply wanted to breathe ended up touching the world.

The Killing of George Floyd

The Killing of George Floyd
Author: Duchess Harris
Publisher: ABDO
Total Pages: 115
Release: 2020-12-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1098214064

This title takes a look at George Floyd's death at the hands of police, explores the history of police brutality in the United States, and examines the national and global response to his death. Features include a glossary, references, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

Lift Your Voice

Lift Your Voice
Author: Angela Harrelson
Publisher: Post Hill Press
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2022-02-08
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1637583389

Angela Harrelson grew up poor, one of thirteen brothers and sisters raised in a shack in the North Carolina woods. She was first in her family to go to college, first to be commissioned in the military, and first to have a career as a professional nurse. Along the way, she and her family were exposed to the harshest forms of racism—from her childhood riding the school bus with white children who made the Black kids stand, to racist commanding officers in the Air Force who told her they wanted her to fail. Nothing stopped Angela, and nothing removed the hope in her heart that America could learn to stop hating people based on the color of their skin. This is the story of George Floyd’s aunt, Angela Harrelson, and how, after being suddenly thrust into the spotlight, she went on a quest to make sure her nephew did not die in vain. Lift Your Voice is a memoir of faith, hope, and bravery, of what we all—Black and white—need to do to eradicate racism from our society. It’s a story of tragic loss and a worldwide uprising to ensure Perry’s death ushers society into a time where people are no longer judged, hated, or killed because of the color of their skin.

History of the Town of Floyd, New York

History of the Town of Floyd, New York
Author: Edwin C. Evans
Publisher: FriesenPress
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2018-01-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1525515144

Named after General William Floyd, one of the 56 who signed the Declaration of Independence, Floyd, is a small town in Central New York State in close proximity to not only pivotal points in the Revolutionary War, but also in the first radio transmissions from the moon, and the first reports of the 911 tragedy at NORAD, at the former Griffis AFB abutting the town of Floyd. Floyd is home to approximately 3700 people as of the 2015 census. The town was begun by settlers in a wild, yet untamed land in an area called by locals The Punch Bowl. Immigrants from other parts of the world came to settle. There was ethnic diversity, and varying views on matters of politics, but the people who were enterprising enough, stayed to begin families some of which are still here. They were not always well educated. In fact, there were some who would now be considered callous and even far from the norm. That being only a small part in the making of and the growth of a place many know as home. Personalities ran from colorful to dour, leaving a blend of flavors in this melting pot.

Para-Sites

Para-Sites
Author: George E. Marcus
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 518
Release: 2000-04-15
Genre: Art
ISBN: 9780226504377

Para-Sites, the penultimate volume in the Late Editions series, explores how social actors located within centers of power and privilege develop and express a critical consciousness of their own situations. Departing from the usual focus of ethnography and cultural analysis on the socially marginalized, these pieces probe subjects who are undeniably complicit with powerful institutional engines of contemporary change. In each case, the possibility of alternative thinking or practices is in complex relation to the subject's source of empowerment. These cases challenge the condition of cynicism that has been the favored mode of characterizing the mind-set of intellectuals and professionals, comfortable in their lives of middle-class consumption and work. In their effort to establish para-sites of critical awareness parallel to the levels of political and economic power at which they function, these subjects suggest that those who lead ordinary lives of modest power and privilege might not be parasites in relation to the systems they serve, but may be creating unique and independent critical perspectives.