โ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ. ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ด, ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ต, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ; ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ฑ.โ โ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฅ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ
๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ Readers, ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐ค๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ?
Over the last month, I had the chance to read Punching The Air by Ibi Zoboi and Dr. Yusef Salaam thanks to the kindness of Harper Collins and Karina @AFirePages. As an avid Ibi Zoboi fan and an admirer of the tenacity of the Exonerated Five, getting an ARC of this book was one of the highlights of my year.
Zoboi and Dr. Yusef Salaam book follows the story of Amal, a sixteen-year-old Black artist, who is convicted of a crime of aggravated assault against a White boy. But, Amal’s real crime stems from being born Black.
According to the Institute for Crime & Justice Policy Research โthe U.S. currently houses the worldโs largest prison population,โ with Blacks having a conviction rate thatโs โfive times higherโ than their White counterparts. And, thanks to the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Booker in 2005, which gave judges more discretion over sentencing and imposing harsher or more lenient sentences than the U.S. Sentencing Commissions guidelines called for, judges have now found it easier to punish BIPOC men, like Amal.
Thus, when readers see Amal claiming his innocence in court and being convicted to a harsh sentence at a young age, it hurts. As a minority reader, you will more than likely not only remember Dr. Yusef and the Exonerated Fiveโs case, but probably can also relate to Amalโs plight because you remember the a loved one or friend whoโs also experienced harsh sentencing and lost years behind bars.
What I enjoyed most about this #OwnVoice novel in verse is that it is not only raw and real, but it feels honest. Amal is a character that I saw my brother, cousins, and nephews in. He is a boy who has high hopes, but gets painted as a monster by society instead of embraced for his art and potential.
The White educators and lawyers in his life masquerade as these Anti-racist figures and do-gooders, but when their feet are held to the fire, they act in their own self-interest.
Zoboi and Dr. Salaamโs book is an essential read, and I hope that you also pick it up and read it alongside Just Mercy by Bryan and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.
