I follow many social justice activists on social media such as Shaun King (my favorite journalist ever), actor Matt McGorry and lawyer-author Michelle Alexander. Alexander is a law professor at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and is the author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”. After both McGorry and King recommended the book, I knew I had to pick it up. My heart aches for the broken criminal justice system and the people who are shuffled in and out of prison. America is responsible for 22% of the world’s prison population. That percentage equals over 2 million incarcerated persons in the US alone. Alexander’s book describes the school-to-prison pipeline, which focuses on shuffling minorities and particularly African American men through the prison system. One in three black men in America will be incarcerated if these trends continue in the future. Alexander explains how the damaged justice system has affected millions of Americans and why we need to use our voices to create change. “The New Jim Crow” is an incredible book and is a must-read if you care about social justice and human rights.
