Title: Five Days: The Fiery Reckoning of an American City
Authors: Wes Moore & Erica L. Green
Publisher: One World
Published: 2020
Genre: Non-fiction / Memoir Collection
Pages: 235 (Physical Copy, excluding prologue, epilogue, and author's note)
Read Time: 14 Days (Annotative & Engaged Reading)
.::Author's Summary::.
When Freddie Gray was arrested for possessing an “illegal knife” in April 2015, he was, by eyewitness accounts that video evidence later confirmed, treated “roughly” as police loaded him into a vehicle. By the end of his trip in the police van, Gray was in a coma from which he would never recover.
In the wake of a long history of police abuse in Baltimore, this killing felt like the final straw—it led to a week of protests, then five days described alternately as a riot or an uprising that set the entire city on edge and caught the nation's attention.
.::Personal Summary::.
After the death of yet another young black man, Freddie Gray, in Baltimore, for yet another alleged crime that filmed accounts disprove, authors Wes Moore and Erica L Green crafted a collection of memoirs recounting the events that transpired after his passing. Following the first-hand accounts of personal experiences during the Baltimore riots during the five days after Gray dies, these memoirs report an honest reality that haunts America's reputation still today, nearly 6 years after the riots took place.
OVERALL RATING
~ 5 out of 5 ~
I could spend this time reflecting and connecting my personal experiences to this text, but that doesn't feel appropriate or effective considering the topic of this publication. "Five Days" deals in the matters of system racism, police brutality, vengeance, and great loss. It would be super privileged of me to talk about what I've done and why I chose this book, or how I found my way to finishing this text a better ally to people of color than before.
That would be ridiculous, so I want to praise this book without giving so much away that it deters you from getting your own copy.
This book is perfection. Not only does it deliver first-hand accounts of situations many of us are too-far removed to understand, but it presents the stories in a way that makes you want to talk to the individuals being spotlighted. I wrote and highlighted all over this book as I went because I had thoughts, questions, comments, and moments of clarity. Reading through this book, I found myself angry. I found myself resentful. I found myself heartbroken. I cried and shouted. Regularly, the question came to mind, "Why is this even a real issue?"
Why is this happening? Why can't people just do their jobs the right way and with compassion? Why are people vested into their own self-interest? Why does it seem like everyone in power is only in it for their own gain?
But I have the answer to those questions, of course, because this country prays upon people of color, and reading these memoirs further confirmed the reality of it. With short chapters following the seven (though, I counted eight) people, you are always getting a new piece of information about the riots and the progression of this major moment in history. It feels more like watching a television show than reading a book because your vested interest reads episodically during the narrative's recounting of those days following Freddie Gray's death. What starts as one woman's efforts to create a peaceful protest to honor parents that lost their son as she lost her brother evolves into a violent riot when years of unrest and justified bitterness towards an oppressive system come to a rolling boil.
The perspectives you get are across a wide range, as well, because you have teacher who considers herself a rookie activist, you have an aspiring politician, a business owner, a sports executive, an attorney, a councilperson, an officer, and a once-aspiring athlete. Some of them operated from privilege and passion, while others operated from pain and anger. You were able to see the riots from every angle and a common denominator was clear: this was wrong.
Police brutality is wrong. Lack of accountability for those in power is wrong. Promising change that never comes is wrong. And that's what was the most moving part for me as a reader - the epilogue. We learn what came of the lives of these amazing people that we read about during the riots. It was so easy to get swept up in the text as a story that it was easy to fall into this false sense of security that true and timeless change would finally be awarded.
But here we are in 2021, only months away from the sixth anniversary of the riots, and systemic racism and police brutality are still in the headlines. True and timeless change? It only lasts as long as we are demanding it, and when the riots stopped - the people we learned about in these memoirs shared what the days, months, and years afterwards were life for them. Some people were able to demand progress and make change, but only in personal and small scales. Others were no better or worse off than they were ahead of the riots. Some, unfortunately, were worse off for a long time before they were able to find stability again. It was a reminder that the riots were just one piece of a long story that the American justice system continues to reject.
Honestly, this summary doesn't do the book any justice. I want everyone to read this. I want teachers to read this to their students. I want parents to read this to their kids. I want officers to read this and for lawmakers to read this. More texts like this should be required reading for education and careers. We cannot rely on corrupt and politically aligned new stations to provide stories like these. Exposure is always the best teacher, in my opinion, but exposure comes in many ways. Hearing and sharing black stories such as "Five Days" should be a necessity in life.
So, in closing, read this book and any others like it. You'll be better person for it.
.::Technical Writing::.
~ 5 out of 5 ~
I am the queen of long sentences and the biggest fan of commas and semi-colons, so it takes a lot for me to be critical of long sentences and massive paragraphs. I am the guiltiest of all parties about rambling on and on. However, there were a handful of times while reading that I would take photos of long sentences or paragraphs and share it with my friends. The font was not particularly small or large at all, and the book wasn't narrow or bulky. The size and length of the book was very digestible. But the sentences sometimes spanned 4 lines, and there were paragraphs that engulfed entire pages. That was off-putting at times, and definitely slowed me down since I was annotating the text as I went. It absolutely impacted how long it took me to finish the book, but not necessarily in a negative way.
Overall, the writing was superb and effective. The format and the delivery is spectacular and fitting for the genre, as well as the topic, which makes the reading experience natural. The content itself was jarring periodically, as it should be, but never in such a way that deterred me from moving forward. I enjoyed the whole reading process, other than just being a little daunted by the long sentences and paragraphs throughout my annotation. This was an easy book to read in the sense that it did not feel like work to read it.
.::Creative Content::.
~ 5 out of 5 ~
When it comes to non-fiction, the creative aspect is a hard one to gauge in my personal opinion. For me, it's really just down to the delivery. How did the author(s) tell a story in an engaging way that made me stay invested? Well, Moore & Green were able to break the memoirs up into smaller chunks that progressed in a cohesive timeline. In today's culture, we value social media style delivery because it is quick and easy to digest. That's how this book shares the stories of its individual. Most chapters are less than 4 pages in length, and they're not presented one right after the other.
For example, if Tawanda's narrative moment ends after two short paragraphs on page nine, Billy's narrative doesn't start on the same page. Instead, Billy's narrative would start on page ten. This makes it more fluid in the sense that there are clear distinctions between each person's reflection. Having those boundaries allows the reader to truly value each addition to the story. It was really nice to be able to have those sections broken off so clearly.
.::Recommendation Rating::.
~ 5 out of 5 ~
I already made myself perfectly clear: everyone should be reading this book. End of story. Read it. Tell people you love to read it. Tell strangers to read it. Keep sharing black stories with the people around you so that we are hearing the side of the story that oftentimes gets buried.
.::Personal Opinion::.
~ 5 out of 5 ~
I will never forget what I read in this book. It has only made me want to be more vocal about the social matters, especially those pertaining to race. This was something I needed to hear as I continue to try to be the best advocate for the things that matter to me. Making sure my actions reflect my values starts with seeking new ways to remain informed and continue learning. Non-fiction is a genre I often consider one of my least favorites, often times lacking in storytelling that enthralls the reader. As it turns out, I just needed to read something from a great author who knows how to find the pulse of a reader.
At the end of the day, I can't say anything negative about this book or these authors. I am so glad that I chose this book over others on the same topic. It was exactly the right kind of foray into a genre that I wouldn't normally choose to read to prepare me for more texts dealing in the same topics. Choosing to remain informed outside of news articles and tumblr posts is going to be far less intimidating because of the great work and inspiring stories from "Five Days: The Fiery Awakening of an American City."
Comments