The US is the only country in the world that sentences children to life without parole. One of those children was Henry Montgomery, whose 2016 Supreme Court case freed hundreds of people, except himself. He's been in prison for 57 years. He should be free. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
It can be difficult to wrap your head around how long 57 years in prison is. It can sometimes seem like an abstraction. But in so many ways, it's a lifetime. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
In Montgomery v Louisiana the Court ruled that its 2012 decision, Miller v Alabama—which banned mandatory life without parole for children—could be applied retroactively. The decisions affected more than 2,600 people, thus far freeing over 800 ppl and potentially hundreds more.
Next Wednesday Henry Montgomery will go in front of a parole board for the third time. There is no reason he should remain in prison. He is 75 years old, he was sentenced as a child, and his health is deteriorating. He should be free, and he should have been free a long time ago.
Making the longlist for the National Book Award means more than I can say. I’m so grateful to be on a list that has so many writers and thinkers I admire, including my brother @NifMuhammad. So glad I get to share this moment with him.
Why yes, this absolutely does mean that we are having French fries for dinner
Last month Connecticut became the first state in the country to make prison phone calls free. It’s a huge victory for the incarcerated and their families and will transform the lives of children with incarcerated parents. Every single state should do this. theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
During the public hearing on legislation to make prison phone calls free in CT, some ppl talked about how they couldn’t pay their rent, their gas, or their light bill because of the money they spent trying to stay in touch with a loved one. No one should have to make that choice.
Approximately 2.7 million children have a parent who is incarcerated, and more than 5 million—7 percent of all American children—have had a parent who was held in prison or jail at some point.
Being able to stay in touch with an incarcerated parent is essential for a child.
Many people have reached out expressing frustration that their local bookstores are sold out of HOW THE WORD IS PASSED. I'm so grateful for the support, but also please be patient with indie bookstores who are doing the best they can to get the book to you as quickly as possible.
Many independent bookstores, who are already struggling to survive, place small book orders because they have to be economically conservative in their business calculus. If they don't have a book in stock, just let them know you'd like them to order it and they'll get it to you.
It's more important than ever to support independent bookstores, whose presence shapes the cultural landscape of communities and whose work make the lives of writers like me possible. It's okay to wait a few days longer to get your book if it means sustaining these institutions.
I’m so grateful for the way that HOW THE WORD IS PASSED has been received in the world. This book is only possible because of the historians whose scholarship has transformed my understanding of slavery in America. Here is a thread of some of their books. I hope you buy them 🧵:
"The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family" by @agordonreed
My new book HOW THE WORD IS PASSED is out today. It explores how different places across the country reckon with, or fail to reckon with, their relationship to the history of slavery. I gave this book everything I have. Here are the places I visited 🧵:
I start in my hometown of New Orleans, thinking about what it meant that I grew up in majority Black city in which there were more homages to enslavers than there were to enslaved people. I started the book after watching the Confederate statues come down in the city in May 2017
I traveled to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson, trying to explore how a place remembers a man who both wrote one of the most important documents in the history of the western world, and who also enslaved over 600 people during his life including four of his own children.
Hey there, so HOW THE WORD IS PASSED comes out June 1st and I’ll be going on a virtual book tour to celebrate its launch. I’m thrilled to be in conversation with some brilliant & thoughtful people.