Rebel Speak: A Justice Movement Mixtape

Prison activist Bain (The Ugly Side of Beautiful) presents a diverse and eye-opening series of discussions on mass incarceration, racial profiling, and other criminal justice issues. Describing the book as a “dialogue-centered mixtape,” Bain pays homage throughout to the hip-hop culture that inspired and informed his activism, name-checking such artists as KRS-One and Chuck D, who is interviewed. Other contributors include civil rights activists Dolores Huerta and Harry Belafonte; former Angola prison inmate Albert Woodfox, who started the first Black Panther Party prison chapter; and Susan Burton, founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project. Covering a broad range of injustices within the prison system, including abusive guards, the lack of mental health services, and censorship, these dialogues help to humanize a population that is often deemed disposable. Amid the stories of cruelty and discrimination, hope comes from Harry Belafonte’s praise for today’s youth activists and examples of how art and education can aid in the rehabilitation process. This is a powerful and intimate look at the fight for a more equitable and compassionate justice system. (Mar.)