Joy and Pain: A Story of Black Life and Liberation in Five Albums

Anthropologist Sojoyner (First Strike) explores in this dense and evocative account the impact of the carceral state on Black life in Los Angeles. At the heart of the story is Marley (no last name given), a Black teenager Sojoyner met through the Southern California Library, a “community hub” and archive that contains the records of the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party and other radical left organizations. Each chapter is structured like a music album, with the “A side” offering an intimate look at the impact of the carceral state on Marley’s life in such matters as housing, health care, and education. On the “B Side,” Sojoyner utilizes the library’s archives to explore the long fight against the carceral state in Southern California. He recounts how the frustrations of Black Angelinos over “economic disenfranchisement, horrid housing conditions. and lack of social infrastructure” exploded in the 1965 Watts Rebellion. Rather than address the structural forces at the root of the problem, city leaders reframed Black anger as “violent” and “noncivil” and launched a ruthless campaign of police surveillance and occupation, setting the stage for the 1992 Los Angeles Rebellion. Lively discussions of Black musicians including Ice Cube and Kendrick Lamar pepper the narrative, as do deep dives into the tactics and strategies of advocacy groups such as the Black Panther Party and the California Housing and Action Network. Progressive activists will savor this in-depth portrait of the struggle for justice. (Oct.)