{"product_id":"the-beast-side-living-and-dying-while-black-in-america-paperback","title":"The Beast Side: Living and Dying While Black in America - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eD. Watkins\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eDavid Talbot\u003c\/b\u003e (Foreword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e Best Seller  Baltimore, one of our country's quintessential urban war zones, is brought powerfully to life by literary talent, D. Watkins\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTo many, the past 8 years under President Obama were meant to usher in a new post-racial American political era, dissolving the divisions of the past. However, when seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot by a wannabe cop in Florida; and then Ferguson, Missouri, happened; and then South Carolina hit the headlines; and then Baltimore blew up, it was hard to find any evidence of a new post-racial order. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSuddenly the entire country seemed to be awakened to a stark fact: African American men are in danger in America. This has only become clearer as groups like Black Lives Matter continue to draw attention to this reality daily not only online but also in the streets of our nation's embattled cities. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eD. Watkins. fought his way up on the eastside (the \"beastside\") of Baltimore, Maryland--or \"Bodymore, Murderland,\" as his friends call it. He writes openly and unapologetically about what it took to survive life on the streets while the casualties piled up around him, including his own brother. Watkins pushed drugs to pay his way through school, staying one step ahead of murderous business rivals and equally predatory lawmen. When black residents of Baltimore finally decided they had had enough--after the brutal killing of twenty-five-year-old Freddie Gray while in police custody--Watkins was on the streets as the city erupted. He writes about his bleeding city with the razor-sharp insights of someone who bleeds along with it. Here are true dispatches from the other side of America. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn this new paperback edition, the author has also added new material in a section title \"Bonus Tracks\", responding to the rising tide of racial resentment and hate embodied by political figures like Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as well as the heartbreaking killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, and the impact this has had on issues of race in America. This book is essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of the chaos of our current political moment.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eD. Watkins is a columnist for Salon; his work has been published in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eRolling Stone\u003c\/i\u003e and other publications, and he is the recipient of numerous awards including a BME fellowship. He is currently a professor of Creative Writing at the University of Baltimore and is the founder of the BMORE Writers Project. In addition to \u003ci\u003eThe Beast Side, he is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Cook Up: A Crack Rock Memoir\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 208\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.7 x 8.1 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e September 27, 2016\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51771802812704,"sku":"9781510716391","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/518fa6181e0d71ccb1a7f85069eeebae.webp?v=1780393927","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-beast-side-living-and-dying-while-black-in-america-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}