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On The Run: Fugitive Life In An American City (2014)

by Alice Goffman(Favorite Author)

4.05 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

022613671X (ISBN13: 9780226136714)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

University Of Chicago Press

review 1: I don't know how academically rigorous the book is - although the methodological notes were almost as interesting as the actual story, I think she should put it the beginning of the book to give the stories more background. I don't know how typical the experiences of the 6th Street Boys are compared with the rest of the typical inner city population - although, given the incarceration rate of black men and the sheer number of them processed in the criminal justice system, I can't imagine that it's too far off. It's a fascinating look at life in the inner city, the failure of the War on Drugs, and its disastrous effects on the community, sort of like the movie City of God set in urban Philadelphia. It made me much more sympathetic to the Michael Brown killing in Ferguson... more and the Eric Garner choking death in New York City, but it made resigned to the fact that in both cases, they didn't return an indictment.
review 2: A facinating socialogical study of the lives of poor black men in Philly. I found this especially interesting given my work with incarcerated teens. The fact of the matter seems to be that being poor and black limits opportunity, driving young meen to illegal activities, which then entrap them in the corrections machine. Many of the teens I work with complain that if you get caught once it is almost impossible to get out (there are too many rules to keep track of that eventually you will break one and go back to detention). It does seem that the cards are stacked against them and I wonder what I can do to help. less

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