Review by Sarah White 1 -- Guilty When Black
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Sarah White 1
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- Latest Review: Guilty When Black by Carol Mersch
Review by Sarah White 1 -- Guilty When Black
[Following is a volunteer review of "Guilty When Black" by Carol Mersch.]
Guilty When Black by Carol Mersch is a Non-Fiction book of the most excellent kind. I love this style of writing; for although it's full of pure fact, it is still a story and a good one at that. It does have profanity and some violence because it is about several people that were wrongfully incarcerated. Some sexual situations and religion but not in detail. Tastefully written.
The first part of the book is about the Race Massacer of Oklahoma in 1921. Oklahoma was never a nice place for blacks, especially black females.
Maishah Moses is also gay. So when her and her sisters apartment caught fire with Maishah in charge of her two nieces who were in the apartment, the police arrested her. Maishah's bail bondsman stood up for her in court but she was still charged with two counts of 2nd degree murder.
Maishah's family did everything they could but she still went to Mabel Bassett Correctional. The book goes on to describe some of inmates there and a little about their lives. Women in Oklahoma don't do well after their first arrest.
The only thing I didn't like about this book was the author saying that all of this happened because she was black. I think the antiquated court system would have incarcerated anyone female, any single mother and Maishah was just as good. It also seemed like she left the apartment for drugs which is me playing judge, jury and executioner.
I did like the photos in the book. It was nice to be able to put a face to Chrisandria, Maisha, Keahmiee, Noni and Nylah Moses. These names seem Hawaiian to me and Chrisandria, Maishah's mom, looks Hawaiian. Not that it matters. Nani means beautiful in Hawaiian. For comparison, Malia means merry and a popular Hawaiian name is Kehaulani. There are other photos, one taken by the author of an apartment door with electrical wires strung across, down and under the door. And the news photograph of the fire. An evidence photograph of the food that was cooked. There's one of the prosecuter, Kunzweiler. He looks like Hitler.
Anyhow, anyone who likes hard fact, historical Non-Fiction will like this. Guilty When Black is the best new book I have read. I highly recommend it and although there were a few errors, mostly a problem with what ATF stands for, I'm giving this book 4 out of 4 stars for the reason stated above.
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Guilty When Black
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Guilty When Black by Carol Mersch is a Non-Fiction book of the most excellent kind. I love this style of writing; for although it's full of pure fact, it is still a story and a good one at that. It does have profanity and some violence because it is about several people that were wrongfully incarcerated. Some sexual situations and religion but not in detail. Tastefully written.
The first part of the book is about the Race Massacer of Oklahoma in 1921. Oklahoma was never a nice place for blacks, especially black females.
Maishah Moses is also gay. So when her and her sisters apartment caught fire with Maishah in charge of her two nieces who were in the apartment, the police arrested her. Maishah's bail bondsman stood up for her in court but she was still charged with two counts of 2nd degree murder.
Maishah's family did everything they could but she still went to Mabel Bassett Correctional. The book goes on to describe some of inmates there and a little about their lives. Women in Oklahoma don't do well after their first arrest.
The only thing I didn't like about this book was the author saying that all of this happened because she was black. I think the antiquated court system would have incarcerated anyone female, any single mother and Maishah was just as good. It also seemed like she left the apartment for drugs which is me playing judge, jury and executioner.
I did like the photos in the book. It was nice to be able to put a face to Chrisandria, Maisha, Keahmiee, Noni and Nylah Moses. These names seem Hawaiian to me and Chrisandria, Maishah's mom, looks Hawaiian. Not that it matters. Nani means beautiful in Hawaiian. For comparison, Malia means merry and a popular Hawaiian name is Kehaulani. There are other photos, one taken by the author of an apartment door with electrical wires strung across, down and under the door. And the news photograph of the fire. An evidence photograph of the food that was cooked. There's one of the prosecuter, Kunzweiler. He looks like Hitler.
Anyhow, anyone who likes hard fact, historical Non-Fiction will like this. Guilty When Black is the best new book I have read. I highly recommend it and although there were a few errors, mostly a problem with what ATF stands for, I'm giving this book 4 out of 4 stars for the reason stated above.
******
Guilty When Black
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Guilty When Black by Carol Mersch
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ally derwin
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I read this book as well, and it didn't seem to me like the author made any claims about Miashah being arrested "just because she was black". The book spends a lot of time showing how the intersection of being black AND female causes such a huge disparity when you look at prison and arrest records. I do think that her queerness played more of a factor, and the author could've spent more time on this. But I'm also not sure why you think she left the apartment for drugs, when the witness that claimed this admitted they were talking about a completely different person during the trial. Either way, interesting review!
