On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope
On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope was published on September 4th, 2018 by Viking. The book was written by Deray Mckesson. The book explains how an African American man tries to reveal how to create a world where everyone is taking accountability for believing and creating the world we want to live in through justice, freedom, and mindset[1].
Plot
DeRay Mckesson, a 29-year-old African American activist, collaborates with thousands of people in protesting the police for the accountability and justice for the Black people in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014. The protest creates the Black Lives Matter movement which spread massively through the internet. Throughout history, it has shown that the government is unable or not willing to handle racism. Mckesson explains how the oppression remains to endure up to this era and how complex the racial system exists. He believes that we should be taking action to stop the prejudice that becomes more obvious these days. With the development of technology, hope even lights brighter so we can dismantle racism and create a better world for our children with equal justice and freedom[3].
Black Empowerment
The book invites people to take action in stopping racism. Mckesson writes about his experience in joining thousands of people who protest asking the accountability and justice to police in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. As Mckesson writes "Protest is, in its own way, a storytelling,”. The protest becomes the first demonstration of the Black Lives Matter movement and an illustration for many demonstrations in other cities. With the development of technology especially Twitter, the protest and campaign could be seen in real-time. This has prevented the authorities in Ferguson and Missouri to create a misinterpretation or fake news. With the platform that has been established, he believes that the civil rights movement can be rallied massively across the world[4]. As the government was unable or unwilling to stop racism, he writes that we had to do the work. He encourages people that hope remains to exist, and faith should be pushed forward to reclaim the assurance. As he writes in the book"We can win. And if we do, it will be because more of us understood that this is a system of choices, and we have learned how to build power to make new choices. When they say that power concedes nothing without a demand, they are reminding us that the demand has to create something new-a new power dynamic, a new reality. And hope is the fuel of this demand. Hope is not magic. Hope is work. Let's get to the work."[5].
Controversy
The book reveals the systemic problem in the police system where police can create a narration whichever they want. Mckesson and his colleagues had built Mapping Police Violence, a database of black people killed by police. It shows that blacks would be oppressed by police three times more than whites with 1,200 black people become the victims of police persecution[6].
References
- ↑ On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope. Goodreads. Retrieved January 24 2021
- ↑ On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope Book Cover. Goodreads. Retrieved January 24 2021
- ↑ On the Other Side of Freedom Penguin Random House. Retrieved January 24 2021]
- ↑ Otis R. Taylor Jr. ‘On the Other Side of Freedom,’ by DeRay Mckesson Datebook. Retrieved January 24 2021]
- ↑ Excerpt: On The Other Side Of Freedom NPR. Retrieved January 24 2021]
- ↑ ON THE OTHER SIDE OF FREEDOM Kirkus Media LLC. Retrieved January 24 2021]