America the Beautiful and Violent

Most discussions of violence focus on its horrors and have the tendency to portray perpetrators in a stereotypical manner. This book, on the other hand, has the potential to deepen our understanding of violence and shed light on solutions. -- Pedro Noguera, University of California, Los Angeles Dexter Voisin writes with conviction, clarity, and conscience in connecting the dots between big ideas (racism, violence, resilience) and daily life through his personal story and those of the folks he has interviewed. America the Beautiful and Violent will help you understand how African American youth can not only survive, but thrive. -- Lois Takahashi, University of Southern California Voisin powerfully shows that the violence that Chicago's black youth experience is rooted in the nation as a whole. He untangles these complex systems and offers clear and effective solutions. This book will be illuminating for scholars, policy makers, and practitioners alike. -- Mary Pattillo, author of <i>Black on the Block: The Politics of Race and Class in the City</i> Based on years of study, Dexter Voisin has written an unusually thoughtful, sensitive, and astute meditation on violence-what it means, how it comes about, how it affects people, and how the media choose to write about it. The book's critical yet sober stance means the author's clear and unmistakable sense of urgency is coupled with a subtle, sophisticated sense of the many-faceted consequences of violence. A consistently enlightening work. -- Mario L. Small, author of <i>Someone to Talk To</i> Voisin (Univ. of Toronto, Canada) has written a robust and captivating book detailing the impacts of neighborhood violence on the lives of impoverished black youth . . . The book is excellent in its overview of the problems at hand and the ways to address them . . . Highly recommended. -- J. A. Beicken, Rocky Mountain College * Choice *