The crack cocaine years: from deviant globalization to the 'get money' culture of late twentieth-century America.

A vivid portrait of how Americans grappled with King's death and legacy in the days, weeks, and months after his assassination On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot as he stood on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis. At the time of his murder, King was a polarizing figure -- scorned by many white Americans, worshipped by some African Americans and liberal whites, and deemed irrelevant by many black youth. In The Heavens Might Crack, historian Jason Sokol traces the diverse responses, both in America and throughout the world, to King's death. Whether celebrating or mourning, most agreed that the final flicker of hope for a multiracial America had been extinguished. A deeply moving account of a country coming to terms with an act of shocking violence, The Heavens Might Crack is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand America's fraught racial past and present.

"Pip, a young boy who can speak to fish, and his sister Kinchen set off on a great adventure, joined by twins with magical powers, refugees fleeing post-war Vietnam, and some helpful sea monsters"--

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • A “vivid and frank” (NPR) account of the crack cocaine era and a community’s ultimate resilience, told through a cast of characters whose lives illuminate the dramatic rise and fall of the epidemic “A master class in disrupting a stubborn narrative, a monumental feat for the fraught subject of addiction in Black communities.”—The Washington Post “A poignant and compelling re-examination of a tragic era in America history . . . insightful . . . and deeply moving.”—Bryan Stevenson, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Just Mercy FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • ONE OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY AND VULTURE’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, The Washington Post, NPR, Chicago Public Library, Publishers Weekly, She Reads, Electric Lit, The Mary Sue The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s is arguably the least examined crisis in American history. Beginning with the myths inspired by Reagan’s war on drugs, journalist Donovan X. Ramsey’s exacting analysis traces the path from the last triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement to the devastating realities we live with today: a racist criminal justice system, continued mass incarceration and gentrification, and increased police brutality. When Crack Was King follows four individuals to give us a startling portrait of crack’s destruction and devastating legacy: Elgin Swift, an archetype of American industry and ambition and the son of a crack-addicted father who turned their home into a “crack house”; Lennie Woodley, a former crack addict and sex worker; Kurt Schmoke, the longtime mayor of Baltimore and an early advocate of decriminalization; and Shawn McCray, community activist, basketball prodigy, and a founding member of the Zoo Crew, Newark’s most legendary group of drug traffickers. Weaving together riveting research with the voices of survivors, When Crack Was King is a crucial reevaluation of the era and a powerful argument for providing historically violated communities with the resources they deserve.

Major Motion Picture based on Dark Alliance and starring Jeremy Renner, "Kill the Messenger," to be be released in Fall 2014 In August 1996, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb stunned the world with a series of articles in the San Jose Mercury News reporting the results of his year-long investigation into the roots of the crack cocaine epidemic in America, specifically in Los Angeles. The series, titled “Dark Alliance,” revealed that for the better part of a decade, a Bay Area drug ring sold tons of cocaine to Los Angeles street gangs and funneled millions in drug profits to the CIA-backed Nicaraguan Contras. Gary Webb pushed his investigation even further in his book, Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. Drawing from then newly declassified documents, undercover DEA audio and videotapes that had never been publicly released, federal court testimony, and interviews, Webb demonstrates how our government knowingly allowed massive amounts of drugs and money to change hands at the expense of our communities. Webb’s own stranger-than-fiction experience is also woven into the book. His excoriation by the media—not because of any wrongdoing on his part, but by an insidious process of innuendo and suggestion that in effect blamed Webb for the implications of the story—had been all but predicted. Webb was warned off doing a CIA expose by a former Associated Press journalist who lost his job when, years before, he had stumbled onto the germ of the “Dark Alliance” story. And though Internal investigations by both the CIA and the Justice Department eventually vindicated Webb, he had by then been pushed out of the Mercury News and gone to work for the California State Legislature Task Force on Government Oversight. He died in 2004.

By the beginning of the 1980's, the Bronx had become a godforsaken slum, making it the ideal location for an epidemic. That epidemic arrived in the form of crack cocaine, which hit the streets with a savage force setting off an explosion of violent crime unlike anything ever seen before. The birth of crack brought with it more money, more guns and more gangs. The faces of which were younger, hungrier and more vicious than their predecessors.In 1986, Hassan, a student of the streets put those lessons to work, ascending above all other ghetto dons and planting his flag at the top of the drug game. After successfully merging the North and Southside, Hassan ceases control of the largest projects in The Bronx, The Edenwald Houses. With maximum power and unlimited resources he and his crew reign supreme over the crack trade. But what crack giveth, crack taketh away as jealousy, rival crews and the federal government began chipping away at his once mighty empire. Enter Rhae, a beautiful, around the way girl, raised in the same unforgiven streets. After falling in love with Hassan, she tries convincing him to leave the game behind. But old habits die hard and the allure is stronger than either of them could imagine proving to be easier said than done.

Messiah is released from prison and she has revenge, murder and whipping crack on her mind when she laces her infamous black timberlands, and steps foot out the prison. During her stay there, she has made millions supplying the prison, and has half the staff on her payroll. With Messiah's release on his mind, Rasheed is the crack king of the tri state area. Nothing moves without his stamp of approval. With Ock as his right hand, they're dominating the game right now. His twin daughters are now three years old, and the spitting image of Messiah. They're the apple to his eye, all he is missing is his Queen to complete their Cocaine kingdom. While Messiah's incarceration, Jaylah took time off to be a wife and raise her son. Now with Messiah coming home, Ock notices she's cleaning her guns, ready for war. Will he be happy getting the Bonnie to his Clyde back? Eli is now married with a daughter by Tyesha. He's making money, but can't help but to keep falling short to the drug empire Rasheed has built. Knowing Messiah's release date is coming soon, he's strapped up to make sure his wife and daughter are protected. He wants to get Messiah before she gets him.... Will he? Messiah comes home and realizes that the Rasheed she left three years ago, isn't the same Rasheed. He's changed and so has she. Not willing to let Messiah get back to the streets, they fight constantly. Messiah struggles with being a wife, a mother and trap queen. Can she be all three? Courage comes to New York to find out about this cocaine princess. He's captivated by her, and wants to make her, his. Will Messiah's heart allow her to fall for someone else? LJ is happy that his sister is coming home,so he can end Juan's life. With his fiancé, Bronx by his side, they're ready to get at him. While in Miami, Bronx meets ,Karter. She's the daughter to the world's biggest distributor, Frank.Bronx may have stumbled onto a gold mine. However, will Messiah take another Cocaine Princess supplying her? The Cocaine Empire is finally complete and it's time for the Trap Queens and Crack Kings to protect it.