An important addition to the literature on both black nationalism and the US criminal justice system ... Parr brings out fascinating details of Bembry’s peripatetic life during the Depression era ... Granular detail.
Provides copious footnotes and scrupulous research; Parr also makes many speculations about what people know or said. Drawing on voluminous prison records, Parr’s descriptions of the midcentury penal system are chilling.
Parr never overreaches or preaches. He doesn’t slight Malcolm’s rigidities but he enriches readers’ appreciation of one of the most influential spokespersons of a tumultuous age.
