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  • Policing Black Lives

  • State Violence in Canada from Slavery to the Present
  • Written by: Robyn Maynard
  • Narrated by: Marcia Johnson
  • Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (161 ratings)

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Policing Black Lives

Written by: Robyn Maynard
Narrated by: Marcia Johnson
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Publisher's Summary

Delving behind Canada’s veneer of multiculturalism and tolerance, Policing Black Lives traces the violent realities of anti-Blackness from the slave ships to prisons, classrooms, and beyond. Robyn Maynard provides listeners with the first comprehensive account of nearly 400 years of state-sanctioned surveillance, criminalization, and punishment of Black lives in Canada.

While highlighting the ubiquity of Black resistance, Policing Black Lives traces the still-living legacy of slavery across multiple institutions, shedding light on the state’s role in perpetuating contemporary Black poverty and unemployment, racial profiling, law enforcement violence, incarceration, immigration detention, deportation, exploitative migrant labor practices, disproportionate child removal, and low graduation rates.

Emerging from a critical race feminist framework that insists that all Black lives matter, Maynard’s intersectional approach to anti-Black racism addresses the unique and understudied impacts of state violence as it is experienced by Black women, Black people with disabilities, as well as queer, trans, and undocumented Black communities.

A call-to-action, Policing Black Lives urges listeners to work toward dismantling structures of racial domination and re-imagining a more just society.

Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country’s greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.

©2017 Robyn Maynard (P)2019 Bespeak Audio Editions

What the critics say

"Grounded in an impressive and expansive treatment of Black Canadian history, Maynard has written a powerful account of state anti-Black violence in Canada. Empirically rich and theoretically nimble, this work is an outstanding contribution to Black Canadian Studies." (Barrington Walker, Queen’s University)

"Robyn Maynard’s meticulously-researched and compelling analysis of state violence challenges prevailing narratives of Canadian multiculturalism and inclusion by examining how structures of racism and ideologies of gender are complexly anchored in global histories of colonization and slavery. This book should be read not only by those who have a specific interest in Canadian histories and social justice movements but by anyone interested in the abolitionist and revolutionary potential of the Black Lives Matters movement more broadly." (Angela Y. Davis)

"To understand this moment in Canada when Black communities are asserting that Black Lives really do matter, readers need this book." (Sylvia D. Hamilton)

What listeners say about Policing Black Lives

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    5 out of 5 stars

Eye opening!

Wow! The history and continued racist policies that are ongoing in Canada is incredible and injust. A a white man, I have always looked at Canada as being better than the United States in regards to racism, and had truly closed my eyes and remained happily ignorant to the travesties that were and are happening all around me. This book will play an instrumental part in how I move forward in voting and pushing for changes in policies. I recognize that I have truly been a part of the problem because of my inaction and acceptance of what the government has told me. Hopefully more will read and listen to these powerful words so that they too may have their eyes opened.

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4 people found this helpful

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  • YC
  • 2020-05-30

Great book! It was very detailed and eye opening!

It is a must-read for all Canandians no matter the background. I salute the meticulous research methode that the author Robyn Maynard used to gather the data for this project. I also congratulate the author for her ability to simplify the complex infornation contained within the book!
I strongly recommend this book!

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4 people found this helpful

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  • MB
  • 2020-10-08

Sobering, sad and eye opening

I was a relatively naive (on this topic) 57 year old white Canadian woman who learned a lot about Canada and about “the black’ perspective in Canada. by listening to this book.

I didn’t always agree with the author’s liberal use of the words violent and violence, however, I didn’t let it stop me from listening to the hard stories and hearing and gaining a better “understanding” of the problems faced by black Canadians. This book was recommended by LeadNow for those who want to learn more about being antiracist instead of just striving to be non-racist. Reading or listening to this book is a good place to start.

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2 people found this helpful

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Every Canadian should read this incredibly important book

From slavery to mass incarceration to segregation to the racist harm perpetuated by the child welfare system, to police brutality, to the school to prison pipeline, these are all things that Canadians are regularly told are facets of racism in America, not something we deal with here, since we celebrate our multiculturalism, right? No. All the things I listed above are just *some* of the topics covered in this book, which explicitly looks at all the ways black people and black bodies are policed in Canada.

It’s an important book that dispels a lot of our national myths and sense of superiority over our southern neighbours, as well as dispelling a lot of racist myths that white Canadians like myself absorbed by living in a nation that privileges white lives and white culture over all others. We need to challenge those racial assumptions and unconscious biases we have in order to do the work to dismantle these systems of oppression and support the incredibly brave work being done by BIPOC in Canada to create a more equitable and just society that addresses all the systemic harm done

I can not recommend this book enough.

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A Must Read

You MUST listen to this if you have been through the Canadian public school system. Canadians are taught that we are a cut above the rest when it comes to how we (colonialists) have treated other ethnicities and that we exist in an ethnically egalitarian castle on the hill.

Listen. Learn the truth.

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good introduction to canadian anti-black racism

A well narrated, brilliantly written and very organized canadian perspective on anti black racism throughout our history.

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a relevant reading to understand systematic racism

A great book to deep dive into the roots of systematic racism and state violence against black people (with some comments on racism against indigenous and non white folks)
the author is aware of the need of an intersectional approach, including elements like gender, disabilities, immigration status, poverty and queernes into the analysis.
A relevant reading to understand better racial dynamics in canada and to challenge our current state.

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Must Read/Listen!

This is necessary learning for Canadians, to understand the structures and systems of oppressions facing Black folx in our country. We are not immune to systemic racism, even though we like to think we are because we're Canadian!

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Exceptional analysis of racism in Canada

A must read for anyone who wishes to better understand the legacy of colonialism and racism and how this has impacted people of African descent, and the Indigenous, Inuit and Métis peoples of Canada,

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Wish I learned about Canada's black history more

I graduated high school in 2016 and wish I was taught this growing up in SK, Canada. We read The Book of Negro in high school and spent a term on how Nova Scotia treated black people by Halifax, but I wish I was taught all of this here.

I took history 100 as an elective at the U of R and learned of the black woman who was blamed in the newspapers for setting the city aflame that's discussed in this book and read "Excessive force: Toronto's fight to reform city policing" by Alok Mukherjee when it caught my eye at Regina's central public library.

These kinds of systemic issues need to be discussed more. I didn't know so much mentioned in this book and actively try and seek this out to broaden my education as a bachelor of health studies student.

Canada needs to include black history in Canada in our education system and this book would be wonderful in that kind of course.

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