Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

This child was left behind

I highly recommend this new book: I Cried, You Didn’t Listen, by Dwight Abbott. Here’s what the publisher, AK Press, sez: “At the age of nine, a family tragedy split up Dwight Abbott’s family, and forced him into the hands of the California Youth Authority. This is the chilling chronicle of his life behind bars—a story of brutality and survival; a dark journey showing how the systematic abuse of incarcerated children creates a cycle of criminal behavior that usually ends with prison or death.”

There are many good books about the criminal injustice system (see below for a few) but this slim volume details how quickly a child can go from living a “normal” life to descending into the depths of hell. Politicians can talk shit about family values and saving the children all day, I Cried, You Didn’t Listen offers reality...yet another stark illustration of our deep societal depravity. I suggest you read it as soon as you can...and pass it along.

Rage Against the Machine sez: Is all the world jails and churches?