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Addressing the larger issues

BY R. HOLTZ

Marita Golden reads from her book After.

The audience in a small auditorium on the main campus of UDC listened quietly as UDC writer in residence Marita Golden read from her book After. Even the children were still on Jan. 28, enthralled by Golden's literary magic. When the reading ended and Golden invited questions from the audience, the focus shifted from the book to its subject--the aftermath of a police killing of an unarmed black man.

It's a subject all too often see on television and read in newspapers. The names of the victims stay fresh in the mind: Prince Jones, Marquise Hudspeth, Sean Bell; all killed by police officers with preconceived notions based on unjustified fear. Golden presents this poignant and volatile subject in a no nonsense view as seen from the cop's perspective.

After, published by Doubleday, wasn't an easy book for Golden to write. Her son was beaten by a police officer, which left her with negative feelings toward cops. "I thought all cops were brutal. No way in hell was I gonna make a cop the main character in a book I'd written," Golden said. Making a cop the main character meant making the cop human, a difficult task when dealing with someone many see as a monster. Golden said, "I warred with this character for many months, and then finally one day I said, 'Okay, you win. The book is yours.'" When Golden did that, she put a human face on an inhuman act.

Golden pointed out after the reading that she didn't write After to absolve police. She said her intent was to make people think about how people move on after tragedy, and larger issues of "guilt and redemption." Perhaps this, along with its honest portrayal, is why After received the NAACP Image Award for outstanding literary work.

She acknowledged the double standard of justice in America. Police profile in a way that demonizes young African-American men. Golden attributed this to the "tragic result of the history of racism in this country." She also said that her research revealed that there is a lot of bad training of police officers, predisposing them to use deadly more often than necessary. "Then you combine that with racial profiling and stereotyping, and you have a horrible combustible mix that makes it seem like it's open season on certain people in our society," Golden said.

 

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