Ghost in the Criminal Justice Machine: Reform, White Supremacy, and an Abolitionist Future by Emile DeWeaver

Despite reform efforts that have grown in scope and intensity over the last two decades, the machine of American mass incarceration continues to flourish. In this powerful polemic, formerly incarcerated activist, essayist, and organizer Emile Suotonye DeWeaver argues that the root of the problem is white supremacy. In the same vein as James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time, Ghost in the Criminal Justice Machine adds a sharp and unique perspective to the growing discourse on racial justice, incarceration, and abolition. With lucid, urgent prose, DeWeaver intervenes in contemporary debates on criminal justice and racial justice efforts with his eye-opening discussion of the tools we need to end white supremacy—both within and outside the carceral setting.

The Social Justice Book Club meets on the first Sunday of the month at noon. We meet in person in the Tot Green Room and virtually on zoom. Contact the UUCiL office at office@uucil.org if you have questions, comments, or book suggestions.