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Our Class
- Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
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Publisher's summary
A powerfully moving book that “could make graspable why today’s prisons are contemporary slave plantations” (Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple), giving voice to the poorest among us and laying bare the cruelty of a penal system that too often defines their lives.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges has taught courses in drama, literature, philosophy, and history since 2013 in the college degree program offered by Rutgers University at East Jersey State Prison and other New Jersey prisons. In his first class at East Jersey State Prison, where students read and discussed plays by Amiri Baraka and August Wilson, among others, his class set out to write a play of their own. In writing the play, Caged, which would run for a month in 2018 to sold-out audiences at the Passage Theatre in Trenton, New Jersey, and later be published, students gave words to the grief and suffering they and their families have endured, as well as to their hopes and dreams. The class’ artistic and personal discovery, as well as transformation, is chronicled in heartbreaking detail in Our Class.
This “magnificent” (Cornel West, author of Race Matters) book gives a human face and a voice to those our society too often demonizes and abandons. It exposes the terrible crucible and injustice of America’s penal system and the struggle by those trapped within its embrace to live lives of dignity, meaning, and purpose.
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By: Isaac Wright Jr., and others
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Invisible Child
- Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City
- By: Andrea Elliott
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrea Elliott follows eight dramatic years in the life of Dasani, a girl whose imagination is as soaring as the skyscrapers near her Brooklyn shelter. In this sweeping narrative, Elliott weaves the story of Dasani’s childhood with the history of her ancestors, tracing their passage from slavery to the Great Migration north. As Dasani comes of age, New York City’s homeless crisis has exploded, deepening the chasm between rich and poor. She must guide her siblings through a world riddled by hunger, violence, racism, drug addiction, and the threat of foster care.
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Narration is completely over the top
- By Heather on 10-14-21
By: Andrea Elliott
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Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem
- A Memoir
- By: Daniel R. Day
- Narrated by: Omari Hardwick, Daniel R. Day
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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With his now-legendary store on 125th Street in Harlem, Dapper Dan pioneered high-end streetwear in the 1980s, remixing classic luxury-brand logos into his own innovative, glamorous designs. But before he reinvented haute couture, he was a hungry boy with holes in his shoes, a teen who daringly gambled drug dealers out of their money, and a young man in a prison cell who found nourishment in books. In this remarkable memoir, he tells his full story for the first time.
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Textbook for the Ages
- By Joël j. Sylvain on 07-13-19
By: Daniel R. Day
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The Beast Side
- Living (and Dying) While Black in America
- By: D. Watkins
- Narrated by: Brandon Rubin
- Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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To many in the age of Obama, America had succeeded in "going beyond race", putting the divisions of the past behind us. And then 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot by a wannabe cop in Florida; and then 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri; and then Baltimore blew up; and then gunfire shattered a prayer meeting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Suddenly the entire country awakened to a stark fact: Young Black men are an endangered species.
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Excellent
- By Bruce Cline on 03-28-23
By: D. Watkins
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Unforgetting
- A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas
- By: Roberto Lovato
- Narrated by: Roberto Lovato
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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An urgent, no-holds-barred tale of gang life, guerrilla warfare, intergenerational trauma, and interconnected violence between the United States and El Salvador, Roberto Lovato’s memoir excavates family history and reveals the intimate stories beneath headlines about gang violence and mass Central American migration, one of the most important, yet least-understood humanitarian crises of our time - and one in which the perspectives of Central Americans in the United States have been silenced and forgotten.
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Difficult to hear but important to know.
- By M. Lindquist on 12-18-20
By: Roberto Lovato
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Without a Prayer
- The Death of Lucas Leonard and How One Church Became a Cult
- By: Susan Ashline
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Teenager Lucas Leonard made shocking admissions in front of the altar - he'd practiced witchcraft, conspired to murder his parents, and committed unspeakable crimes. The confessions earned him a brutal beating by a gang of angry church members, including his parents and sister. Lucas was brought to the hospital dead, awakening the sleepy community of Chadwicks, New York, to the horror that had been lurking next door. Nine members of Lucas' church would eventually find themselves facing murder-related charges. But how did they get to that point? And what made Lucas confess?
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The Depravity of the Human Soul
- By J. Miller on 01-31-20
By: Susan Ashline
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Trejo
- My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood
- By: Danny Trejo, Donal Logue
- Narrated by: Danny Trejo, Donal Logue
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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On screen, Danny Trejo the actor is a baddie who has been killed at least a hundred times. He’s been shot, stabbed, hanged, chopped up, squished by an elevator, and once, was even melted into a bloody goo. Off screen, he’s a hero beloved by recovery communities and obsessed fans alike. But the real Danny Trejo is much more complicated than the legend.
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The best book ever!
- By Nicolas Rocha on 07-08-21
By: Danny Trejo, and others
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The Stonewall Reader
- By: New York Public Library, Edmund White
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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June 28, 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States. Drawing from the New York Public Library's archives, The Stonewall Reader is a collection of first accounts, diaries, periodic literature, and articles from LGBTQ magazines and newspapers that documented both the years leading up to and the years following the riots.
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A good snapshot of LGBT history
- By Randy A. Wood on 09-28-19
By: New York Public Library, and others
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The Power of the Dog
- By: Don Winslow
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 20 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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This explosive novel of the drug trade takes you deep inside a world riddled with corruption, betrayal, and bloody revenge. From the streets of New York City to Mexico City and Tijuana to the jungles of Central America, this is the war on drugs like you've never seen it.
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Gripping Drama
- By Deborah on 01-06-11
By: Don Winslow
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Trust No Man
- By: Cash
- Narrated by: Brandon Rubin
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Terrence aka Youngblood is a young and jiggy stick-up kid in ATL with strict street principles respect for the code of his game, loyalty to those who are loyal to him, and much baby mama drama. Shan, Youngblood's cocaine sniffin' baby mama, violates him when she hooks up with one of his partnaz while Youngblood is serving a bid. When Youngblood touches down, it's on and poppin. Rich kid, a flamboyant drug kingpin wants to put Youngblood on his team, but Youngblood prefers to get his the fast way the ski mask way.
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Good Read with different twist!
- By Coco Smiles on 04-09-15
By: Cash
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While the World Watched
- A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement
- By: Carolyn Maull McKinstry
- Narrated by: Felicia Bullock
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Fifteen-year-old Carolyn Maull McKinstry was just a few feet away when the Klan - planted bomb that killed four of her friends exploded in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. It was one of the seminal moments in the Civil Rights movement, a sad day in American history…and the turning point in a young girl's life.
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Look Back and Live With Greater Understanding
- By jerrie Will on 05-07-21
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Will
- By: Will Smith, Mark Manson
- Narrated by: Will Smith
- Length: 16 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most dynamic and globally recognized entertainment forces of our time opens up fully about his life, in a brave and inspiring book that traces his learning curve to a place where outer success, inner happiness, and human connection are aligned. Along the way, Will tells the story in full of one of the most amazing rides through the worlds of music and film that anyone has ever had.
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Will sure loves Will
- By Kejeco on 11-18-21
By: Will Smith, and others
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What listeners say about Our Class
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Cathy Barker
- 10-29-22
Astonishing
Quite simply, one of the most important books I have ever read. Should be required reading in every high school
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- Kevin Pesenecker
- 10-04-22
really good
loved it worth the read made me think Chris is a genius hard to say anything bad
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- Two Leg Spider
- 12-13-21
Hedges’ Best Work Yet
Great Narrator, amazing story. A lot of the book is told from Hedges’ perspective, which was very interesting. IMHO, his best book yet.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-15-22
powerful
I actually got goosebumps at the end. I cannot recommend this book enough. two words
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- Gregorio Bueno
- 11-22-21
Riveting Story and Reality
I have come to know the great skills Hesges has and this is no exception. I think this book was more about his experience and his development as a human being while teaching in prison than the reality of prison in America. The story was good but it lacked structure at times. I found myself lost in the chapter and had to come back to figure out where I left off.
Narrator was excellent and I am hoping to hear from more him.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-10-21
Harrowing account of the prison system in the US
This is a dark subject but required reading in this country as it depicts the doom of prisoners
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1 person found this helpful
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- Gregory Stewart
- 04-25-22
Listening Worthy
Per usual Chris Hedges' book envelopes the listener. Challenges personal perspectives and gives insight to the state of the prison system in this country. This book is a good joiner to Michelle Alexander's book The New Jim Crow.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-09-22
Thank you Chris Hedges!
This work is deeply profound, insightful, and inspiring. This is a story about resurrection from the dead. I see the dry bones from Ezekiel coming alive.
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- Randy Baker
- 10-23-21
Amazing.
I’ve listened to dozens of Chris’s talks and most of his books. Life changing is all I can say.
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1 person found this helpful
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- BeijInga
- 05-21-22
A very important book
Among the many, many challenges that plague America, the massive and deeply unfair imprisonment of such large parts of the population, in particular black men, may be one of the saddest, most racist.
In this book, I learned about the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It became big business to imprison people, especially black men of course, which is part of the reason so many of them are in jail today. A history of racism, violence and demonisation of them as violent criminals even though they're in jail more minor crimes or are innocent.
Second, I learned that only a small percentage of prisoners have been convicted in a trial. Most are there with plea deals. This includes many many innocent people who have been told they'll have no chance in a trial. In addition, many innocent people refuse plea deals, assuming they'll go free, because they're innocent, but then get harsher sentences than the plea deal. This scares others into taking deals.
Third, I learned prisoners (at least in the Jersey jail in this book) get 15 minutes to visit a dying relative or see a deseased relative in a funeral home, with no other family present. They are accompanied by a guard, of course, and have to pay the overtime of that guard, which can be hundreds of dollars. I learned a lot more than that of course.
Please read. Also, please look up other works by Chris Hedges, in books, online newspapers, on YouTube and his podcast.
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