{"product_id":"if-we-must-die-from-bigger-thomas-to-biggie-smalls-paperback","title":"If We Must Die: From Bigger Thomas to Biggie Smalls - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAimé J. Ellis\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eIf We Must Die: From Bigger Thomas to Biggie Smalls, \u003c\/i\u003e author Aimé J. Ellis argues that throughout slavery, the Jim Crow era, and more recently in the proliferation of the prison industrial complex, the violent threat of death has functioned as a coercive disciplinary practice of social control over black men. In this provocative volume, Ellis delves into a variety of literary and cultural texts to consider unlawful and extralegal violence like lynching, mob violence, and white riots, in addition to state violence such as state-sanctioned execution, the unregulated use of force by police and prison guards, state neglect or inaction, and denial of human and civil rights. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFocusing primarily on young black men who are depicted or see themselves as bad niggers, gangbangers, thugs, social outcasts, high school drop-outs, or prison inmates, Ellis looks at the self-affirming embrace of deathly violence and death-defiance-both imagined and lived-in a diverse body of cultural works. From Richard Wright's literary classic \u003ci\u003eNative Son\u003c\/i\u003e, Eldridge Cleaver's prison memoir \u003ci\u003eSoul on Ice\u003c\/i\u003e, and Nathan McCall's autobiography \u003ci\u003eMakes Me Wanna Holler\u003c\/i\u003e to the hip hop music of Eazy-E, Tupac Shakur, Notorious B.I.G., and D'Angelo, Ellis investigates black men's representational identifications with and attachments to death, violence, and death-defiance as a way of coping with and negotiating late-twentieth and early twenty-first century culture. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDistinct from a sociological study of the material conditions that impact urban black life, \u003ci\u003eIf We Must Die\u003c\/i\u003e investigates the many ways that those material conditions and lived experiences profoundly shape black male identity and self-image. African Amerian studies scholars and those interested in race in contemporary American culture will appreciate this thought-provoking volume.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eAimé J. Ellis was an associate professor of English and core faculty in African and African American studies at Michigan State University until his death in 2009.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 224\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.56 x 9.02 x 6.07 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e June 15, 2011\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42722550251583,"sku":"9780814334133","price":58.3,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/09ec87d7d61fa95d070202eeca7cbc42.webp?v=1765096134","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/if-we-must-die-from-bigger-thomas-to-biggie-smalls-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}