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Number's Up: Cracking the Code of an American Family
A piece of paper with a previously undisclosed truth has the power to bring you to your knees.
For four decades, Johnisha Matthews Levi believed a conventional story about her birth, picturing her happy parents at the hospital together. While sorting through her late mother's belongings, however, she discovered a document indicating that her father was instead serving time in Lorton Correctional Complex. This revelation, along with rumors about an FBI investigation of her deceased parents' "private business," leads Levi to unearth the hidden history of her family. She ties this story to public policy, demonstrating how state lottery legalization and the War on Drugs disrupted the Black institutions and communities in Washington, DC.
Levi's stirring memoir centers on her brilliant but troubled father, a Black World War II radioman who, facing economic barriers after his naval service, reinvents himself as a "numbers man" for an underground gambling operation. The job enables John Matthews to provide for his loved ones and to achieve a level of success far beyond his childhood dreams in the impoverished Jim Crow South. In the process, he becomes an indirect target of law enforcement.
By examining the circumstances of her father's incarceration, Levi explores how multiple generations of the Matthews family have been haunted by the specter of violence against Black people. Number's Up offers a unique but quintessentially American story of survival through ingenuity as it Is forgiveness the sole means of moving forward?
For four decades, Johnisha Matthews Levi believed a conventional story about her birth, picturing her happy parents at the hospital together. While sorting through her late mother's belongings, however, she discovered a document indicating that her father was instead serving time in Lorton Correctional Complex. This revelation, along with rumors about an FBI investigation of her deceased parents' "private business," leads Levi to unearth the hidden history of her family. She ties this story to public policy, demonstrating how state lottery legalization and the War on Drugs disrupted the Black institutions and communities in Washington, DC.
Levi's stirring memoir centers on her brilliant but troubled father, a Black World War II radioman who, facing economic barriers after his naval service, reinvents himself as a "numbers man" for an underground gambling operation. The job enables John Matthews to provide for his loved ones and to achieve a level of success far beyond his childhood dreams in the impoverished Jim Crow South. In the process, he becomes an indirect target of law enforcement.
By examining the circumstances of her father's incarceration, Levi explores how multiple generations of the Matthews family have been haunted by the specter of violence against Black people. Number's Up offers a unique but quintessentially American story of survival through ingenuity as it Is forgiveness the sole means of moving forward?
254 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 17, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 23, 2025
Levi’s memoir is a poignant exploration of justice—revealing how systemic racism shaped her father’s life and continues to impact Black communities in DC. She highlights the deliberate dismantling of Black economies and institutions, illustrated through the criminalization of the “numbers game,” or street lottery. For her father and many others, this enterprise was more than survival—it provided financial stability for Black families excluded from the legal economy and helped sustain vital community institutions, such as schools, when traditional financing was unavailable. Levi also draws a direct line to the present, showing how gentrification has further eroded the cultural and economic foundations of Washington, DC’s Black neighborhoods.
Her work also includes a powerful moment spent with one of her heroes, Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, where she discusses her experience helping Black men on death row.
These layers of justice themes—colorism, classism, mental health, and more—form the heart of this memoir, making it both a deeply personal account and a larger critique of America’s systemic racism.
Number’s Up is a memoir that stayed with me long after I turned the last page. As someone who has lived only in gentrified DC—where the displacement of Black residents is painfully evident—Levi’s recounting of DC's past from the perspective of a young Black woman who grew up here in the 80s and 90s was incredibly moving and educational.
This book covers difficult topics, but I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys memoirs, social justice narratives, and Black history. It’s also a must-read for anyone seeking to heal from their own upbringing or trying to understand their family dynamics and how to reach a place of reconciliation. Levi’s memoir is layered, deeply personal, and a powerful testament to resilience, healing, and justice.
Her work also includes a powerful moment spent with one of her heroes, Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, where she discusses her experience helping Black men on death row.
These layers of justice themes—colorism, classism, mental health, and more—form the heart of this memoir, making it both a deeply personal account and a larger critique of America’s systemic racism.
Number’s Up is a memoir that stayed with me long after I turned the last page. As someone who has lived only in gentrified DC—where the displacement of Black residents is painfully evident—Levi’s recounting of DC's past from the perspective of a young Black woman who grew up here in the 80s and 90s was incredibly moving and educational.
This book covers difficult topics, but I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys memoirs, social justice narratives, and Black history. It’s also a must-read for anyone seeking to heal from their own upbringing or trying to understand their family dynamics and how to reach a place of reconciliation. Levi’s memoir is layered, deeply personal, and a powerful testament to resilience, healing, and justice.
May 28, 2025
Johnisha Levi’s Number’s Up is a beautifully written, deeply personal memoir that explores the ripple effects of a long-buried family secret. What begins with the discovery of an unexpected document evolves into a powerful reflection on identity, memory, and the hidden histories that shape us.
Levi unpacks her family’s past with care and insight, weaving in broader themes of race, justice, and the impact of public policy on Black communities. This is a story about love, survival, and reckoning with truths that refuse to stay hidden.
A moving and memorable debut. A must read!
Levi unpacks her family’s past with care and insight, weaving in broader themes of race, justice, and the impact of public policy on Black communities. This is a story about love, survival, and reckoning with truths that refuse to stay hidden.
A moving and memorable debut. A must read!
July 15, 2025
This is a rich profound memoir that quickly immerses you in a remarkable family story. The author skillfully interweaves her parents' individual narrratives with a compelling analysis of the historical forces that shaped their lives. The context helps us understand the family secrets and choices. It also illuminates the author's own healing process as she reveals her family's pain, joy, and resilience.
October 7, 2025
Number's Up is a great memoir that flits through periods of Johnisha's upbringing to shine a light on systemic racism in DC and how her spirited father navigated it. Her writing style is relaxed and comforting, which makes for lovely cruise-reading that had me lost in her world for a spell. Loved it.
October 25, 2025
This is a beautiful book, so deeply thought and felt by a writer who brings such empathy to some really painful parts of her family life and our country's history. I was very moved. She doesn't offer any easy platitudes to try to wrap things up, but I finished the book feeling like I had a real understanding of this complicated and beautiful family.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews