The Reckoning: What Blacks Owe to Each Other

by Randall Robinson

A national best-selling author and founder of the TransAfrica forum, Randall Robinson is one of the most respected voices of the African-American community. In this powerful book, he convincingly argues that African Americans must fight the growing presence of modern prisons, which hold an alarmingly disproportionate number of Black inmates.

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First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Gaia · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Reckoning,” by Randall Robinson, examines how social conditions, such as crime and poverty, affect Black people in the United States. The majority of the book focuses on Peewee Kirkland, but Robinson also offers insight into the relationship between the past abuses and injustices: enslavement, de jure and de facto discrimination, classism, and the contemporary— such as harsh sentencing, mass incarceration, and many other adversities.

[Payton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clearly written for (and probably consumed by) a niche audience, yet this book spoke to me at a time during my adolescence. The ides espoused by Robinson range from the practical to the fantastical, but this text provides an interesting counterpoint to the lens through which most mainstream media portrays the news. Focusing on issues of the African and African-American diaspora, Randall Robinson opens a passage of thought dealing with how to alternatively digest and see the world and it's many struggles.

[Tom Darrow · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book after I read Robinson's "The Debt" (which I thought was great). The Reckoning was written before The Debt, and you can see that many of the arguments that he formulates well in the latter book are not fully developed in the former. As a result, his arguments are not as powerful or convincing. If you are in to the topic of African American history, slavery, etc. I'd skip this book and go straight to The Debt.