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Money Rock: A Family’s Story of Cocaine, Race, and Ambition in the New South
“To be a poor man is hard, but to be a poor race in a land of dollars is the very bottom of hardships.”
—W.E.B. Du Bois
Meet Money Rock, a charismatic young man—and Charlotte’s flashiest dealer—at the center of a decades-spanning and eye-opening, riveting social history, in the tradition of Ghettoside
Money Rock is the gripping story—by turns action-packed, uplifting, and tragic—of a striving African American family, swept up and transformed by the 1980s cocaine epidemic. This epic account begins in 1963 when Belton Lamont Platt (who would come to be known as Money Rock) is born in a newly integrated North Carolina hospital to Carrie, an activist mother. It ends with Belton’s sons, three of whom die violently as teenagers, and one—his oldest—who’s trying to transcend a criminal past in a world where the odds are stacked against him.
Veteran reporter Pam Kelley takes readers through a shootout that shocks the city, a botched FBI sting, and a trial with a judge known as “Maximum Bob.” Yet Money Rock transcends the dramatic details, illuminating the power of family and the near impossibility of creating lasting change without reckoning with the sins of the past. This intimate journey shows the social forces and public policies shaping the choices of characters both brilliant and flawed, complex people whose lives are often oversimplified and undervalued. Readers will find in Money Rock a deeply American story, one that shouldn’t be possible, let alone common.
—W.E.B. Du Bois
Meet Money Rock, a charismatic young man—and Charlotte’s flashiest dealer—at the center of a decades-spanning and eye-opening, riveting social history, in the tradition of Ghettoside
Money Rock is the gripping story—by turns action-packed, uplifting, and tragic—of a striving African American family, swept up and transformed by the 1980s cocaine epidemic. This epic account begins in 1963 when Belton Lamont Platt (who would come to be known as Money Rock) is born in a newly integrated North Carolina hospital to Carrie, an activist mother. It ends with Belton’s sons, three of whom die violently as teenagers, and one—his oldest—who’s trying to transcend a criminal past in a world where the odds are stacked against him.
Veteran reporter Pam Kelley takes readers through a shootout that shocks the city, a botched FBI sting, and a trial with a judge known as “Maximum Bob.” Yet Money Rock transcends the dramatic details, illuminating the power of family and the near impossibility of creating lasting change without reckoning with the sins of the past. This intimate journey shows the social forces and public policies shaping the choices of characters both brilliant and flawed, complex people whose lives are often oversimplified and undervalued. Readers will find in Money Rock a deeply American story, one that shouldn’t be possible, let alone common.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published September 25, 2018
27 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
About the author
Pam Kelley
1 book14 followersPam Kelley worked for more than 30 years at the Charlotte Observer, where her reporting won honors from the National Press Club and the Society for Features Journalism. She contributed to a subprime mortgage exposé that was a finalist for the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. She lives in Cornelius, North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
January 11, 2019
Pam Kelley's Money Rock: A Family's Story of Cocaine, Race and Ambition in the New South chronicles the life of Belton "Money Rock" Platt, a young drug dealer struggling to succeed in Charlotte, North Carolina, a city riven by segregation, redlining and a judicial system that disproportionately punishes non-white citizens. I'm a graduate school classmate of Kelley's, and read her drafts with excitement as she hammered this riveting narrative in a tight, gripping chronicle of Platt's struggles, downfall, and eventual redemption as he tries to make amends for the errors that he made as a young man. Kelley is a gifted writer and reporter, and her meticulous research and empathetic writing about Platt turns this story of one man in one southern city into a microcosm of the racial and economic divides that challenge the country nationally. It is a book that is both timely for its subject matter and timeless because of Kelley's taut, powerful writing. Highly recommended.
December 3, 2018
I am giving this book five stars (sort of to my own surprise, because this is not usually the type of book to which I award five stars). I was predisposed to like reading it, no matter how hard the story, because I live in Charlotte and am familiar with every place mentioned, which, as usual, makes for an interesting read. But, I liked the book much better than I expected to - it is well-written, with just the right (to me) mix of narrative, personal stories, and cold hard facts. Ms. Kelley did an excellent job of telling the story of Money Rock and his family without becoming maudlin or overwrought. In like fashion, she did a great job of telling the problems, tensions, and decisions that influenced the characters. An educational, interesting, well-told read!
November 19, 2018
While the man called Money Rock is the central figure here, Pam Kelley doesn't focus solely on his story. We're taken deep into the heart of poverty, racism, and drug dealing in the south. This book excels at showing us how these issues are tied together in ways outsiders don't see and the media doesn't talk about.
The writing is engaging, with a narrative style that pulls us in. There is nothing textbook or dry about this book. We meet the people involved, and we see them at their best and their worst. We're placed right in the midst of a world the typical white, middle-class (like myself) rarely experience. Though not as overt as decades ago, the issue of race, and racism, is alive and well.
During the first half of this book, I couldn't help but feel for Money Rock's situation. He made a lot of bad choices, but his choices look different to those of us standing on the sidelines. For him, no doubt those choices looked far more limited.
I can't say that I liked Money Rock as a person. Honestly, I liked him much less as a reformed adult than I did as a troubled kid. His turnaround came with the cliche of finding God in prison, turning his life over, and becoming a pastor and mentor. What I found most irksome about this was that he chased his dream of opening a church and mentoring troubled kids while all but ignoring his own children and grandchildren. I'm not sure how much of a "Christian" label to put on that behavior.
That being said, my feelings about Money Rock are irrelevant. This book is much more than a character study of one man. This book is a hard look at the race divisions in a southern community. We see how and why it happened, how and why it continues, and the repercussions to all of us.
*I received a copy from the publisher, via Amazon Vine, in exchange for my honest review.*
The writing is engaging, with a narrative style that pulls us in. There is nothing textbook or dry about this book. We meet the people involved, and we see them at their best and their worst. We're placed right in the midst of a world the typical white, middle-class (like myself) rarely experience. Though not as overt as decades ago, the issue of race, and racism, is alive and well.
During the first half of this book, I couldn't help but feel for Money Rock's situation. He made a lot of bad choices, but his choices look different to those of us standing on the sidelines. For him, no doubt those choices looked far more limited.
I can't say that I liked Money Rock as a person. Honestly, I liked him much less as a reformed adult than I did as a troubled kid. His turnaround came with the cliche of finding God in prison, turning his life over, and becoming a pastor and mentor. What I found most irksome about this was that he chased his dream of opening a church and mentoring troubled kids while all but ignoring his own children and grandchildren. I'm not sure how much of a "Christian" label to put on that behavior.
That being said, my feelings about Money Rock are irrelevant. This book is much more than a character study of one man. This book is a hard look at the race divisions in a southern community. We see how and why it happened, how and why it continues, and the repercussions to all of us.
*I received a copy from the publisher, via Amazon Vine, in exchange for my honest review.*
October 4, 2018
An uncommonly powerful story of a hustler's life and his redemption evoked by immersive reporting and prose that flows like a river. Highly recommended.
September 23, 2018
Thank you NetGalley for this Advanced eGalley of "Money Rock" by Pam Kelley.
"Money Rock" is about the rise, fall, and redemption (if you choose to call it such) of Belton Lamont Platt. Platt sold cocaine in Charlotte during the 80's, just as crack was becoming an epidemic, and made a name for himself as a dealer and friend of the community. It wasn't unusual for him to use his money to help those in need.
Pam Kelley relates the story of Platt (nicknamed "Money Rock") using the political, sociocultural, and historical realm as a guide. All contributed to his decision to enter the drug trade. She doesn't attempt to make excuses for him, nor does he make any for himself, both present the facts of that time, and make it clear the opportunities offered weren't great.
If you were going to survive, and advance out of urban poverty, you were going to have to do so using one of three things: drugs, music, or sports.
Belton didn't foresee a future in sports or music.
Kelley makes sure the reader understands that while there may have been other legitimate options, the access given to them was nearly inaccessible due to shortcomings in education, transportation and overall community resources.
The environment in which young men like Platt were forced to thrive didn't leave much in the way of opportunity. Many of them were pigeon-holed into lives of criminality based on their address alone since no one expected much from a kid “from the projects". As such, alternatives for success weren't offered--neither by the government nor those residing within their own households—because why bother wasting time and money on lost causes.
Left to their own devices, many of these young boys and men, opted to navigate the mostly dead end roads alone—resorting to violence, gangs, and drugs—and the government allowed them to disappear into the cracks of bureaucratic talking points.
The evidence, and first-hand accounting, presented by Kelley, via those who bore witness (judges, jury member, community leaders, residents, reporters, etc.), paint a picture as to how men, like Platt, succumbed to the high risk life of drug dealer.
As one whose read a lot about Mass Incarceration, the Great Migration, and racism over the last few years, there wasn't much here that surprised me. However, that doesn’t take away from the value of being aware of such a story. Particularly as it relates to how damaging systemic racism was and continues to be in this country.
For that reason, more than any other, I rated this book high. If I rated it based on Platt alone, I would have given it two stars. He wasn’t likable.
I didn't like him.
The philandering (which produced multiple children out of wedlock), the need to maintain a relationship with the piece of trash that was his father, and the way he later used religion to continue being an absentee father were all despicable to me.
Some things are inexcusable, regardless of circumstance, and Platt’s selfish behavior, throughout the course of his life, qualifies as such.
Kelley did a great job making it not only about him, so much as about how mass incarceration, racism, and the effects of poverty can destroy a family, generationally.
That’s what makes this a worthy read.
"Money Rock" is about the rise, fall, and redemption (if you choose to call it such) of Belton Lamont Platt. Platt sold cocaine in Charlotte during the 80's, just as crack was becoming an epidemic, and made a name for himself as a dealer and friend of the community. It wasn't unusual for him to use his money to help those in need.
Pam Kelley relates the story of Platt (nicknamed "Money Rock") using the political, sociocultural, and historical realm as a guide. All contributed to his decision to enter the drug trade. She doesn't attempt to make excuses for him, nor does he make any for himself, both present the facts of that time, and make it clear the opportunities offered weren't great.
If you were going to survive, and advance out of urban poverty, you were going to have to do so using one of three things: drugs, music, or sports.
Belton didn't foresee a future in sports or music.
Kelley makes sure the reader understands that while there may have been other legitimate options, the access given to them was nearly inaccessible due to shortcomings in education, transportation and overall community resources.
The environment in which young men like Platt were forced to thrive didn't leave much in the way of opportunity. Many of them were pigeon-holed into lives of criminality based on their address alone since no one expected much from a kid “from the projects". As such, alternatives for success weren't offered--neither by the government nor those residing within their own households—because why bother wasting time and money on lost causes.
Left to their own devices, many of these young boys and men, opted to navigate the mostly dead end roads alone—resorting to violence, gangs, and drugs—and the government allowed them to disappear into the cracks of bureaucratic talking points.
The evidence, and first-hand accounting, presented by Kelley, via those who bore witness (judges, jury member, community leaders, residents, reporters, etc.), paint a picture as to how men, like Platt, succumbed to the high risk life of drug dealer.
As one whose read a lot about Mass Incarceration, the Great Migration, and racism over the last few years, there wasn't much here that surprised me. However, that doesn’t take away from the value of being aware of such a story. Particularly as it relates to how damaging systemic racism was and continues to be in this country.
For that reason, more than any other, I rated this book high. If I rated it based on Platt alone, I would have given it two stars. He wasn’t likable.
I didn't like him.
The philandering (which produced multiple children out of wedlock), the need to maintain a relationship with the piece of trash that was his father, and the way he later used religion to continue being an absentee father were all despicable to me.
Some things are inexcusable, regardless of circumstance, and Platt’s selfish behavior, throughout the course of his life, qualifies as such.
Kelley did a great job making it not only about him, so much as about how mass incarceration, racism, and the effects of poverty can destroy a family, generationally.
That’s what makes this a worthy read.
September 9, 2018
It is an exceptional feat to seamlessly weave an intimate biographical narrative with a treatise on modern-day social commentary. Such is the achievement of Pam Kelley in Money Rock: A Family’s Story of Cocaine, Race, and Ambition in the New South. Her captivating account of the criminal exploits of Belton “Money Rock” Platt simultaneously provides a nuanced portrayal of a successful but morally conflicted drug dealer, while providing insight into the persistent social and economic context that contributed to the seemingly inevitable fate of three generations.
To be clear, Belton Platt—gifted with charisma, an innate sense for business, and a penchant for hustle—had positive influences in his life in the forms of his stepfather, Boy Scouts, and high school ROTC. Even so, an unresolved relationship with his domestically abusive father, the lure of women, and the financial demands that accompany teenage fatherhood proved to be the powerfully seductive cocktail that launched his foray into drug dealing.
In documenting Platt’s exploits, Kelley takes the reader on a ricochet ride, from head-scratching incredulity at Platt’s irrational choices and personal indulgences to his community altruism and empathic treatment of his rivals. Her portrayal captures the complex and nuanced maturation and spiritual evolution of a man who comes to view his incarceration as life-saving and spiritually redemptive. Throughout, Kelley manages to peel back the layers of Platt’s persona in a way that draws the reader, unwittingly, deeper and deeper into relationship with Platt.
Intermittently, in the background and the foreground, Kelley documents the historical and present-day social, racial, political, and economic contexts in Charlotte, NC that foment systemic inequality. Think The Color of Law meets The Warmth of Other Suns, in which personal narratives of families are disclosed in the context of systems that are explicitly and implicitly designed for their failure. Kelley offers insight and understanding but not excuses for the fate of Belton Platt and his offsprings.
Kelley’s compelling recounting of the roles of individuals who remain high profile leaders in Charlotte’s legal and criminal justice community made this book all the more fascinating. Money Rock is a great read and is sure to feed the ongoing conversations, locally and nationally, about the systemic inequities and the extent to which they contribute to mass incarceration and intergenerational crime and poverty.
To be clear, Belton Platt—gifted with charisma, an innate sense for business, and a penchant for hustle—had positive influences in his life in the forms of his stepfather, Boy Scouts, and high school ROTC. Even so, an unresolved relationship with his domestically abusive father, the lure of women, and the financial demands that accompany teenage fatherhood proved to be the powerfully seductive cocktail that launched his foray into drug dealing.
In documenting Platt’s exploits, Kelley takes the reader on a ricochet ride, from head-scratching incredulity at Platt’s irrational choices and personal indulgences to his community altruism and empathic treatment of his rivals. Her portrayal captures the complex and nuanced maturation and spiritual evolution of a man who comes to view his incarceration as life-saving and spiritually redemptive. Throughout, Kelley manages to peel back the layers of Platt’s persona in a way that draws the reader, unwittingly, deeper and deeper into relationship with Platt.
Intermittently, in the background and the foreground, Kelley documents the historical and present-day social, racial, political, and economic contexts in Charlotte, NC that foment systemic inequality. Think The Color of Law meets The Warmth of Other Suns, in which personal narratives of families are disclosed in the context of systems that are explicitly and implicitly designed for their failure. Kelley offers insight and understanding but not excuses for the fate of Belton Platt and his offsprings.
Kelley’s compelling recounting of the roles of individuals who remain high profile leaders in Charlotte’s legal and criminal justice community made this book all the more fascinating. Money Rock is a great read and is sure to feed the ongoing conversations, locally and nationally, about the systemic inequities and the extent to which they contribute to mass incarceration and intergenerational crime and poverty.
January 7, 2020
This book Money Rock draws you in immediately. It’s family's story about race, drugs and tragedy, but also a tale about a growing American city. The author does a great job in writing and describing the story about the social changes happening in the growing city and the powerful ambition of one man who wanted to make his mark and strive for the things that mattered most to him, at all costs. This book read as if I were watching a movie. This book was recommended to me and I highly recommend it to others.
Read
February 7, 2019Whether you live in Charlotte, Chicago or Chattanooga this book will resonate with you. The story is local but parallel realities exist in cities all across America.
Thank you for your review.
Thank you for your review.
February 26, 2019
I originally thought this would be mostly a book about Belton Platt and the infamous shootout... But it is really much more than that...
It is part Charlotte history lesson and part "how did we get here exactly" retrospective for CLT citizens. I give it three stars since it's appeal outside the Kingdom of Mecklenburg might be limited. But if you are a resident of the city, new or old, I highly recommend this book.
Well done Pam Kelley.
It is part Charlotte history lesson and part "how did we get here exactly" retrospective for CLT citizens. I give it three stars since it's appeal outside the Kingdom of Mecklenburg might be limited. But if you are a resident of the city, new or old, I highly recommend this book.
Well done Pam Kelley.
March 21, 2020
I highly recommend this fast-paced, beautifully researched and written, intelligent account of racial injustice, the war on drugs, and the slow pace of societal change. Money Rock's story is so compelling -- he's such a charismatic character -- you won't be able to put this book down until you turn the last page.
May 18, 2021
Read for Chapter Three book club. It was interesting. Author, Pat Kelley, spoke to book club.
Lots of issues it brought up. Most of the group was not interested in trying even in a small way to make a difference and help decrease these issues of racism, where people were forced to live, poverty, relationships (wife beating, poverty, stresses).
Lots of issues it brought up. Most of the group was not interested in trying even in a small way to make a difference and help decrease these issues of racism, where people were forced to live, poverty, relationships (wife beating, poverty, stresses).
December 2, 2020
Such a well-researched, thoughtful portrait of a family. I think it should be required reading for high school students here in Charlotte, because of its searing portrayal of the city's history over the past 80 years.
June 20, 2018
This book was so very interesting. This is the story of Belton Lamont Platt, his life and how his decisions may have affected other members of his family. The story starts in a project in Charlotte, NC. Mom was very strong, Dad not so strong. We then get a glimpse into this man's life, the good, the bad and the indifferent. Yes, there is abuse, violence, cheating but it is also a story of how one can turn their life around. Very concise read with enough information to give you a picture of his life and how he chose to deal with it. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publsiher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.
December 17, 2018
Although I'm originally from Tennessee, I've lived in Charlotte since 1997 and I'm proud to call this city my home. I've seen much change here over the past 20 years, so I approached this novel eagerly, wanting to learn more about Charlotte's history before I moved here.
"Money Rock" is the story of Belton Lamar Platt, a notorious drug kingpin who was a part of a shootout with another dealer in a housing project on the south side of Charlotte in 1985. No one was killed in the melee, but it was the beginning of the end for Platt, who ended up serving prison time stemming from the incident. He would later serve 20 years in prison on federal charges related to his role as a cocaine dealer. The novel details Platt's troubled childhood, his rise to notoriety, his imprisonment, and his own children's descent into crime. Eventually, three of Platt's sons would die of violence, and a fourth is in prison for murder. Also profiled is Platt's mother, Carrie, who tries in earnest but is unable to stop her son from gravitating toward street life.
Also part of this story is that of Charlotte, a city that has long considered itself 'progressive' when it comes to race. Despite its exterior, Charlotte has a long history of segregation, which it tried to correct through forced busing to integrate its schools from the 70's throughout the 90's. At the same time, the city failed its low income citizens by refusing affordable housing, redlining certain neighborhoods, and forcing people into government housing, which it failed to keep up. Eventually, drugs, gangs, and violent crime would take over these communities, which led to the likes of Money Rock.
Today, Money Rock is a free man and an ordained minister. The housing project where the 1985 shootout took place is now the location of luxury high-rise apartments. I really liked this book because it really delved into the history of places I know and streets I drive down every day.
Highly recommended reading.
"Money Rock" is the story of Belton Lamar Platt, a notorious drug kingpin who was a part of a shootout with another dealer in a housing project on the south side of Charlotte in 1985. No one was killed in the melee, but it was the beginning of the end for Platt, who ended up serving prison time stemming from the incident. He would later serve 20 years in prison on federal charges related to his role as a cocaine dealer. The novel details Platt's troubled childhood, his rise to notoriety, his imprisonment, and his own children's descent into crime. Eventually, three of Platt's sons would die of violence, and a fourth is in prison for murder. Also profiled is Platt's mother, Carrie, who tries in earnest but is unable to stop her son from gravitating toward street life.
Also part of this story is that of Charlotte, a city that has long considered itself 'progressive' when it comes to race. Despite its exterior, Charlotte has a long history of segregation, which it tried to correct through forced busing to integrate its schools from the 70's throughout the 90's. At the same time, the city failed its low income citizens by refusing affordable housing, redlining certain neighborhoods, and forcing people into government housing, which it failed to keep up. Eventually, drugs, gangs, and violent crime would take over these communities, which led to the likes of Money Rock.
Today, Money Rock is a free man and an ordained minister. The housing project where the 1985 shootout took place is now the location of luxury high-rise apartments. I really liked this book because it really delved into the history of places I know and streets I drive down every day.
Highly recommended reading.
September 17, 2018
I grew up in Charlotte and was a reporter for the Charlotte Observer during the time this story was unfolding. I had visited some public housing residents and once interviewed Carrie Graves, the mother of "Money Rock," the son who turned to dealing cocaine and was quite successful until the law caught up with him. At the time, I was unaware of what was really going on behind the scenes. But Pam Kelley's book, so carefully researched and beautifully written, helped me realize the pain and hopelessness of generations, the result of actions that created these ghettos. It is an outstanding book, and the hard work and determination of its author certainly deserve a rave review.
September 20, 2018
Pam Kelley's book is a triumph in every way. It's the fascinating story of a youthful drug dealer who went to prison and emerged as a newly-minted pastor. It's the multilayered story of his family, including the 11 children he fathered as a young man. It's also the insightful story of Charlotte, North Carolina in the last twenty years of the twentieth century, how the city ignored the plight of the poor black population, even demolishing a much-loved African American neighborhood. Kelley, an accomplished long-term journalist, has written a page-turner. I read it in one night!
January 25, 2019
This well-documented book does a great job of putting things into perspective. There's the stupidity and greed of people in the drug trade, and there are the economic, social and governmental forces that help make drug-dealing look attractive. The author takes a deep look at some government policies that maybe sounded smart at first (The War on Drugs, redlining, civil rights delays) and she also examines the life and family of Money Rock, the drug dealer. She shows both the good and the bad of Money Rock, a reminder that not everything can be reduced to heroes and villains.
January 15, 2019
I believe this book should be read by every person in America. The insights into the black communities are eye opening.
It reads like fiction and transforms all dry and boring parts into interesting points of light.
I didn’t want to put this book down. I learned so much and was taken somewhere I had never gone before.
Kudos to this first time author. Please keep writing.
It reads like fiction and transforms all dry and boring parts into interesting points of light.
I didn’t want to put this book down. I learned so much and was taken somewhere I had never gone before.
Kudos to this first time author. Please keep writing.
February 28, 2023
Money Rock reaches into the past to explore issues of race, class, crime and other social dynamics through a look into Belton Platt's life. Platt's story and family history intertwine with that of Charlotte, which provides helpful insight to the South, the city, and American society. The discussion may be hard, but this is an easy read!
January 7, 2019
this is a real look
at a family, struggles with poverty and getting out of that cycle and sadly often not.
it left me thinking about the accident of birth and wondering what we can do to remedy the root causes.
at a family, struggles with poverty and getting out of that cycle and sadly often not.
it left me thinking about the accident of birth and wondering what we can do to remedy the root causes.
February 7, 2019
Interesting tale of the rise and fall of a Charlotte drug dealer. Also gives a history of the city and it’s neighborhoods. The well-intentioned but misdirected efforts by city planners to provide low-cost housing for the black communities are a lesson for todays leaders.
August 8, 2019
Fascinating history of Charlotte seen as seen through the eyes of a struggling black family. Money Rock is such a reminder that it's impossible to understand why things are the way they are today if we don't look back and try to understand how we got here.
August 18, 2019
Beautifully crafted story and brilliantly reported. Reads like a novel even though it's nonfiction. Tells the story not only of Money Rock, but how Charlotte rose to a modern southern city and the affects that had on the people living there. A fast, suspenseful read.
September 1, 2020
By reading this book you can begin to educate yourself and learn what must change to improve the lives of the those who because of their race have been denied the american dream. Doing this will help improve the lives of all americans.
January 3, 2019
I learned so much about my hometown from this book, and very well-written too.
January 3, 2019
Money Rock: A Family's Story of Cocaine, Race and Ambition in the New South by Pam Kelley traces the tribulations and triumphs of Charlotte, NC native Belton Lamont Platt (Money Rock) and the city itself.
Kelley interweaves Belton's life and the history of Charlotte together in a story that reveals how public policies affect personal choices and how the effects of both types of decisions span generations.
Having been a graduate school classmate of Kelley's privileged to see it as a work in progress, I thought I would know what to expect when I opened the book. Still the precise research, the vivid descriptions, and the intelligent analysis blew me away. I shouldn't been surprised, but, as often happens during conversations with her and subsequently during reading Money Rock, I was humbled to be in the presence of such intelligence and thoughtfulness.
Kelley treats both Belton and Charlotte with a fairness that comes from being a practiced reporter. She gives the readers the facts and allows them to draw their own conclusions - inserting her own experiences with Belton and his family as necessary to expose any biases.
This is an easy to read book that tackles a number of hard topics. Reading it was a pleasure.
Kelley interweaves Belton's life and the history of Charlotte together in a story that reveals how public policies affect personal choices and how the effects of both types of decisions span generations.
Having been a graduate school classmate of Kelley's privileged to see it as a work in progress, I thought I would know what to expect when I opened the book. Still the precise research, the vivid descriptions, and the intelligent analysis blew me away. I shouldn't been surprised, but, as often happens during conversations with her and subsequently during reading Money Rock, I was humbled to be in the presence of such intelligence and thoughtfulness.
Kelley treats both Belton and Charlotte with a fairness that comes from being a practiced reporter. She gives the readers the facts and allows them to draw their own conclusions - inserting her own experiences with Belton and his family as necessary to expose any biases.
This is an easy to read book that tackles a number of hard topics. Reading it was a pleasure.
May 19, 2021
What started off strong unfortunately deteriorated as Belton, Money Rock , turns into a crazed evangelical. The beginning half of the book was great; discussing how issues such as drug trade, poverty, gentrification, the industrial prison complex etc. effect the Charlotte area and population. Then as we follow Belton in prison and beyond, it turned a little too insane to me where I couldn't feel much care about anyone in this history at all.
Discussing Bolton's religious beliefs would be fine if it wasn't so dragged out, I.E., quoting his sermons for paragraphs at a time. Belton gets visions in prison, he marries women after two months of their previous spouses dying, he says God called him to Conway to raise other children instead of returning to Charlotte where he has dozens of his own that he's abandoned.
I think this is an interesting perspective of how one man's mistakes effect all those around him and even the city around them. It's also a good book when trying to look into Charlotte's less discussed history.
Discussing Bolton's religious beliefs would be fine if it wasn't so dragged out, I.E., quoting his sermons for paragraphs at a time. Belton gets visions in prison, he marries women after two months of their previous spouses dying, he says God called him to Conway to raise other children instead of returning to Charlotte where he has dozens of his own that he's abandoned.
I think this is an interesting perspective of how one man's mistakes effect all those around him and even the city around them. It's also a good book when trying to look into Charlotte's less discussed history.
October 4, 2018
Anna Mayhew As a native Charlottean, I approached Money Rock with eagerness and some preconceptions about the city of Charlotte. As I read this fascinating nonfiction book, novelistic in form, I realized how little I knew about my hometown. Money Rock, on the one hand, tells of Belton Platt, aka Money Rock, his felony convictions, prison time, his eleven children, and his ultimate emergence from incarceration as a Christian minister. The underpinning character in the book is Platt's amazing mother, Carrie Graves. Those stories alone are gripping and well worth a read. But the deeper plot is of how Charlotte , long known and applauded nationally for enforced busing to integrate its schools, has failed its low income citizens by not providing enough affordable housing, among other deficiencies. Pam Kelley, a former long-time journalist, writes with a clarity and conviction that bring both truth and hope to this compelling and revealing book.
July 24, 2023
It took me a long time to write this review because I’ve been thinking about this story a lot. It was so sympathetically written that I understood the choices Belton Platt made. When society constantly throws roadblocks up, keeping the people from which Platt came from getting ahead, I can see why some morals are ignored to go down the road of becoming a drug dealer. While his turn around is a commendable story, the circumstances that made him go down the paths he did are just so very sad. I saw the NC Humanities book club discussion with the author and Platt, and really felt pain when he talked about the trauma that the kids growing up in housing projects and in urban poverty are constantly experiencing. The book put the legal system and cocaine wars on the 1980s in context for me.
November 10, 2018
With deftness and scope, Pam Kelley tells an absorbing story of one very smart Boy Scout who turned one corner after another into an alley he lived to regret. Kelley's observations and insights shed light on the problems of not just one drug dealer, not just one city, but a whole nation's history with drugs, poverty, discrimination and incarceration. It's a meticulously reported and well-told tale that reads like a novel. And it is essential for anyone who cares about cities, justice, families and the times we live in.
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