Of Greed and Glory: In Pursuit of Freedom for All – A Personal History of Contemporary Slavery, Angola Prison, and Democracy

by Deborah G. Plant

A ground-breaking, personal exploration of America’s obsession with continuing human bondage from the editor of the New York Times– bestselling Barracoon . Freedom and equality are the watchwords of American democracy. But like justice, freedom and equality are meaningless when there is no corresponding practical application of the ideals they represent. Physical, bodily liberty is fundamental to every American’s personal sovereignty. And yet, millions of Americans—including author Deborah Plant’s brother, whose life sentence at Angola Prison reveals a shocking current parallel to her academic work on the history of slavery in America—are deprived of these basic freedoms every day. In her studies of Zora Neale Hurston, Deborah Plant became fascinated by Hurston’s explanation for the atrocities of the international slave trade. In her memoir,  Dust Tracks on a Road , Hurston “But the inescapable fact that stuck in my craw, my people had  sold  me and the white people had bought me. . . . It impressed upon me the universal nature of greed and glory.” We look the other way when the basic human rights of marginalized and stigmatized groups are violated and desecrated, not realizing that only the practice of justice everywhere secures justice, for any of us, anywhere. An active vigilance is required of those who would be and remain free; with Of Greed and Glory , Deborah Plant reveals the many ways in which slavery continues in America today and charts our collective course toward personal sovereignty for all.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Race, Social Issues

288 pages, Hardcover

Published January 9, 2024

Reviews

[Niatate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very thought provoking read. Very heavy and informative. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

[Chanecka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shhh...will come back later to give a proper review.

[Maya · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars,

A powerful essay about the United States prison system and how it plays a larger role in systemic racism in the country. The role of incarceration amongst Black communities continues to leave families broken creating an endless cycle of generational pain. We ultimately fail as a society to lock individuals up for life with little to no evidence. This book examines this system, how it began, and its continued implications on our society.

Thank you NetGalley and Amistad for the advance reader copy. This is my honest review.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is an absolute incredible analysis of the parallels between slavery and the prison industrial complex. plant additionally touches on capitalism and patriarchy to show the interconnect of oppression. This is a wonderful book for people who are interested in further understanding in insidious nature of the president industrial complex and for burdening abolitionist who were just interested in understanding the problems of prison. In the epilogue, she continues to give examples of how we can work towards a more justice society. While she doesn’t call explicitly for abolition, she acknowledges the overhaul and reform that needs to occur, which is a wonderful place for everyone to begin.

[Shaun Berendt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of Greed and Glory takes place post George Floyd and dives into the history of racial injustices and prejudices in our country. Throughout, you learn a deeper understanding of why racial injustices exist, the impact our history still holds on groups today and sheds light on how far we are from resolve. You will come out having a bleak look at our justice systems, better perspectives of our history of racial injustice, and knowledge on where we are/need to go to solve our deeply rooted problem of racism.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had a writer who not only had the education and research, but also has a brother who was falsely convicted and imprisoned. Both sides were blended together well throughout the book. 

[Katrisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fantastic and a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the American criminal justice system. Plant traces the origins of our current system in slavery through Jim Crow and Black Codes to prisoner leasing and for-profit imprisonment. The book is very well researched but she also adds a personal touch as she weaves into the overall narrative her experience with a family member trying to navigate the criminal justice system and who is currently serving a life sentence in Louisiana's Angola State Penitentiary. (Also it is just chilling to me that Louisiana's prison is named after one of the largest slave ports - just not ok). She also talks about the toll that corporate greed takes on many groups, not just the Black community.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amistad for an ARC of this book for review purposes.

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of Greed and Glory by Deborah G Plant weaves history, both personal and societal, with analysis and a call to action.

Several of my areas of interest brought me to this book. One is my admiration for both the person and the writer Zora Neale Hurston. Another is my concern and activism for a better society, which must include every person regardless of who they are or what mistakes they may have made. Which leads directly to our (in)justice system in this country and the ways in which we have become a carceral state.

First, the Hurston interest. I am particularly impressed with the way Plant didn't simply cite Hurston but put her words and ideas into conversation with contemporary society. The passage from which the title is taken is both powerful and warrants unpacking to fully appreciate. You see some apologists for our country's past mistakes (mis)use the fact that some Africans did indeed sell other Africans to white slave traders. As Hurston makes clear, this illustrates the broader issues of greed and glory. It is not a way of excusing the treatment of human beings as property, it does not justify what was done. It simply points out that greed and glory seeking are more universal than human compassion. If Frenchmen had sold Germans into slavery, would we be lumping all Europeans into a monolithic group and say "well, Europeans did it to each other so we can't be blamed?" Increasing the number of responsible parties does not decrease the level of responsibility for any party, it simply adds to those responsible.

From that slave trade the society created around it and on top of it has worked overtime finding ways to replicate that human bondage without calling it slavery. One major element of that is our carceral system. It isn't just that the laws are enforced unevenly or that sentences are handed down with a lot of bias, but that through this system a large portion of the population is placed, and remains, under the thumb of a government that cares very little for them.

If you hesitate to even consider abolitionism because you fear it would make society less safe, then you're living a very privileged life. Life for many in this country is already unsafe, and the danger and violence is government driven. Abolition will be a process and steps have to be taken to provide a system of accountability and reparation, as well as assistance. A large part of this has to be a fairer society. You can't expect to deprive neighborhoods of adequate schools, utilities, and opportunity and then act surprised that people often have to find other ways to survive. You can't have a society that systematically incarcerates Black men then blame that community for not having male role models. In other words, you can't be the cause of the problem then blame those you're oppressing for what you've done. To the point where you're even ashamed to let actual history be taught to your children.

I found Plant's use of her own and her family's personal journey to be effective and useful. We aren't just talking about numbers, we're talking about communities, about families, and ultimately about human beings. Anyone unwilling to address this as such is, whether they admit it or not, okay with oppressing other human beings.

As an additional resource, watch or read the interview on The Real News Network about Baton Rouge Police black sites (https://therealnews.com/baton-rouge-c...). This is the city Plant refers to in the book and one I know fairly well having lived there for nine years back in the 90s.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in these issues we face as a society. There should be some discomfort for any reader, we have all, intentionally or not, contributed to this dysfunctional system. Rather than hide our heads, raise them and do something about it.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Ryo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for free in a Goodreads giveaway.

Interesting book examining how the institution of slavery in the United States has continued in several ways even today, after the Thirteenth Amendment supposedly abolished it. It's fairly academic but it's also personal, as the author's brother is serving a life sentence for a crime he says he did not commit. It was interesting and horrifying to read about the various insidious ways slavery continues into the modern day, whether it's through forced and underpaid prison labor; Black people being subject to crueler treatment by the police, harsher sentences in court, or less favorable living conditions in general; or women not having control over their own bodies with their right to choose abortion being taken away, among other rights. I did find that the text gets bogged down in a bit too much detail at times, whether it's the history of one particular prison, or the plot of a 1982 film that's not very famous, and I don't think these long passages full of detail are really strengthening the arguments in the book. The text is also often bogged down with frequent direct quotes, which interrupted the flow of the text. I wished in many places that the author paraphrased more, instead of inserting frequent short quotes. Also, the endnotes seem off in pretty much every single chapter, where at some point the superscripts in the main text and the endnotes they each correspond to are clearly not numbered correctly, and the number of superscripts and endnotes don't match at the end of many chapters. This issue will hopefully be corrected before final publication, but I found it distracting when I was flipping back and forth between two things that were obviously not numbered correctly. Overall, an eye-opening, informative read, but it's a pretty dense read that is often bogged down in a lot of detail. I don't think I'm academic enough to appreciate this analysis fully.

[ayo · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4.5

good read, good research, imo while a more introductory text does a good idea of linking slavery to the various matrixes of domination to the prison-industrial complex, america’s “peculiar institution” indeed. too many good quotes to include them all but here’s a few that particularly resonated with me:

- “because my brother was locked up and we visited him, i didn’t realize how i was also locked up with him — like anyone or any family who insists on maintaining a relationship with an incarcerated loved one. your life is strangely there, too.” pg 3

- “it is for us all to realize that supremacy based on skin pigmentation is a political fiction, manipulated at the will of the politician, and that the only thing that is supreme is Love.” pg 157

- “to the extent that entrepreneurs are obsessed with excessive profit, elitist prestige, and oligarchic and tyrannical power, they remain fixated not so much on ‘cheap’ labour but on cheapening the labourer.” pg 188 too real actually… AI anyone?

[Relena_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plant grounds this powerful indictment of the carceral state in the particular facts of her families painful entanglement in it. Her ownership of this gives extra resonance to common concerns, like the cost of phone calls for families and the impact this has on the quality of life for all involved, and surfaces less common ones, like how difficult it is to find death planning services willing to work with imprisoned populations.

Plant's emphasis on the reservation of nonenumerated powers not just to the states, but also to the People, is a fresh and invigorating insight. We need to all be willing to make our personal circumstances as political as Plant and her family members because the power can be ours.

[Robyn]

Notables 2024 #23

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was good just that this information has been rehashed and talked about quite a few times and this didn’t offer anything new to this topic.

[Robyn Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

B- Audiobook

[elli♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

First finished book of 2025. In february (bhm) very fitting. this book was wonderfully well put. informative. heart aching and engaging. Mrs. Plant is a skilled author and knows how to formulate words into meaning that hits. and it was a heartbreaking truth of america and its justice system