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Finding My Voice
In this unforgettable memoir, Emerald Garner recounts her father’s cruel and unjust murder, the immense pain that followed, the pressures of an exploitative media, and her difficult yet determined journey as an activist against police violence.
She begins with the morning of July 17, 2014—a rare day off from work, one she had hoped to enjoy with rest and family, that quickly turned her world inside out. What follows is a personal account of the suffering Emerald and her family endured: unsympathetic camera lenses, the stares and whispers of strangers, and the inability to mourn in private.
In addition to these vulnerable, personal essays, Finding My Voice includes conversations in which Emerald found inspiration, empathy, and community: with politicians, athletes, and activists like Brian Benjamin and Etan Thomas; with others surviving similarly unfathomable grief like Lora Dene King, Angelique Kearse, and Pamela Brooks; and with Emerald’s own family, Mrs. Esaw Garner and Eric Garner Jr. The book ends with a powerful call-to-action by author and daughter of Malcolm X, Ilyasah Shabazz.
As calls for radical transformation and accountability grow, Emerald Garner’s memoir is a story of family and community, and the strength it takes to survive, to stand, to speak.
She begins with the morning of July 17, 2014—a rare day off from work, one she had hoped to enjoy with rest and family, that quickly turned her world inside out. What follows is a personal account of the suffering Emerald and her family endured: unsympathetic camera lenses, the stares and whispers of strangers, and the inability to mourn in private.
In addition to these vulnerable, personal essays, Finding My Voice includes conversations in which Emerald found inspiration, empathy, and community: with politicians, athletes, and activists like Brian Benjamin and Etan Thomas; with others surviving similarly unfathomable grief like Lora Dene King, Angelique Kearse, and Pamela Brooks; and with Emerald’s own family, Mrs. Esaw Garner and Eric Garner Jr. The book ends with a powerful call-to-action by author and daughter of Malcolm X, Ilyasah Shabazz.
As calls for radical transformation and accountability grow, Emerald Garner’s memoir is a story of family and community, and the strength it takes to survive, to stand, to speak.
180 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2022
2 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 4, 2022
Sharing with the world a very private and sensitive situation is beyond brave. As we all witnessed the death and murder of Eric Garner in a viral video that swept across the nation, we were all holding our breath to see what “we” (Black people) thought was an open and shut case - I just knew that policeman was going to jail. As Eric Garner lay on the ground, speaking those last words; “I can’t breathe” we all collectively prayed that the policeman would let off of him because surely we thought he was not going to kill this man like this while everyone is watching. We thought wrong unfortunately. The death of Eric Garner, and many others shortly after his death, was something heinous, vile, and purely evil by people who have sworn to protect and serve.
In my mind, his death shifted my thoughts to thinking that the police were irredeemable. They are not here to serve Black people, but to continue their initial mission of the slave patrol. I lost what little faith I had in the ‘blue’ at this point, and that little tiny faith I did have was even further squelched with other unarmed Black men being killed on a regular basis by the police as if it was hunting season. Eric Garner’s death forever changed my perception of the police, and I do not believe that they were ever for protecting and serving everyone, as their motto says. In my own opinion, the police is in the business to protect and serve white people and their property. The police is in the business of maintaining the initial slave patrol mission. As James Baldwin has said, “I don’t believe what you say because I see the things you do.”
Emerald Garner and her family have been through hell and back. In this book, “Finding my Voice” she describes to her readers what that day was like for her when she learned of her father’s death. She discusses what happened after his death, and the hellacious journey it has taken her family through to get laws passed to protect Black people from suffering death in the hands of police and the travesty of police custody. If you are Black, you hope to not be at the mercy of the police, that’s just facts. You will not escape unscathed.
Emerald also lost her sister in this travesty. Heartbroken, devastated, and stressed, her sister tried to do all she could to make sure her father’s legacy and others who look like him do not get murdered by the police. She fought to ensure that chokeholds were banned, not just frowned upon, as they had been in the pass, but to ensure that chokeholds of any kind were illegal. That police could not get immunity when killing an unarmed person. She died of a broken heart going through all of this.
Emerald is finding her voice by advocating, and showing up in protests, doing work with the National Action Network with Al Sharpton, and speaking to people about what happened to her father, rallying others who have been victims of police brutality to rise up and get laws passed to reform and restructure how this country does policing.
Emerald is finding her voice despite the pain, heartache, and exploitation she sometimes felt/continue to feel when her father is discussed. She talked about exploitation of the victims after something like this happens. She talked of how sometimes her family was directly left out of things (i.e. the media, activists’ conversations, panel discussios, rallies, protests, etc.) that actually involved her family. She has understood what it means to speak up and speak on someone’s behalf, and she has done an excellent job in carrying the torch for her family and other’s like her family that find themselves on the victim end of police brutality.
If you or someone you know have been victimized by the police, this book may help shed some light on what actually happens afterwards. Emerald talked her mental health, and about how having some form of therapy would have been key in processing the death of her father. She discusses the advantages that seeking mental health therapy after a tragic event is also something necessary for families to get involved with if something like this were to happen to other families. Although the therapy may come with a price, Emerald believes strongly that therapy is necessary after a loved one has passed due to a tragic event such this. Investing in your mental health can be a lifesaver.
My heart goes out to Emerald Garner and her family as they continue to deal with the aftermath of her father being killed by the police. Enacting laws that prohibit such heinous behavior is a given, but instituting safe practices of de-escalation, turning in bad cops without retaliation, and advocating for mental health professionals to respond to certain calls, and pushing for justice no matter what, are all necessary for the safety of the public, especially for marginalized communities.
Thank you to Coriolis, HayMarket Books, and the author Emerald Garner with Etan Thomas and Monet Dunham, for this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Tags: @haymarketbooks, @emeraldgarner_, @etanthomas36, and @monetnyc
In my mind, his death shifted my thoughts to thinking that the police were irredeemable. They are not here to serve Black people, but to continue their initial mission of the slave patrol. I lost what little faith I had in the ‘blue’ at this point, and that little tiny faith I did have was even further squelched with other unarmed Black men being killed on a regular basis by the police as if it was hunting season. Eric Garner’s death forever changed my perception of the police, and I do not believe that they were ever for protecting and serving everyone, as their motto says. In my own opinion, the police is in the business to protect and serve white people and their property. The police is in the business of maintaining the initial slave patrol mission. As James Baldwin has said, “I don’t believe what you say because I see the things you do.”
Emerald Garner and her family have been through hell and back. In this book, “Finding my Voice” she describes to her readers what that day was like for her when she learned of her father’s death. She discusses what happened after his death, and the hellacious journey it has taken her family through to get laws passed to protect Black people from suffering death in the hands of police and the travesty of police custody. If you are Black, you hope to not be at the mercy of the police, that’s just facts. You will not escape unscathed.
Emerald also lost her sister in this travesty. Heartbroken, devastated, and stressed, her sister tried to do all she could to make sure her father’s legacy and others who look like him do not get murdered by the police. She fought to ensure that chokeholds were banned, not just frowned upon, as they had been in the pass, but to ensure that chokeholds of any kind were illegal. That police could not get immunity when killing an unarmed person. She died of a broken heart going through all of this.
Emerald is finding her voice by advocating, and showing up in protests, doing work with the National Action Network with Al Sharpton, and speaking to people about what happened to her father, rallying others who have been victims of police brutality to rise up and get laws passed to reform and restructure how this country does policing.
Emerald is finding her voice despite the pain, heartache, and exploitation she sometimes felt/continue to feel when her father is discussed. She talked about exploitation of the victims after something like this happens. She talked of how sometimes her family was directly left out of things (i.e. the media, activists’ conversations, panel discussios, rallies, protests, etc.) that actually involved her family. She has understood what it means to speak up and speak on someone’s behalf, and she has done an excellent job in carrying the torch for her family and other’s like her family that find themselves on the victim end of police brutality.
If you or someone you know have been victimized by the police, this book may help shed some light on what actually happens afterwards. Emerald talked her mental health, and about how having some form of therapy would have been key in processing the death of her father. She discusses the advantages that seeking mental health therapy after a tragic event is also something necessary for families to get involved with if something like this were to happen to other families. Although the therapy may come with a price, Emerald believes strongly that therapy is necessary after a loved one has passed due to a tragic event such this. Investing in your mental health can be a lifesaver.
My heart goes out to Emerald Garner and her family as they continue to deal with the aftermath of her father being killed by the police. Enacting laws that prohibit such heinous behavior is a given, but instituting safe practices of de-escalation, turning in bad cops without retaliation, and advocating for mental health professionals to respond to certain calls, and pushing for justice no matter what, are all necessary for the safety of the public, especially for marginalized communities.
Thank you to Coriolis, HayMarket Books, and the author Emerald Garner with Etan Thomas and Monet Dunham, for this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Tags: @haymarketbooks, @emeraldgarner_, @etanthomas36, and @monetnyc
October 6, 2022
Through first person experiences, raw emotion, years of experience she never asked for, Emerald Garner tells us how she has navigated the world after police murdered her father.
Emerald gave us a gift, honestly. This shows how victims and survivors are manipulated and how Emerald and others had to learn to recognize that and find their way to organizations and people who were really there to help. How the media manipulates and you have to learn to both avoid it and use it to keep the momentum up.
From politicians to the actual WNBA Emerald talks about her experiences from the day her father died, and then her sister from literal heartbreak, through today. She has attended protests, created an organization centering youth mental health (WeCantBreathe.org), she continues to join panels and podcasts and interviews to keep the movement for Black liberation at the front of America's mind.
It is absolutely heartbreaking that anyone should ever have to write a story like this, but Emerald Garner didn't just write a story. She gave us a manual on how to help.
Thank you so much to Coriolis Company for my arc - It was an honor to read her story.
In the reading Emerald points out that no one really knows what she has been through unless they have been through it. It's hard to navigate that because at worst people will tell you to get over it and at best they are empathetic but can't fathom the experience. Reading this won't give you the experience, but it will help you to understand a little better what the victims, their families, the survivors of police brutality go through. It will help you to better apply your well wishes in a way that helps instead of just words to someone grieving. At just under 200 pages this book really packs in a lot. I highly recommend this read to everyone.
Emerald gave us a gift, honestly. This shows how victims and survivors are manipulated and how Emerald and others had to learn to recognize that and find their way to organizations and people who were really there to help. How the media manipulates and you have to learn to both avoid it and use it to keep the momentum up.
From politicians to the actual WNBA Emerald talks about her experiences from the day her father died, and then her sister from literal heartbreak, through today. She has attended protests, created an organization centering youth mental health (WeCantBreathe.org), she continues to join panels and podcasts and interviews to keep the movement for Black liberation at the front of America's mind.
It is absolutely heartbreaking that anyone should ever have to write a story like this, but Emerald Garner didn't just write a story. She gave us a manual on how to help.
Thank you so much to Coriolis Company for my arc - It was an honor to read her story.
In the reading Emerald points out that no one really knows what she has been through unless they have been through it. It's hard to navigate that because at worst people will tell you to get over it and at best they are empathetic but can't fathom the experience. Reading this won't give you the experience, but it will help you to understand a little better what the victims, their families, the survivors of police brutality go through. It will help you to better apply your well wishes in a way that helps instead of just words to someone grieving. At just under 200 pages this book really packs in a lot. I highly recommend this read to everyone.
October 12, 2022
Finding My Voice by Emerald Garner is the very personal and private account of this remarkable young woman.
Many of us are well aware of the murder of Eric Garner by police brutality and how his death sparked various outcrys from the public. However, what we don't normally hear from after the media storm has ceased is the POV from the family.
In Finding Her Voice, Emerald gives us a brief inside look into how she has been dealing with the aftermath of her father’s henious murder. Her push for justice for not only her father but advocacy for other victims is the forefront of her passion. In wishing she had mental health counseling and therapy to deal with the tragic events, her life goal now is to help in providing support and mental health advocacy for young people!
This is a short memoir, a little under 200 pages but really gives you the depth of her difficult journey with the insensitive media, the challenges of her activism against police brutality, the many bills she has pushed to become laws in fighting against police brutality, her own personal conversations with politicians, activists, etc. and her own organizations she has started with a focus on mental health.
Thank you Coriolis Company, HayMarket books and Emerald Garner for the gifted ARC!
Many of us are well aware of the murder of Eric Garner by police brutality and how his death sparked various outcrys from the public. However, what we don't normally hear from after the media storm has ceased is the POV from the family.
In Finding Her Voice, Emerald gives us a brief inside look into how she has been dealing with the aftermath of her father’s henious murder. Her push for justice for not only her father but advocacy for other victims is the forefront of her passion. In wishing she had mental health counseling and therapy to deal with the tragic events, her life goal now is to help in providing support and mental health advocacy for young people!
This is a short memoir, a little under 200 pages but really gives you the depth of her difficult journey with the insensitive media, the challenges of her activism against police brutality, the many bills she has pushed to become laws in fighting against police brutality, her own personal conversations with politicians, activists, etc. and her own organizations she has started with a focus on mental health.
Thank you Coriolis Company, HayMarket books and Emerald Garner for the gifted ARC!
October 6, 2022
On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner was placed in a chokehold by an NYPD police officer after being questioned about illegally selling cigarettes. Despite saying "I can't breathe," 11 times, the officer refused to lessen force, ultimately killing Garner. Garner's death was ruled a homicide. But in December of the same year, the involved cop was found not-guilty. It wasn't until 5 years after the event, that the officer was fired from his position.
Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald Garner, wrote this book, 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐲 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 that chronicles her journey toward justice following her father's last words. In her memoir, Emerald recounts the way the media exploited her father's story, and the repeated, triggering pain she endured everytime his story was shared.
Emerald has become a voice against police brutality, and notes the lack of mental health resources available to her and her family following their loss. "Not only did the police kill my father, they killed the structure of my family."
Emerald has found her voice while navigating alongside her grief, and has found a sense of belonging and community among those who have experienced similar tragedies, as well as those who use their platforms for advocacy and activism.
It felt important to read a first-hand account from the family of a Black victim of police brutality. Her story gave me an enlightened perspective.
Eric Garner's daughter, Emerald Garner, wrote this book, 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐲 𝐕𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 that chronicles her journey toward justice following her father's last words. In her memoir, Emerald recounts the way the media exploited her father's story, and the repeated, triggering pain she endured everytime his story was shared.
Emerald has become a voice against police brutality, and notes the lack of mental health resources available to her and her family following their loss. "Not only did the police kill my father, they killed the structure of my family."
Emerald has found her voice while navigating alongside her grief, and has found a sense of belonging and community among those who have experienced similar tragedies, as well as those who use their platforms for advocacy and activism.
It felt important to read a first-hand account from the family of a Black victim of police brutality. Her story gave me an enlightened perspective.
November 2, 2022
I had the opportunity to host an author conversation with Emerald Garner and Monet Dunham at my library! And what an inspiring conversation it was. I absolutely enjoyed Finding My Voice, and having an opportunity to chat with the authors was the cherry on top.
Emerald's story is powerful. She has had to overcome many difficulties thrown at her, and she has used those moments to find her voice and become a powerful advocate for justice. And that story shines through in both this book and talking with her personally. If you are an audiobook listener, I also highly recommend the audiobook. Monet Dunham did a couple of readings for us, and the book absolutely came alive with her vocal interpretations. Both of these women are gifted and powerful leaders. And Finding My Voice is a must read!
Thank you @coriolisco and @haymarketbooks for sending me an advance copy of this book and helping me to coordinate this opportunity for my community!
In this unforgettable memoir, Emerald Garner recounts her father’s cruel and unjust murder, the immense pain that followed, the pressures of an exploitative media, and her difficult yet determined journey as an activist against police violence.
She begins with the morning of July 17, 2014—a rare day off from work, one she had hoped to enjoy with rest and family, that quickly turned her world inside out. What follows is a personal account of the suffering Emerald and her family endured: unsympathetic camera lenses, the stares and whispers of strangers, and the inability to mourn in private.
As calls for radical transformation and accountability grow, Emerald Garner’s memoir is a story of family and community, and the strength it takes to survive, to stand, to speak.
Emerald's story is powerful. She has had to overcome many difficulties thrown at her, and she has used those moments to find her voice and become a powerful advocate for justice. And that story shines through in both this book and talking with her personally. If you are an audiobook listener, I also highly recommend the audiobook. Monet Dunham did a couple of readings for us, and the book absolutely came alive with her vocal interpretations. Both of these women are gifted and powerful leaders. And Finding My Voice is a must read!
Thank you @coriolisco and @haymarketbooks for sending me an advance copy of this book and helping me to coordinate this opportunity for my community!
In this unforgettable memoir, Emerald Garner recounts her father’s cruel and unjust murder, the immense pain that followed, the pressures of an exploitative media, and her difficult yet determined journey as an activist against police violence.
She begins with the morning of July 17, 2014—a rare day off from work, one she had hoped to enjoy with rest and family, that quickly turned her world inside out. What follows is a personal account of the suffering Emerald and her family endured: unsympathetic camera lenses, the stares and whispers of strangers, and the inability to mourn in private.
As calls for radical transformation and accountability grow, Emerald Garner’s memoir is a story of family and community, and the strength it takes to survive, to stand, to speak.
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February 22, 2026I once saw someone say that they do not rate memoirs, and I think I finally understand why. Obviously, memoirs are deeply personal in a way other books aren’t so it does feel a bit weird to rate those books in the same manner as other non-fiction or fiction books. That being said, I will be giving this book a star rating, but I will simply recommend that everyone read this! Emerald Garner gave us an in-depth look at what it’s like to be the family member of someone who died from police violence. In her own words, she tells us about the emotional, psychological, and physical impacts of her father’s death on her but also the rest of her family. This book was a difficult read at some points but one that needs to be shared widely because we need to know how to support these families and their fight for justice. We also need to know what isn’t helpful to say or do. The book also includes excerpts from interviews and panels Emerald was a part of, and I enjoyed bits and pieces of those, especially the sections with other survivors. Overall, I’d highly recommend you pick up this book.
March 29, 2023
A emotional journey and intimate self-portrait. There are, unfortunately, a fair number of typos. In addition, a significant chunk of the memoir are transcripts of interviews that Emerald Garner has done on various podcasts (including her own). There is additional context added to these interviews, and they are placed within the broader context of her story. That being said, there are components of these interviews that get a little repetitive, and can occasionally mess with the flow of the narrative.
Those are ultimately just a collection of nitpicks. Many passages here are moving to the point of tears. I did not know a lot about Eric Garner's murder beyond the headlines, and this places it in a context that's often overlooked: the context of those left behind.
Those are ultimately just a collection of nitpicks. Many passages here are moving to the point of tears. I did not know a lot about Eric Garner's murder beyond the headlines, and this places it in a context that's often overlooked: the context of those left behind.
March 6, 2024
This memoir consists of a series of linked essays and interviews by Emerald Garner, whose father was killed by police officer Daniel Pantaleo in Staten Island, NYC in July 2014. Emerald was 22 years old when she lost her father, and has since then devoted much of her time and energy to advocate for justice for those killed by police and for their families. While not especially well-written and too often repetitive, this memoir still provides a valuable perspective on the experiences of the Garner family and so many other families whose lives have been forever changed by violence.
Note that my copy is an ARC, and the published memoir may have been edited further.
Note that my copy is an ARC, and the published memoir may have been edited further.
December 5, 2022
I liked the content of this book, but the format (mostly interview/conversation transcripts) was not a format I would seek out again
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