What do you think?
Rate this book
Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist's Freedom Song
From a leading prison abolitionist, a moving memoir about coming of age in Brooklyn and surviving incarceration—and a call to break free from all the cages that confine us. Marlon Peterson grew up in 1980s Crown Heights, raised by Trinidadian immigrants. Amid the routine violence that shaped his neighborhood, Marlon became a high-achieving and devout child, the specter of the American dream opening up before him. But in the aftermath of immense trauma, he participated in a robbery that resulted in two murders. At nineteen, Peterson was charged and later convicted. He served ten long years in prison. While incarcerated, Peterson immersed himself in anti-violence activism, education, and prison abolition work. In Bird Uncaged, Peterson challenges the typical “redemption” narrative and our assumptions about justice. With vulnerability and insight, he uncovers the many cages—from the daily violence and trauma of poverty, to policing, to enforced masculinity, and the brutality of incarceration—created and maintained by American society.Bird Uncaged is a twenty-first-century abolitionist memoir, and a powerful debut that demands a shift from punishment to healing, an end to prisons, and a new vision of justice.
225 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2021
19 people are currently reading
2515 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
February 24, 2021
I love what Marlon says about the humanity of the millions of incarcerated peoples. I loved thinking about abolition in this deeply personal (vs policy) way. The writing was hit or miss abd some things were unclear. I sharper editing process might have helped. Though major shouts to Peterson for staying true to his voice.
April 13, 2021
I thought I would be able to share my thoughts in a nice, polished, academic way, highlighting the key themes and ideas expressed, as well as an analytical review of his writing and quotes and notes that I wanted to share. However, I cannot write that type of review. This book hit straight to my heart. I've probably highlighted 75% of the book, wanting to remember his words exactly and the emotions I felt when I read the passages.
I grew up with people like Marlon in my neighborhood. He could've easily been my brother, my cousin, my friend, or even myself. Growing up in Black neighborhoods, the life he details is accurate. I can remember growing up on the Southeast side of Cleveland, Ohio and many of my homeboys was Marlon. His circumstances growing up in Brooklyn, with immigrant parents, is a background that many people I grew up with experienced. Just like Marlon, we could have all been the one to go to prison... we were only a choice away.
Historically redlined, Black neighborhoods did not have vast options for the youth. Your parents worked, maybe 2 jobs. You were a latchkey kid, and you learned how to make dinner by 10 years old. The choices and odds making it out of that neighborhood was slim. Even if you made all the right choices, the color of your skin would create obstacles that you could never imagine happening to you. So when Marlon decided to skip school one day, and finds himself in court being indicted on murder charges after a robbery, people often wonder how did it escalate to that? Truth is, it doesn't take much to go to prison in a Black neighborhood. All you have to do is just exist. Marlon chose to go left instead of right one day and found himself on the receiving end of a decade long sentence. However, Marlon chose to beat the odds in prison and discovers his true potential as a prison abolitionist and educator/advocator of Black lives.
Peterson, takes us on a coming-of-age story that is gritty and grimy. We learn about his family and how they influence him and support him. We learn about his educational journey and get a feel for how Marlon grew up. Marlon tells of his frustrations as a young Black male who constantly gets his manhood challenged on a continual basis, and how believed his faith was failing him. We learn about his lack of purpose that he struggled to find as a young adult. He takes us through his decade long prison sentence, highlighting lessons learned along the way.
We learn about Marlon Peterson, the man who has overcome his adversities and circumstances to build a life of justice, liberty, love, and truth. Marlon has a passion for social justice, for prison abolition, for educating, and for advocating. This book really opened my eyes and allowed me to reflect back on my childhood in the 80s and 90s and realize that we were all a choice away from succumbing to our circumstances. It was fascinating to learn about the inner workings of prison, how both the prisoner and the family members do the time with them. How jails/prisons are profiting off Black labor once again, and how reign of power among the COs impacts individuals in custody. Furthermore, White supremacy hurts and destroys and Peterson makes it clear that we need to abolish the patriarchal society that is the foundation of this country.
I'm so glad that I was able to read his book, and it's one of the best memoirs I've read since Kiese Laymon's memoir, Heavy. I see as well that Kiese was an influence on him, and that is amazing to learn. Our young brothers need to stick together, just as much as our young sisters. Together we can grow stronger. Together we can make change! 5 stars.
I grew up with people like Marlon in my neighborhood. He could've easily been my brother, my cousin, my friend, or even myself. Growing up in Black neighborhoods, the life he details is accurate. I can remember growing up on the Southeast side of Cleveland, Ohio and many of my homeboys was Marlon. His circumstances growing up in Brooklyn, with immigrant parents, is a background that many people I grew up with experienced. Just like Marlon, we could have all been the one to go to prison... we were only a choice away.
Historically redlined, Black neighborhoods did not have vast options for the youth. Your parents worked, maybe 2 jobs. You were a latchkey kid, and you learned how to make dinner by 10 years old. The choices and odds making it out of that neighborhood was slim. Even if you made all the right choices, the color of your skin would create obstacles that you could never imagine happening to you. So when Marlon decided to skip school one day, and finds himself in court being indicted on murder charges after a robbery, people often wonder how did it escalate to that? Truth is, it doesn't take much to go to prison in a Black neighborhood. All you have to do is just exist. Marlon chose to go left instead of right one day and found himself on the receiving end of a decade long sentence. However, Marlon chose to beat the odds in prison and discovers his true potential as a prison abolitionist and educator/advocator of Black lives.
Peterson, takes us on a coming-of-age story that is gritty and grimy. We learn about his family and how they influence him and support him. We learn about his educational journey and get a feel for how Marlon grew up. Marlon tells of his frustrations as a young Black male who constantly gets his manhood challenged on a continual basis, and how believed his faith was failing him. We learn about his lack of purpose that he struggled to find as a young adult. He takes us through his decade long prison sentence, highlighting lessons learned along the way.
We learn about Marlon Peterson, the man who has overcome his adversities and circumstances to build a life of justice, liberty, love, and truth. Marlon has a passion for social justice, for prison abolition, for educating, and for advocating. This book really opened my eyes and allowed me to reflect back on my childhood in the 80s and 90s and realize that we were all a choice away from succumbing to our circumstances. It was fascinating to learn about the inner workings of prison, how both the prisoner and the family members do the time with them. How jails/prisons are profiting off Black labor once again, and how reign of power among the COs impacts individuals in custody. Furthermore, White supremacy hurts and destroys and Peterson makes it clear that we need to abolish the patriarchal society that is the foundation of this country.
I'm so glad that I was able to read his book, and it's one of the best memoirs I've read since Kiese Laymon's memoir, Heavy. I see as well that Kiese was an influence on him, and that is amazing to learn. Our young brothers need to stick together, just as much as our young sisters. Together we can grow stronger. Together we can make change! 5 stars.
February 22, 2021
“Dwelling in the Rotten Apple, you get tackled/or caught by the Devil’s lasso, sh*t is a hassle” -Nas, ‘The World is Yours’
Marlon Peterson’s compelling memoir Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist's Freedom Song walks us through the tumultuous life of a young Black man navigating masculinity, violence, vulnerability, education and incarceration. Peterson, the youngest child of a Trinidadian immigrant family, grew up in the 80s and 90s in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, which was perhaps one of the more dangerous times in recent memory to grow up in Brooklyn.
One thing that this book reinforced is the ways in which systemic racism and poverty help to create conditions conducive to inner city crime, violence and mass incarceration. From the streets, to the schools to the prisons, every step of Peterson’s life is affected by systems which disppropiatenly affect Black and Brown people as well as the poor.
Yes, personal choices matter. But in the case of Peterson and many other young men of his time, his choices are affected and severely limited by the system which he was born into.
This book also highlights trauma, and the ways in which the trauma of Black youth is often overlooked. Bird Uncaged helps to pose the question: Do Black boys get to feel pain, be scared or be vulnerable?
On the positive side, Bird Uncaged also tells the story of Peterson's redemption in how he continuously worked to reinvent and educate himself and eventually become a writer and youth development advocate. Truly an astounding read that serves as a reminder of the support that our Black youth need, both interpersonally and systemically.
Marlon Peterson’s compelling memoir Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist's Freedom Song walks us through the tumultuous life of a young Black man navigating masculinity, violence, vulnerability, education and incarceration. Peterson, the youngest child of a Trinidadian immigrant family, grew up in the 80s and 90s in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, which was perhaps one of the more dangerous times in recent memory to grow up in Brooklyn.
One thing that this book reinforced is the ways in which systemic racism and poverty help to create conditions conducive to inner city crime, violence and mass incarceration. From the streets, to the schools to the prisons, every step of Peterson’s life is affected by systems which disppropiatenly affect Black and Brown people as well as the poor.
Yes, personal choices matter. But in the case of Peterson and many other young men of his time, his choices are affected and severely limited by the system which he was born into.
This book also highlights trauma, and the ways in which the trauma of Black youth is often overlooked. Bird Uncaged helps to pose the question: Do Black boys get to feel pain, be scared or be vulnerable?
On the positive side, Bird Uncaged also tells the story of Peterson's redemption in how he continuously worked to reinvent and educate himself and eventually become a writer and youth development advocate. Truly an astounding read that serves as a reminder of the support that our Black youth need, both interpersonally and systemically.
August 15, 2021
I’ve never felt so ambivalent about a Civil Rights memoir. I read this book free and early, thanks to Net Galley and Public Affairs. It’s for sale now.
At the outset, Peterson describes his early years as the son of Trinidadian immigrants living in Brooklyn. His family belongs to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and so that is an angle I haven’t encountered before. He describes his brilliance as a student, and the glowing future that has been predicted for him, scholarships, fine schools, and a ticket to the top. It doesn’t happen that way, though. He is involved in a robbery that becomes a homicide, and he wants us to know none of it was his fault.
What?
This is what concerns me throughout most of the book. He describes the limitations on young Black men in America, the limitations of poverty; the racist assumptions; and the “toxic masculinity.” He is sexually assaulted as a youngster, and he considers that an element in his decision-making, the trauma of his past informing the crimes he commits later. He talks about this at length, but I’ll tell you what he doesn’t talk about much. He doesn’t talk much about the near-rape in which his was the pivotal role. He asks a “chick” out, and he and his friends are planning to “run a train” on her. But she is alarmed when she realizes that there are other men in the bedroom where they’re making out, and she gets away fast. He doesn’t recall her name, and he wants us to know he wasn’t that interested in her, anyway. She wasn’t “the pretty one,” she was the friend of the pretty one. And I keep wondering why he includes this if he feels so badly about what he and his homies nearly did to her. He pleads ignorance; he was a virgin. He just wanted to lose his virginity. He had believed she would welcome a roomful of men lining up to use her.
Uh huh.
There are also a good number of solid aspects to this memoir, most of them having to do with the dehumanizing American prison system. There’s not a lot that I haven’t seen before, but obviously, the system hasn’t been significantly altered as a result of the other memoirs that have seen publication, and so there’s a further need for stories like his. He speaks of how, while doing his time, after a visit from his mother, he kisses her on the cheek, and the guards swarm him to check the inside of his mouth before his mama is out the door. I’m guessing that after that farewell, the woman is out the door in a matter of seconds. What would it hurt to hold him there for 30 seconds, let the parent get out of the room, and then check him? It’s little things like this that increase the alienation felt by those that are incarcerated. Other countries don’t do it this way, and you have to wonder why the U.S. has to be so ugly about it. He leads a program and conducts protests while he’s inside, and is successful in making small changes. Other men learn from his work and are improved by it, and that’s something to be proud of.
But back to the robbery. He keeps reminding us that he was only nineteen years old, and I cannot, for the life of me, think why he considers this a mitigating circumstance. Ask a youth psychiatrist or counselor when men are at their most dangerous, and they will tell you that the teenage years are the worst, hands-down, because young men haven’t developed impulse control. And Peterson himself points out, later in the book, that when ex-cons get out of prison after spending a long time inside, they don’t go straight because they’re rehabilitated; they go straight because they’re older, and have outgrown that nonsense. It’s inconsistencies such as this one that weaken the narrative.
Toward the end, he pulls it together and claims responsibility, and he does so eloquently. But it makes me wonder why he didn’t go back and rewrite the earlier passages. Because there are a lot of red flags back there, things that those of us that have worked with at-risk youth know to listen and look for. For example, there are a lot of passive references to his crimes, things that “happened” rather than things that he did, or things that went differently than he expected; there’s an awful lot about his trauma, the environment, and allll the “toxic masculinity,” but thefts, robberies, and the homicide for which he was the lookout man but “didn’t even have a gun,” are given relatively little ink.
I’m carrying on quite a bit about this, but I have seen glowing reviews, and he’s gotten awards for this book, and nobody is talking about the red flags, and so I feel it’s important to mention them. The fact that the book ends with much more accountability is what’s kicked my rating up to four stars.
Read this book, but do it critically. There are lessons here that are intentional, and others that aren’t.
At the outset, Peterson describes his early years as the son of Trinidadian immigrants living in Brooklyn. His family belongs to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and so that is an angle I haven’t encountered before. He describes his brilliance as a student, and the glowing future that has been predicted for him, scholarships, fine schools, and a ticket to the top. It doesn’t happen that way, though. He is involved in a robbery that becomes a homicide, and he wants us to know none of it was his fault.
What?
This is what concerns me throughout most of the book. He describes the limitations on young Black men in America, the limitations of poverty; the racist assumptions; and the “toxic masculinity.” He is sexually assaulted as a youngster, and he considers that an element in his decision-making, the trauma of his past informing the crimes he commits later. He talks about this at length, but I’ll tell you what he doesn’t talk about much. He doesn’t talk much about the near-rape in which his was the pivotal role. He asks a “chick” out, and he and his friends are planning to “run a train” on her. But she is alarmed when she realizes that there are other men in the bedroom where they’re making out, and she gets away fast. He doesn’t recall her name, and he wants us to know he wasn’t that interested in her, anyway. She wasn’t “the pretty one,” she was the friend of the pretty one. And I keep wondering why he includes this if he feels so badly about what he and his homies nearly did to her. He pleads ignorance; he was a virgin. He just wanted to lose his virginity. He had believed she would welcome a roomful of men lining up to use her.
Uh huh.
There are also a good number of solid aspects to this memoir, most of them having to do with the dehumanizing American prison system. There’s not a lot that I haven’t seen before, but obviously, the system hasn’t been significantly altered as a result of the other memoirs that have seen publication, and so there’s a further need for stories like his. He speaks of how, while doing his time, after a visit from his mother, he kisses her on the cheek, and the guards swarm him to check the inside of his mouth before his mama is out the door. I’m guessing that after that farewell, the woman is out the door in a matter of seconds. What would it hurt to hold him there for 30 seconds, let the parent get out of the room, and then check him? It’s little things like this that increase the alienation felt by those that are incarcerated. Other countries don’t do it this way, and you have to wonder why the U.S. has to be so ugly about it. He leads a program and conducts protests while he’s inside, and is successful in making small changes. Other men learn from his work and are improved by it, and that’s something to be proud of.
But back to the robbery. He keeps reminding us that he was only nineteen years old, and I cannot, for the life of me, think why he considers this a mitigating circumstance. Ask a youth psychiatrist or counselor when men are at their most dangerous, and they will tell you that the teenage years are the worst, hands-down, because young men haven’t developed impulse control. And Peterson himself points out, later in the book, that when ex-cons get out of prison after spending a long time inside, they don’t go straight because they’re rehabilitated; they go straight because they’re older, and have outgrown that nonsense. It’s inconsistencies such as this one that weaken the narrative.
Toward the end, he pulls it together and claims responsibility, and he does so eloquently. But it makes me wonder why he didn’t go back and rewrite the earlier passages. Because there are a lot of red flags back there, things that those of us that have worked with at-risk youth know to listen and look for. For example, there are a lot of passive references to his crimes, things that “happened” rather than things that he did, or things that went differently than he expected; there’s an awful lot about his trauma, the environment, and allll the “toxic masculinity,” but thefts, robberies, and the homicide for which he was the lookout man but “didn’t even have a gun,” are given relatively little ink.
I’m carrying on quite a bit about this, but I have seen glowing reviews, and he’s gotten awards for this book, and nobody is talking about the red flags, and so I feel it’s important to mention them. The fact that the book ends with much more accountability is what’s kicked my rating up to four stars.
Read this book, but do it critically. There are lessons here that are intentional, and others that aren’t.
March 7, 2021
Marlon Peterson’s 𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙐𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 is a beautifully, comprised melody America needs to learn for memory. It is an abolitionist’s song about freedom, healing, transformation, and justice that can not only change the lives of the incarcerated, but also the vision of America’s prisons and criminal justice system. 𝘽𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙐𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙙 serves as a blueprint for anti-violent activism, education, and prison abolition work with Peterson leading the charge with his powerful, emotional, and endearing plea to release us from the cages blocking our songs.
In this abolitionist memoir, Peterson details his coming-of-age story in Crown Heights by Trinidadian immigrants in the 80s and 90s. The narrative is shaped by years of constant violence, trauma, and secret pain that a young boy and man must carry around with a heavy, damaging, yet proud mask of toxic masculinity. At 19, Peterson is arrested and charged in a felony robbery-murder case and served 10 years. Peterson warns us, “In life you get to choose your choices, but you don’t get to choose your consequences.”
Peterson was advocating inspiration, safety, and worth in a place conditioned to operate like a slave plantation and a perpetual hell on Earth. Instead of becoming the savage prisons intending on making inmates become, Peterson knew he had to scheme the system trying to cage his potential and purpose. Peterson was “somebody’s beautiful bird” and he had to sing his song. Yet, we needed to hear it, too, though. What prison binds you? What song are you holding back? Peterson explains, “What these policy punks don’t acknowledge is that prison is filled with humans who have the capacity to be just as brilliant as we can be dangerous—just like you.“ He doesn’t request your sympathy, but he wants you to identify with the experience of being caged. Make moves to being uncaged and write your own freedom song. Your happiness matters, too.
This freedom song might not break the Billboard Top 100 charts, but I’m quite sure it will top the 𝙉𝙔𝙏 Best-Sellers List this spring. Get your copy in April!
In this abolitionist memoir, Peterson details his coming-of-age story in Crown Heights by Trinidadian immigrants in the 80s and 90s. The narrative is shaped by years of constant violence, trauma, and secret pain that a young boy and man must carry around with a heavy, damaging, yet proud mask of toxic masculinity. At 19, Peterson is arrested and charged in a felony robbery-murder case and served 10 years. Peterson warns us, “In life you get to choose your choices, but you don’t get to choose your consequences.”
Peterson was advocating inspiration, safety, and worth in a place conditioned to operate like a slave plantation and a perpetual hell on Earth. Instead of becoming the savage prisons intending on making inmates become, Peterson knew he had to scheme the system trying to cage his potential and purpose. Peterson was “somebody’s beautiful bird” and he had to sing his song. Yet, we needed to hear it, too, though. What prison binds you? What song are you holding back? Peterson explains, “What these policy punks don’t acknowledge is that prison is filled with humans who have the capacity to be just as brilliant as we can be dangerous—just like you.“ He doesn’t request your sympathy, but he wants you to identify with the experience of being caged. Make moves to being uncaged and write your own freedom song. Your happiness matters, too.
This freedom song might not break the Billboard Top 100 charts, but I’m quite sure it will top the 𝙉𝙔𝙏 Best-Sellers List this spring. Get your copy in April!
January 12, 2023
I think I gave this 5 stars more so for who I was thinking about while reading, especially the last chapter, chapter 13: Un-American and Free.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Spending my time between ENY, Crown Heights and East Flatbush. It’s rough growing up the hood/projects. I can only image what black men/boys go through growing up in these neighborhoods. Peterson gives us some insight.
My only hope is that, although the external is going to take some time to change, more boys turn to men and become better role models. Young black girls and boys need better role models, or people who just make better decisions regardless of the adverse consequences, some of which Peterson talked about and experienced. I know that it’s easier said than done, but nothing good was ever gained from having things easy.
EDIT: I also can’t help but think about his comments on Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech. What would the world and/or America and/or Obama’s presidency had looked like if Obama was honest about race relations and racism in America in that speech but also through all 8 years in office (if elected a second time) and afterwards? What kind of conversations would we (America) be having if the leader of the free world, who was African American, spoke on experiences like that of Kalief Browder and Marlon Peterson and the incarceration system and validated them?
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Spending my time between ENY, Crown Heights and East Flatbush. It’s rough growing up the hood/projects. I can only image what black men/boys go through growing up in these neighborhoods. Peterson gives us some insight.
My only hope is that, although the external is going to take some time to change, more boys turn to men and become better role models. Young black girls and boys need better role models, or people who just make better decisions regardless of the adverse consequences, some of which Peterson talked about and experienced. I know that it’s easier said than done, but nothing good was ever gained from having things easy.
EDIT: I also can’t help but think about his comments on Barack Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech. What would the world and/or America and/or Obama’s presidency had looked like if Obama was honest about race relations and racism in America in that speech but also through all 8 years in office (if elected a second time) and afterwards? What kind of conversations would we (America) be having if the leader of the free world, who was African American, spoke on experiences like that of Kalief Browder and Marlon Peterson and the incarceration system and validated them?
Read
August 12, 2021After hearing him speak on a panel hosted by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, I was eager to read his book. Very glad I did. He speaks to the challenges of growing up in over-policed and under-resources communities, and the challenge of finding acceptance/safety among peers vs holding true to your values. And SO MUCH about the inhumanity of our prison system, both for those incarcerated and those employed in the system. I’m grateful for this book.
December 5, 2022
This review originally appeared on the book review blog: Just One More Pa(i)ge.
I know for sure that the one and only place I've seen this book is on @thestackspod IG feed. That put it on my radar, but it wasn't until I was shelving books a few weeks ago at the library and it caught my eye on the shelf that I spur-of-the-moment decided to go ahead and check it out. And here we are, after I read it in two sittings, because it was just that compelling.
In this short memoir, Marlon Peterson takes the reader through his experiences growing up the son of a Trinidadian mother and a deeply faithful Jehovah's Witness father in 1980s NYC. From the daily violence of the school and neighborhoods to his very intimate and personal experience being sexually assaulted and raped as a young teen, he gives the reader an unflinching look at the many ways his years growing up shaped him to make the decision to participate in an armed robbery that resulted in two murders. At the age of nineteen, he was convicted, and spent his next ten years in prison. While incarcerated, Peterson became absorbed with social justice activism, education, and abolitionist efforts that would define not only those years of his life, but the direction of his work and life after prison as well. In these pages, Peterson unflinchingly lays out not only his choices and their consequences, but also the variety of cages, both self-inflicted and externally applied, that exist within the reality of American society. And he lays out with deep emotion his reasons, with many credits to the original authors of these ideas alongside his own interpretations and philosophies, why incarceration is neither rehabilitation nor justice.
Oh my goodness. Peterson's narrative voice is visceral and piercing. Starting as early as the dedication page, it just stops you right in your tracks. It is at times repetitive, or a bit choppy and jumps around, but the conversational stream of consciousness and the emotional intensity of his words is a highlight and, once you're adjusted to his style, you cannot help but be deeply affected. Some other literary high points include letters (some to his younger self, one to his rapist, one to "freedom") and quotes that open each chapter, which are in turns tender and heartbreaking and, at all times, incredibly expressive. It is so clear the role that they have had in his personal journey of healing. The inclusion of his own words, poetry and journaling, are exquisite. In particular, the poem he wrote inspired by Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is stunning, extraordinarily illustrative, a true resistance in words (one of the only forms within his control during his incarceration).
Thematically, of course, this is a very potent and passionate reading experience, with a number of moments and topics that could be potentially triggering to readers, so please be aware of that going in. However, if you are in a place to be able to handle it, it is well worth it. Peterson writes with a very accessible philosophical voice and I want to list out a few of the points he makes (or at the very least, explores) that I was particularly struck by. I'm going to just bullet point my thoughts here, as I jotted down so many reactions while reading through this (honestly quite short) memoir that I'm afraid I don't have the capacity or capability to make them all into a flowing paragraph of any worth. So, here they are:
- Peterson takes numerous predatory “normal/everyday” moments and interrogates why they are normal and everyday, despite their inherent and consistent harm and toxicity (things like violence against women, fighting, gun violence, gang activity, etc.) It's a searing condemnation of the need to take your own pain out on someone else, the longing for belonging and community and safety, and (unavoidably a primary cause) the patriarchy and white supremacy.
- The concept of disconnecting from feelings in the face of so much daily fear/trauma/unhealthy external expectations (the face you show the world versus the pain you mask), in order to maintain sanity, both prior to incarceration and then reiterated even more strongly as a survival tactic in prison, is terrifying. And explains quite a bit about why/how people make the choices they do.
- Prison as a crime against the people within. It preys on the mind in a way that, as mental wellness/illness cannot be seen, it also cannot be quantified, and therefore the system can never be held accountable for its crimes, cannot have justice searched for against it. And this applies to all those within the system, both people who are incarcerated by it *and* those who are employed by it.
- So much gorgeous focus on the saving power of imagination, as a coping mechanism, as escapism, as a breeding ground for hope.
- The removal of Pell Grants for people in prison is infuriating. Retribution and punishment do nothing to help with “rehabilitation,” plus this further reduces the chance for people to make different choices or work towards a future of greater opportunity, of redemption and contribution and purpose. “Incarceration doesn’t rehabilitate; people do.”
- Peterson really asks and explores, profoundly, the concept of being defined by one’s worst moment. He comments on, once incarcerated for that worst moment, it is extrapolated onto every decision made and every potential action taken, always with the worst assumptions at the forefront. And he includes how that affects a person's internal and self-views as well, and how that encourages growth and “rehabilitation” (spoiler: it does not).
- Even after prison, there are myriad mental cages, the feelings of being trapped, stuck in only negative self talk and self awareness, because how does one balance being both a perpetrator and a victim?
- Addressing the specific issues of toxic masculinity and patriarchy, as it complicates all these things even more for Black women, was an important acknowledgement. Along these same intersectional lines, I would also have liked at least a nod towards trans populations in prisons.
- Related to the above point about trans populations, there are a few other intersectionality misses (specifically Peterson questioning if concentration camps could ever rear their heads again), that I felt like did dismiss/ignore the experiences of many peoples who have, or currently are, experiencing realities just like that. However, I will say that, despite that, he does acknowledge his own learning journey, and how it continues and his understandings/beliefs evolve with time, so there is space allowed for continuing the journey, which is key.
The final chapter of this memoir was full-on *feels.* It came hard and fast and was exactly the perfect fierce, furious finish this book deserved. Peterson unshakably calls out America for its falsities and dual realities, while offering what growth into real Justice could look like, if we were just willing to acknowledge the hypocrisy and try to create something new, more inclusive and universally beneficial, in its place. He advocates that we all deserve that kind of freedom, one with no cages, no “prison identities,” whether they be ones we create or those created for us, and calls for us to commit to the education and activism to get us there.
Y'all I spent more time highlighting and transcribing passages while reading this than any book I've read before. This was, as I said, incredibly accessible in its philosophical explorations and narrative voice, and Peterson's personality comes across so strongly through all his words. So, that being said I have a lot of pull-quotes below. Take a peek. And then go read it yourself!
“I wish someone told me that simply moving on was not freedom from the harm felt and seen.”
“Who taught us that there was no sense behind our responses to being treated senseless and empathetically? Survival of the oppressed isn't always logical to the oppressor when observing the oppressed. None of our people are monsters - none. The moment we describe people as monsters we shift human behavior into the realm of the unexplainable. Every act of violence can be explained…”
“Racism is always working, ain’t it; even when you don’t have the data and language to articulate it.”
“By puberty I was committed to notions of manhood that were determined by how much pain I could keep to myself.”
“I had no purpose, and while that's normal to most teens, a purposeless existence in the midst of serious traumas and real concerns about safety can be a poisonous concoction.”
“I was committed to my own demise in the pursuit of safety…”
“Feeling unnecessary is a terrible thing.”
"In life you get to choose your choices, but you don't get to choose your consequences."
“Jail is a miserable place filled with people living through miserable situations, miserable guilt, miserable abuse, and miserable shame. It was hard not to want bad things to happen to people as irrelevant as you.”
** “America harms and sells the lie of the American dream to everyone, including those of us not incorporated in the framing of this nation - women, people who are Black, Brown. America's inability and unwillingness to acknowledge its first lie - the American dream - prevents it from creating a new nation, a new document that is inclusive of the humanity of everyone.”
“You have to be fully aware of your capabilities - good and bad - to understand your power to create a better self-image.”
“But most people like to believe the illusion that prison is the intervention that stops crime. But no, it's getting older, having a sense of usefulness, believing in something you want to live for.”
“We were a medley of people who were usually insecure and rarely certain. We were a community of healers, warriors, jesters, and teachers. We were people broken by experiences, surviving the best way we knew how. We were you.”
“Though some of the world's greatest thinkers, healers, and leaders have spent time in prison, in real time incarcerated people aren't allowed the grace of possibility and purpose.”
“Broken people break people, even those whom they love…”
“Prison is never experienced in a vacuum. Never.”
“Everything about prison and jail is designed to compel worthlessness. […] Feeling good about yourself when you are walking with daily depressions is a revolutionary act in a cage designed to deplete. The shame of the act committed, the guilt of the conviction, the anger of the daily humiliation, the hurt of being abandoned by loved ones, the hurt of abandoning - all of it was so heavy.”
“Prison are flippant with people's humanity, aren't they? They treat people like an illness or a disease. So you get why feeling good about yourself in prison is labor.”
“Whenever you place people together you create possibilities of growth.”
*** “Abolition is a politics of creationism. Wanting to end policing is wanting to create thriving communities that do not need an armed state security force that has no true legislative and judicial accountability. A world without prisons is a root-reckoning of the community problems that preface the prison problems… [...] Abolition is wanting to live without fear. Have police succeeded in establishing societies of safety? Has parole? Probation?Deportation? No. No. No. No. And, no.”
“America’s refusal to listen to what Black people ask, plead, strategize, and demand is the core of the American sickness. Justice is undoing all that is needed to acquire redemption from brokenness.”
*** “But, America believes in armaments more than it believes in its lies of white racial superiority, more than the possibilities of the people here, more than it believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And in my experience, people cling to weapons when they are scared. I don't know if I live in a terrified nation, but I know that this nation is terrified of people who look like me, which makes people like me terrified of this nation. All of this fear suffocates space for love. Love for others makes you want to undo behaviors that hurt.”
“Prison offers no rewards for being selfless and contributing to humanity and community. Prisons leech time and dignity.”
“Prisons can do this thing where [...] Living with the memory that you were the purveyor of some great harm toward another person or people can have the unintended effect of blinding you to the injustice of being treated unfairly. Critiquing a system for injury can feel sacrilegious and incongruent with accepting guilt for your personal transgressions.”
“America the blighted that loves the brutal bravery of its beginning more than its ideals of justice for all.”
I know for sure that the one and only place I've seen this book is on @thestackspod IG feed. That put it on my radar, but it wasn't until I was shelving books a few weeks ago at the library and it caught my eye on the shelf that I spur-of-the-moment decided to go ahead and check it out. And here we are, after I read it in two sittings, because it was just that compelling.
In this short memoir, Marlon Peterson takes the reader through his experiences growing up the son of a Trinidadian mother and a deeply faithful Jehovah's Witness father in 1980s NYC. From the daily violence of the school and neighborhoods to his very intimate and personal experience being sexually assaulted and raped as a young teen, he gives the reader an unflinching look at the many ways his years growing up shaped him to make the decision to participate in an armed robbery that resulted in two murders. At the age of nineteen, he was convicted, and spent his next ten years in prison. While incarcerated, Peterson became absorbed with social justice activism, education, and abolitionist efforts that would define not only those years of his life, but the direction of his work and life after prison as well. In these pages, Peterson unflinchingly lays out not only his choices and their consequences, but also the variety of cages, both self-inflicted and externally applied, that exist within the reality of American society. And he lays out with deep emotion his reasons, with many credits to the original authors of these ideas alongside his own interpretations and philosophies, why incarceration is neither rehabilitation nor justice.
Oh my goodness. Peterson's narrative voice is visceral and piercing. Starting as early as the dedication page, it just stops you right in your tracks. It is at times repetitive, or a bit choppy and jumps around, but the conversational stream of consciousness and the emotional intensity of his words is a highlight and, once you're adjusted to his style, you cannot help but be deeply affected. Some other literary high points include letters (some to his younger self, one to his rapist, one to "freedom") and quotes that open each chapter, which are in turns tender and heartbreaking and, at all times, incredibly expressive. It is so clear the role that they have had in his personal journey of healing. The inclusion of his own words, poetry and journaling, are exquisite. In particular, the poem he wrote inspired by Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is stunning, extraordinarily illustrative, a true resistance in words (one of the only forms within his control during his incarceration).
Thematically, of course, this is a very potent and passionate reading experience, with a number of moments and topics that could be potentially triggering to readers, so please be aware of that going in. However, if you are in a place to be able to handle it, it is well worth it. Peterson writes with a very accessible philosophical voice and I want to list out a few of the points he makes (or at the very least, explores) that I was particularly struck by. I'm going to just bullet point my thoughts here, as I jotted down so many reactions while reading through this (honestly quite short) memoir that I'm afraid I don't have the capacity or capability to make them all into a flowing paragraph of any worth. So, here they are:
- Peterson takes numerous predatory “normal/everyday” moments and interrogates why they are normal and everyday, despite their inherent and consistent harm and toxicity (things like violence against women, fighting, gun violence, gang activity, etc.) It's a searing condemnation of the need to take your own pain out on someone else, the longing for belonging and community and safety, and (unavoidably a primary cause) the patriarchy and white supremacy.
- The concept of disconnecting from feelings in the face of so much daily fear/trauma/unhealthy external expectations (the face you show the world versus the pain you mask), in order to maintain sanity, both prior to incarceration and then reiterated even more strongly as a survival tactic in prison, is terrifying. And explains quite a bit about why/how people make the choices they do.
- Prison as a crime against the people within. It preys on the mind in a way that, as mental wellness/illness cannot be seen, it also cannot be quantified, and therefore the system can never be held accountable for its crimes, cannot have justice searched for against it. And this applies to all those within the system, both people who are incarcerated by it *and* those who are employed by it.
- So much gorgeous focus on the saving power of imagination, as a coping mechanism, as escapism, as a breeding ground for hope.
- The removal of Pell Grants for people in prison is infuriating. Retribution and punishment do nothing to help with “rehabilitation,” plus this further reduces the chance for people to make different choices or work towards a future of greater opportunity, of redemption and contribution and purpose. “Incarceration doesn’t rehabilitate; people do.”
- Peterson really asks and explores, profoundly, the concept of being defined by one’s worst moment. He comments on, once incarcerated for that worst moment, it is extrapolated onto every decision made and every potential action taken, always with the worst assumptions at the forefront. And he includes how that affects a person's internal and self-views as well, and how that encourages growth and “rehabilitation” (spoiler: it does not).
- Even after prison, there are myriad mental cages, the feelings of being trapped, stuck in only negative self talk and self awareness, because how does one balance being both a perpetrator and a victim?
- Addressing the specific issues of toxic masculinity and patriarchy, as it complicates all these things even more for Black women, was an important acknowledgement. Along these same intersectional lines, I would also have liked at least a nod towards trans populations in prisons.
- Related to the above point about trans populations, there are a few other intersectionality misses (specifically Peterson questioning if concentration camps could ever rear their heads again), that I felt like did dismiss/ignore the experiences of many peoples who have, or currently are, experiencing realities just like that. However, I will say that, despite that, he does acknowledge his own learning journey, and how it continues and his understandings/beliefs evolve with time, so there is space allowed for continuing the journey, which is key.
The final chapter of this memoir was full-on *feels.* It came hard and fast and was exactly the perfect fierce, furious finish this book deserved. Peterson unshakably calls out America for its falsities and dual realities, while offering what growth into real Justice could look like, if we were just willing to acknowledge the hypocrisy and try to create something new, more inclusive and universally beneficial, in its place. He advocates that we all deserve that kind of freedom, one with no cages, no “prison identities,” whether they be ones we create or those created for us, and calls for us to commit to the education and activism to get us there.
Y'all I spent more time highlighting and transcribing passages while reading this than any book I've read before. This was, as I said, incredibly accessible in its philosophical explorations and narrative voice, and Peterson's personality comes across so strongly through all his words. So, that being said I have a lot of pull-quotes below. Take a peek. And then go read it yourself!
“I wish someone told me that simply moving on was not freedom from the harm felt and seen.”
“Who taught us that there was no sense behind our responses to being treated senseless and empathetically? Survival of the oppressed isn't always logical to the oppressor when observing the oppressed. None of our people are monsters - none. The moment we describe people as monsters we shift human behavior into the realm of the unexplainable. Every act of violence can be explained…”
“Racism is always working, ain’t it; even when you don’t have the data and language to articulate it.”
“By puberty I was committed to notions of manhood that were determined by how much pain I could keep to myself.”
“I had no purpose, and while that's normal to most teens, a purposeless existence in the midst of serious traumas and real concerns about safety can be a poisonous concoction.”
“I was committed to my own demise in the pursuit of safety…”
“Feeling unnecessary is a terrible thing.”
"In life you get to choose your choices, but you don't get to choose your consequences."
“Jail is a miserable place filled with people living through miserable situations, miserable guilt, miserable abuse, and miserable shame. It was hard not to want bad things to happen to people as irrelevant as you.”
** “America harms and sells the lie of the American dream to everyone, including those of us not incorporated in the framing of this nation - women, people who are Black, Brown. America's inability and unwillingness to acknowledge its first lie - the American dream - prevents it from creating a new nation, a new document that is inclusive of the humanity of everyone.”
“You have to be fully aware of your capabilities - good and bad - to understand your power to create a better self-image.”
“But most people like to believe the illusion that prison is the intervention that stops crime. But no, it's getting older, having a sense of usefulness, believing in something you want to live for.”
“We were a medley of people who were usually insecure and rarely certain. We were a community of healers, warriors, jesters, and teachers. We were people broken by experiences, surviving the best way we knew how. We were you.”
“Though some of the world's greatest thinkers, healers, and leaders have spent time in prison, in real time incarcerated people aren't allowed the grace of possibility and purpose.”
“Broken people break people, even those whom they love…”
“Prison is never experienced in a vacuum. Never.”
“Everything about prison and jail is designed to compel worthlessness. […] Feeling good about yourself when you are walking with daily depressions is a revolutionary act in a cage designed to deplete. The shame of the act committed, the guilt of the conviction, the anger of the daily humiliation, the hurt of being abandoned by loved ones, the hurt of abandoning - all of it was so heavy.”
“Prison are flippant with people's humanity, aren't they? They treat people like an illness or a disease. So you get why feeling good about yourself in prison is labor.”
“Whenever you place people together you create possibilities of growth.”
*** “Abolition is a politics of creationism. Wanting to end policing is wanting to create thriving communities that do not need an armed state security force that has no true legislative and judicial accountability. A world without prisons is a root-reckoning of the community problems that preface the prison problems… [...] Abolition is wanting to live without fear. Have police succeeded in establishing societies of safety? Has parole? Probation?Deportation? No. No. No. No. And, no.”
“America’s refusal to listen to what Black people ask, plead, strategize, and demand is the core of the American sickness. Justice is undoing all that is needed to acquire redemption from brokenness.”
*** “But, America believes in armaments more than it believes in its lies of white racial superiority, more than the possibilities of the people here, more than it believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And in my experience, people cling to weapons when they are scared. I don't know if I live in a terrified nation, but I know that this nation is terrified of people who look like me, which makes people like me terrified of this nation. All of this fear suffocates space for love. Love for others makes you want to undo behaviors that hurt.”
“Prison offers no rewards for being selfless and contributing to humanity and community. Prisons leech time and dignity.”
“Prisons can do this thing where [...] Living with the memory that you were the purveyor of some great harm toward another person or people can have the unintended effect of blinding you to the injustice of being treated unfairly. Critiquing a system for injury can feel sacrilegious and incongruent with accepting guilt for your personal transgressions.”
“America the blighted that loves the brutal bravery of its beginning more than its ideals of justice for all.”
February 6, 2021
Marlon Peterson's "Bird Uncaged: An Abolitionist's Freedom Song" is a story of the author's life from his childhood through the duration of his incarceration, and a brief look at his life after freedom. When Peterson is around 19, he is convicted to 10 years in prison due to his participation in a robbery in Manhattan in which two people die. Some of the root causes of many of Peterson's actions, which he acknowledges and reflects upon, are trauma and a culture of masculinity that he experienced in his childhood and teen years. One point that this book makes clear is the power and value of providing opportunities for those who are incarcerated and the stark reminder of the trauma that lives beneath the surface of many people who languish in America's prison system. This is really interesting read about Peterson's life, the criminal justice system, and the need for and power of abolition.
June 27, 2022
Loved this. Should be assigned reading in high schools. Brilliant and perfect,
May 5, 2021
This one will sit with me for a while. Peterson has a powerful story of growing up in a tough neighborhood and making some poor choices which lead him to 12 years in prison. He talks about prison life, and I agree that prisons need to be more about rehabilitation rather than punishment. I don't know enough of our current prison systems to comment on what it really looks like; I only have my experiences with books like this one. (This is a very similar experience to that of other books.)
He has a few ideas I don't completely agree with, but I don't know why. I'll be pondering those for a while.
He has a few ideas I don't completely agree with, but I don't know why. I'll be pondering those for a while.
April 20, 2021
Brutally honest and emotionally devastating memoir, a shining example of what a prison memoir can do when in the hands of such a good writer and thinker. The story behind the policy prescriptions is gripping and memorable.
July 29, 2021
"In life you get to choose your choices, but you don't get to choose your consequences."
Marlon Peterson
This quote is thought provoking and makes for a great conversation.
This book is unputdownable!! An all too familiar story of a young Black man trying to Become.
The author narrated his book on Audible and need I tell you, I was besides myself listening to Marlon speak to me, personally telling me his story and me responding with my thoughts. Marlon told a profound and transparent story. He shared his deepest feelings, his journey into becoming a man and struggles throughout his formidable years with masculinity and gaining respect. He showed just how volatile it is for a young Black boy going to school and just trying to find agency within himself and his community. I walked the streets of Brooklyn and the school hallways with him. I laughed, cried and felt his pain. Marlon gave a first hand account of the school to prison pipeline system. Included in this must read text are historical and statistical data regarding the prison system. One of the many things I found really interesting was his explanation of how digitized incarceration has always been. He spat the truth in Un-American and Free. "Not every country was created by war and the written oppression of most of its citizens; not every country in the world gained its wealth through the brazen brutality of slavery, war, colonialism, and dogged capitalism." I admired Marlon's tenacious and positive attitude toward success during his incarceration. Determined to be successful, Marlon would do just what he knew to do, 'Move On' and accomplish many great achievements.
Marlon left me wondering about my own dash. What could someone experience in their own life that would allow them to purposely hurt another?
Marlon Peterson
This quote is thought provoking and makes for a great conversation.
This book is unputdownable!! An all too familiar story of a young Black man trying to Become.
The author narrated his book on Audible and need I tell you, I was besides myself listening to Marlon speak to me, personally telling me his story and me responding with my thoughts. Marlon told a profound and transparent story. He shared his deepest feelings, his journey into becoming a man and struggles throughout his formidable years with masculinity and gaining respect. He showed just how volatile it is for a young Black boy going to school and just trying to find agency within himself and his community. I walked the streets of Brooklyn and the school hallways with him. I laughed, cried and felt his pain. Marlon gave a first hand account of the school to prison pipeline system. Included in this must read text are historical and statistical data regarding the prison system. One of the many things I found really interesting was his explanation of how digitized incarceration has always been. He spat the truth in Un-American and Free. "Not every country was created by war and the written oppression of most of its citizens; not every country in the world gained its wealth through the brazen brutality of slavery, war, colonialism, and dogged capitalism." I admired Marlon's tenacious and positive attitude toward success during his incarceration. Determined to be successful, Marlon would do just what he knew to do, 'Move On' and accomplish many great achievements.
Marlon left me wondering about my own dash. What could someone experience in their own life that would allow them to purposely hurt another?
May 14, 2021
Remarkably poignant—and often poetic—reflections by Marlon Peterson on the cages we find ourselves in. The most obvious one he discusses is prison, as he spent 12 years in NY prisons for crimes he committed as a young man (and truth be told, Peterson is still a young man). But the heart of the book is in discussing the less obvious aspects of our society that hold people and groups prisoner. These include racism, toxic masculinity, sexism, political and cultural norms, and a whole host of others.
This book is packed with poignant, articulate quotes and points. Peterson also includes several poems he wrote and they are beautiful expressions of sorrow, hope, and self-reflection. And Peterson’s willingness to engage in deep, soul-searching self-reflection is something that most of us would do well to try; he acknowledges his past mistakes and current struggles frankly, without excuse, and with a determination to do better. As he states in his book, that allows us to say I’m better today than I was yesterday.
Peterson is unapologetically an abolitionist when it comes to prisons. And Peterson himself states that he is decidedly not proud of America because of all the ways that our country fails to live up to its ideals and meet the needs of various people and groups. Some may be taken aback by that. But when you read closely, it becomes apparent that Peterson’s criticisms in these regards stem from a belief that as a nation and people, we can be so much better than we are currently.
At the end of the day, this book is a wonderful reflection that inspires hope and improvement. It gives the reader a greater appreciation for freedom and inspires us all to tear down the various cages that hold us prisoner. Even if you may disagree with some of Peterson’s points, this book is well worth the read.
This book is packed with poignant, articulate quotes and points. Peterson also includes several poems he wrote and they are beautiful expressions of sorrow, hope, and self-reflection. And Peterson’s willingness to engage in deep, soul-searching self-reflection is something that most of us would do well to try; he acknowledges his past mistakes and current struggles frankly, without excuse, and with a determination to do better. As he states in his book, that allows us to say I’m better today than I was yesterday.
Peterson is unapologetically an abolitionist when it comes to prisons. And Peterson himself states that he is decidedly not proud of America because of all the ways that our country fails to live up to its ideals and meet the needs of various people and groups. Some may be taken aback by that. But when you read closely, it becomes apparent that Peterson’s criticisms in these regards stem from a belief that as a nation and people, we can be so much better than we are currently.
At the end of the day, this book is a wonderful reflection that inspires hope and improvement. It gives the reader a greater appreciation for freedom and inspires us all to tear down the various cages that hold us prisoner. Even if you may disagree with some of Peterson’s points, this book is well worth the read.
March 31, 2022
This one will stay with me awhile. As all books that detail the journey of innocent, vulnerable Black boys who are thrust into harsh environments denied the option to express any emotion other than anger and then criminalized/villainized. It’s a painfully familiar read that exposes how little Black boys all over America and the world experience life. It makes me wonder how so many of them seem relatively well-adjusted and “normal”. How did my own father a Trinidadian who grew up in the same “plannings” that Marlon mentioned manage to escape all the many traps that are set up for Black boys. My empathy runs deep and wide. It’s hard to balance the reality that the men/his peers in prison so deeply hurt other ppl while also reminding myself that they are carrying around generations of pain and unfairness. We create hostile environments that children are raised in and then are shocked when they lack any empathy and hurt others. This book is a reminder that prison is pointless and rooted in slavery. That so so much is wrong and unjust in our country. That people who are oppressed and afraid will hurt each other in unimaginable ways because they might not have anything else but their “pride”. Prison has to be reimagined. It has to be a place that can instill hope and change because most people will be getting out. It cannot be a cruel environment that replicates pain. The flow of the book was a bit choppy and I think the editor could’ve been more helpful in balancing the through line but it was not a long book and it was engaging throughout. It will definitely leave you with feelings. What those feelings are depends on your own life experiences.
re-read
January 23, 2024This book is a must read abolitionist text. It's up there with Are Prison's Obsolete?, The End of Policing, and anything by Mariame Kaba and Ruth Wilson Gilmore.
Bird Uncaged is Peterson's memoir about how he got to prison and how he survived and I think what it excels at is showing the complexity of what abolitionists need to grapple with. Peterson grew up poor in a rough neighborhood. He experienced the trauma of how the US treats immigrants, the trauma of physical violence, the trauma of growing up in a community that was disinvested from, and the trauma of racism. But he is clear he made some very bad choices, choices that resulted in the deaths of several people. Aboltion needs to grapple with people who have done horrific things and also with people who have turned their victimization into violence. It's not an easy thing to deal with.
He is particularly good about addressing how patriarchy has played a role in his own choices and also as a intersecting system of oppression for all people. It brought to mind Richie Reseda's work. The final couple chapters take a step back from his own life and muse on abolition and how his own story has informed his understanding and learning and they are insightful and full of much to think on.
Bird Uncaged is Peterson's memoir about how he got to prison and how he survived and I think what it excels at is showing the complexity of what abolitionists need to grapple with. Peterson grew up poor in a rough neighborhood. He experienced the trauma of how the US treats immigrants, the trauma of physical violence, the trauma of growing up in a community that was disinvested from, and the trauma of racism. But he is clear he made some very bad choices, choices that resulted in the deaths of several people. Aboltion needs to grapple with people who have done horrific things and also with people who have turned their victimization into violence. It's not an easy thing to deal with.
He is particularly good about addressing how patriarchy has played a role in his own choices and also as a intersecting system of oppression for all people. It brought to mind Richie Reseda's work. The final couple chapters take a step back from his own life and muse on abolition and how his own story has informed his understanding and learning and they are insightful and full of much to think on.
May 6, 2021
I'm unclear of how to even begin this review. I just put it down and wanted to write this while I am still experiencing the emotions of this story. It hits a little different for me because I once did a workshop with Marlon and since I have gotten to be in his presence, I am acutely aware of what a powerful and special person he is. By sharing his story with so much vulnerability, Marlon touches on themes of masculinity, fear of being seen (as well as the value of being truly seen), prisons of the mind and heart, whiteness and blackness, passion and purpose, and most importantly freedom. Real and true and profound freedom. These all beautifully compliment the overarching theme of the importance of prison reform and eventually abolition. It examines race and it's one sided relationship with the criminal justice system in our country. Marlon opened my eyes to how much imprisonment and freedom can coexist at any moment, in any place within a person. Thank you for shining a light on the path to joy. I am deeply moved.
July 17, 2021
Marlon Peterson writes compellingly about his formative years in Crown Heights,, New York, the third child of Trinidadian immigrants. He writes about the tough exterior that is required of Black boys to survive the streets and the effed up situations he found himself in. He pulls back the curtain of his mistakes and worst moment to give insight into the US’s insistence on toxic masculinity and patriarchy and white supremacy. He survived 10 years in prison, from age 19 to age 30, by relying on himself, reading, journaling, and organizing outreach seminars and other learning experiences that empowered prisoners to take charge of their lives and minds. At times the narrative skipped around in time, but that’s a small price to pay for this strong voice of prison abolition. Recommended for anyone who wants to pay attention to the problem of mass incarceration and to be inspired by a man who isn’t defined by his worst moment, even by himself.
June 7, 2024
I read this strictly because he was featured in one of my favorite essays by Kiese Laymon.
You can tell Peterson really needed to let this out. He writes with a pace as if he is running out of time; however, not of the material was necessarily groundbreaking.
Peterson went away at a young age of 19, learned about all the horrors of racial violence, prison industrial complex, and state hegemony, then brain-dumped all of his findings.
Some memoirs you extract a profound reflection upon life from them, and some you listen to someone who desperately wants to be heard. This is the latter.
I appreciate him telling his story and his vulnerability. I almost DNF just from the “Intro to Race Politics 101” lectures. Going from Fanon (not comparison, just my most recent reads) to this felt like a watered-down tea! I was begging for more sweetener. A little more depth of flavor (analysis) would have made me enjoy this much more.
Also glad that he got over his Obama idolization lol
You can tell Peterson really needed to let this out. He writes with a pace as if he is running out of time; however, not of the material was necessarily groundbreaking.
Peterson went away at a young age of 19, learned about all the horrors of racial violence, prison industrial complex, and state hegemony, then brain-dumped all of his findings.
Some memoirs you extract a profound reflection upon life from them, and some you listen to someone who desperately wants to be heard. This is the latter.
I appreciate him telling his story and his vulnerability. I almost DNF just from the “Intro to Race Politics 101” lectures. Going from Fanon (not comparison, just my most recent reads) to this felt like a watered-down tea! I was begging for more sweetener. A little more depth of flavor (analysis) would have made me enjoy this much more.
Also glad that he got over his Obama idolization lol
May 30, 2021
"That's the thing about prison that I wish more people understood. Incarceration doesn't rehabilitate; people do." This book makes an argument for abolition of prison
using this author's life as case study.
The author strikes an excellent balance between accepting responsibility for the mistakes he made/ the hurt he caused and demanding his own humanity be respected. He acknowledges the roles he has played as both victim and perpetrator. I appreciated how he recounted his past with commentary from his older, wiser self. He does an especially good job dissecting toxic masculinity and the false promise of the American dream.
using this author's life as case study.
The author strikes an excellent balance between accepting responsibility for the mistakes he made/ the hurt he caused and demanding his own humanity be respected. He acknowledges the roles he has played as both victim and perpetrator. I appreciated how he recounted his past with commentary from his older, wiser self. He does an especially good job dissecting toxic masculinity and the false promise of the American dream.
October 28, 2021
I loved the message in this book and really appreciated how Peterson uses his personal story to tell that message. He is fighting for the abolition of prisons and he made a pretty good case for why prison doesn't help at all and is only harmful. His personal story was truly compelling and I loved how he threaded it all throughout the book, while making larger points along the way. I thought the writing left something to be desired and I found the book just a bit disorganized, at points it was difficult for me to follow. But overall I found the book compelling and Peterson has a unique voice. His message is clear and I liked how consistent he was about delivering it.
November 17, 2021
I found this to be an incredible book. Highly readable, deeply personal, incredibly powerful. Part of my connection to Marlon’s story stems from the fact that I also grew up in NYC at the same time and seeing where our experiences intersect and diverge based on the color of our skin, among other factors. This book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand what it could mean to abolish the police and prison systems. By giving a personal story and face to go with it, the idea becomes more tangible and understandable. I truly appreciate the author’s raw honesty and his activism and advocacy. This book is going to stay with me for some time.
May 4, 2022
Stunning! Thank Marlon for your honest and vulnerable story of self and for providing some nuggets on how we become un-American through reimagining our world. Personally, I appreciate this text for stories and the constant way of rethinking how we address our system designed failure. As a failed student, I too have been victim of my own suffering but through these pages Marlon provides readers with a space to understand the complexities and nuances of our experiences of trying to be in a world that was designed to benefit off our bodies. Job well done! Thank you and I too am the Uncaged bird.
February 11, 2023
If I based the number of stars I rated this book on the writing and organizing I'd have given it 3. However, it's an important read. A black child of immigrants growing up in poverty in NYC - what and how he experienced certain events and their impact on him. His opinions of the prison system based on his own personal experience are completely valid as are his opinions regarding America both it's foundation and continuous patriarchal supremacist systems.
1Corinrhians 15:33
Proverbs 13:20
"America's refusal to listen to what Black people ask, plead,strategize and demand is the core of the American sickness.
1Corinrhians 15:33
Proverbs 13:20
"America's refusal to listen to what Black people ask, plead,strategize and demand is the core of the American sickness.
January 12, 2024
This book was incredible. I am not known for enjoying anything other than fiction and fantasy but I'd recommend this to everyone I know. This book is important. The author is important. His thoughts, ideas, dreams, accomplishments, hope, his mindset, they're all so important, and his storytelling ability to relay modern-day slavery and the huge impacts that prison can take on a person, their family, their livelihood, and their society are all so important.
Schools should make students read this. Students/we are going to be the ones who WANT change in the world, and this book will motivate anyone that reads it to be better.
Schools should make students read this. Students/we are going to be the ones who WANT change in the world, and this book will motivate anyone that reads it to be better.
June 29, 2021
Not me listening to whole acknowledgments just to hear him talk all the friendship to Darnell Moore and Kiese Laymon?! Seriously. The friendship of these men and a few others and their honest and visible affection towards each other is magic. That is what magic is.
One way their friendship magic impacted me is in discovering this brilliant book. Marlon goes honestly into his heart and into his life. His story tells what other books theorizes. His shows, from experience. Really beautifully done.
♥️♥️
One way their friendship magic impacted me is in discovering this brilliant book. Marlon goes honestly into his heart and into his life. His story tells what other books theorizes. His shows, from experience. Really beautifully done.
♥️♥️
August 11, 2021
Oh my lord if this is not an ode to freedom. This is a book about breaking chains and that you deserve to be free. Go ahead and get your freedom. You deserve it. Go get get it. Heal. Thank you for this Marlon Peterson. Thank you so very much for sharing your story with us and letting us know that this sharing of stories is part of the collective healing that we need as people of colour. Sometimes we need to know when to ask for help and telling our stories is the first step to letting people in and being vulnerable. We need each other. Isolation is eating us up and it does not have to be that way.
August 31, 2021
Such an illuminating and powerful read about Peterson’s own life growing up in the 80s and 90s in Brooklyn, the circumstances that led to his imprisonment, and the person he is in spite of a system that actively works against people like him. It was a fantastic read, I read it in one sitting — could not put it down. I’m so grateful that Peterson shared his story and that I found out about this book. Highly recommend.
September 14, 2021
Life changing. Motivating Marlon has changed me. His story, his reality, his fight for freedom, it will stick with me forever. This should be mandatory reading, because the reality is that we are America, the falsely free, more concerned with caging our POC persons rather than rehabilitation and reparations for the continuous oppression.
We need criminal justice reform. It’s not revolutionary, it’s necessary.
We need criminal justice reform. It’s not revolutionary, it’s necessary.
July 10, 2023
In the book, he describes an attempted sexual assault of a young woman by trying to get his friend to jump out of the dark and switch places with him in the when they are both teenagers. He expressed remorse and acknowledged that it was a messed up thing to do. Later on, he says that he has never raped anyone. Is attempted rape not just as bad? The hypocrisy made me throw this book out. Just take accountability for how you treated that girl.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews