Twin Cities: My Life as a Black Cop and a Championship Coach

by Charles Adams, Jason Turbow (Primary Contributor)

A Black Minneapolis cop and inner-city football coach faces racial reckoning after the murder of George Floyd inflames his city and forces him to explore the tensions in the neighborhood where he grew up.

Charles Adams is a product of the Minneapolis’s North Side, the city’s poorest neighborhood, and of North High, the state’s poorest school. After graduation he joined the Minneapolis Police Department, overcoming racial prejudice within its ranks to become his alma mater’s resource officer. North High was in rapid decline, a building designed for 1,700 students down to about 200. Once the centerpiece of the community, the school was on the verge of folding. Then something magical happened.

Adams stepped in as football coach, and transformed a winless team into state champions. With that success came renewed pride in the school and neighborhood both. As North High began to thrive, Adams was hailed as a model of what a Black man from a Black neighborhood might be. That lasted until Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, which brought a rain of chaos upon Minneapolis. Working to maintain order in a riotous city, Adams feared for his life, his relationship to his community forever changed.

The memoir of a life divided, Twin Cities is the story of what happens when a man gives everything to his city in an effort to help kids envision a better future, only to have his city turn on him in response. Adams navigates the space between reality and perception, between law and justice, with the insight and wisdom he has gained from his unique experience.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published September 12, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jeremy Pedersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in one sitting even if 250 pages.

Incredible autobiography ...describing a police officer who is also a high school football coach in North Minneapolis

Brought me angry sad and joyous all in same reading.

Can't recommend enough

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this book weeks ago and have been thinking and thinking about how to review the book. First of all I must say that I am a 75-year-old white woman. I have lived in Minneapolis for 54 years. Until 6 years ago I lived on the south side. I now, by choice, live on the north side not far from North High. As is clear from Mr. Adams book, the North Side is predominantly Black. When you retire your exposure to people from all walks of life constricts. It gives me great joy to live in a mixed-racial condominium building and have people of color as close friends. I grew into a young person who was aware of the world in the 1960's. I watched the fire hoses and attack dogs turned upon Black protesters on television night after night. On a trip to the South in 1964 I saw the "whites only" bathrooms and water fountains. I saw brave men who wanted to end segregation die: Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, and Malcolm X. My personal life on a farm in Iowa could not have been more white, but as an incest survivor I have always identified with those who are treated as objects of abuse and not as valuable human beings. We have a great Governor and Lieutenant Governor ( a woman of Native American heritage ), Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan. I was so ashamed to watch George Floyd killed here in Minneapolis not far from where I used to live. I never thought I would see a Nazi in my life, but I did. I saw true evil and the belief in the impunity of murder. One thing that Mr. Adams did not mention in the book is that Derek Chauvin and George Floyd knew each other. Chauvin knew who he was killing. They both worked security at a nightclub here in the city and had "run-ins" over Chauvin's aggressive 0would never support rioting, burning, and looting, it was difficult to find fault with the despair and rage that fed the violence. Charles Adams seems to be exactly the kind of person that is needed by young students. It is often pointed out by experts that the difference in a life depends upon one event or one person who offers mentoring and support. As a person trained as a clinical psychologist, however, I have very mixed feelings about football. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is being recognized more and more in the lives of athletes. I don't think that football below the college level should be full contact. I still recognize that sports are frequently the way out of poverty and a dim future for many young people of color. The old tradition of sports was that a person was a STUDENT athlete. I recommend: Billion-Dollar Ball: A Journey Through the Big-Money Culture of College Football by Gilbert M. Gaul. Far too often talented athletes are seen only as dollar signs and are not provided with an education that will enable them to have a successful life after they are finished with a sport or if they never make it to the "Big Show". I disagree with Mr. Adams on one contention. He tends to excuse the officers who stood back and watched George Floyd be murdered. He states they might have been kicked off the force or hazed by fellow officers for interfering with the actions of a superior officer. My question is who would want to be part of an institution that believes kneeling on a man's neck as he dies is acceptable procedure??? Is hazing by fellow officers for an act of courage too uncomfortable to justify saving a life??? I have to think of the idea: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” This was the triumph of evil on May 25, 2020. I recommend this book by Charles Adams. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly important book for our times as our communities are looking at policing and racial issues. Charles is so open and honest about his experience with the inner workings of the Minneapolis Police Department, including his training experience and the inner culture that has resulted in far too many tragedies, culminating in the death of George Floyd. This is a missing voice in the conversation we’ve been having since May 2020. As is always the case, there are multiple layers and no easy answers.

I want every one of my friends to read this book and to encourage at least one of their friends to read it, and so on and so on. It is that big.

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding look into the complexities of life as a Black police officer in the Minneapolis Police Department. Charles Adam tells his story with blunt truth and insight into an area of our community that is far from where it needs to be but in a way that while revealing of its shortcomings is filled with ideas and hope that it doesn’t need to stay this way. While he would be the first to humbly deny his importance, he truly is an inspiration to many, particularly the young men he leads on the gridiron of North High School.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

An MPD memoir written by a Black officer who served in North Mpls and left the department shortly after the Floyd incident & riots. Gave me a different perspective and also confirmed how officers were trained. Interestingly he doesn’t believe the MPD is racist and he supports the department.

[BD Strub · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Another Black man got shot by another cop, the latest in a long string of incidents here in Minneapolis,” is how this riveting book begins. The man’s name was Amir Locke. This book keeps you engaged, one story after the other.

The author, Charles Adams, takes us into his life, into his shoes, as he grows up in a challenged community, follows his father into law enforcement, builds a family, encounters blatant racism as a Black cop, works to reach kids as both a coach and school resource officer at North Community high school.

Adams shares his experience as a cop during the horrific riots that followed the murder of George Floyd. Being spit at by rioters and seen as the enemy in his own community.

Throughout, Adams walks the walk. “Honor and perseverance are essential to building character.” And he brings his student athletes and others in the Northside community along as they deal with much adversity.

His love for the students at North High and the Northside come through in the way he talks about the struggles and unimaginable challenges kids face growing up in this community in this time. And how they keep going, keep learning and find success. Some of them don’t.

“These stories illustrate just how close to the edge so many people in my neighborhood are… and how a little bit of support along their journey might lead to better outcomes.”

An insightful, engaging and interesting look into the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul (mostly MPLS with special emphasis on the Northside) from a perspective very different from my own.

Especially insightful are Adams assessment of, and ideas for improvements to, the much maligned Minneapolis Police Department.

This is a real ‘walk a mile in someone else’s shoes’ book. The author takes you with, every step of the way.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up at Barnes & Nobles after a business trip to Minneapolis. At first review I was hesitant to read this book based on what I saw on the news about the riots in Minneapolis. I am glad I put my personal views on the subject to the side and read this book. It gave me a different view point of the life of a cop in a tough neighborhood. It provided me with a better understanding of police culture. It help, me realize the importance of family, giving back to my community, and just listening to others stories can have an impact on people’s lives. I encourage everyone to give this book a chance, I am glad I did.

[Globug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charles Adams grew up in one of the most impoverished areas of Minneapolis, the north side. He loves his neighborhood, even with its many issues. As an adult, he joined the Minneapolis Police Department and became a school resource officer at his alma mater, North High. He also became their football coach. Through his life story, he teaches us important lessons about community, connection and communication. I really enjoyed this novel and recommend it to everyone.

[Scott Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grit, guts and a big heart in a guy straddling two worlds sometimes at odds with each other. Adam’s brings the neighborhood to you and you cheer the social, relational victories and cry over the loss of potential when tragedy enters or ends young people’s lives. He epitomizes what Minneapolis is trying to do: acknowledge what’s wrong and get better and look for the best in all.

[Danielle Kosidowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨audiobook

[Lyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful look at policing, community, and leadership.

[Phyllicia Wise]

This book is soooooooo good.

[Dave DeJonge · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was so interesting and gave me a feel for what it's like growing up in the Northside of Minneapolis and choosing to live there as a mentor to kids as a Minneapolis police officer, school resource officer, and football coach in one of the roughest neighborhoods and schools in the twin cities. I appreciate his perspective as a Black Minneapolis cop on the police department and on the murder of George Floyd. I struggled, however, with the onslaught of filthy offensive language. There were more f-bombs in this book than in any book I've ever read. If I used that language in the workplace, I would be quickly fired. He uses that language around kids on a daily basis, however, and apparently doesn't know the effect it is having on the kids he mentors. I was very disappointed that anyone would constantly use offensive language, but especially a police officer and a coach/mentor. Those kids don't have a chance in most workplaces if he is their role model. I would have loved to have given this book 5 stars for the insight and the stories, but the constant barrage of foul language made it hard to even finish the book.