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PANTHER BABY

Jamal Joseph

A Life of Rebellion and Reinvention

From FBI fugitive to Ivy League professor a true and inspirational story
Eddie Joseph was a high school honor student, slated to graduate early and begin college. But this was the late 1960s in the Bronx's black ghetto, and at the age of 15, Eddie was introduced to the tenets of the Black Panther Party, which was just gaining a national foothold. By 16, his devotion to the cause landed him in prison on the infamous Rikers Island charged with conspiracy as one of the Panther 21 in one of the most emblematic criminal cases of the '60s. When exonerated, Eddie now called Jamal became the youngest spokesperson and leader of the Panthers' New York Chapter. He joined the "revolutionary underground", later landing back in prison. Sentenced to over twelve years in Leavenworth, he earned three degrees there and found a new calling. He is now Chair of Columbia University's School of the Arts' film division the very school he exhorted students to burn down during one of his most famous speeches as a Panther. In raw, powerful prose, Jamal Joseph makes us understand what it meant to be a soldier inside the militant Black Panther movement. He recounts a harrowing, almost deadly, imprisonment as he charts his path to manhood, in a book filled with equal parts rage, despair, and hope. Orphan, activist, subversive, urban guerrilla, the FBI's most wanted fugitive, drug addict, drug counselor, convict, writer, poet, filmmaker, father, professor, youth advocate, and Oscar nominee, Jamal Joseph lives with his wife and family in New York City.
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Published 2012-02-01 by Algonquin Books

Comments

"Jamal Joseph is a long distance intellectual freedom fighter who never lost his soul and integrity despite the ugly underside of America! Don't miss this powerful book!"

"A spirited, well-honed account Joseph's clear-eyed casting back reveals the streamlined, fluid quality of a fine storyteller."

"a mesmerizing odyssey" Read more...

"Jamal Joseph is a child of pain, a son of the revolution, and a man of transformation. Panther Baby is the story of his life journey from the streets of Harlem, to prison, to the halls of Columbia University, and even to the Academy Awards. It is startling, powerful, and inspirational."

"In this profound, long-awaited offering, Jamal Joseph traces his stunning journey from man-child to manhood. A mighty work from a luminous heart, Panther Baby shows that personal liberation and transformation are possible, and that, in the end, the most revolutionary act we can engage in is to love one another. "

"Joseph's clear-eyed casting back reveals the streamlined, fluid quality of a fine storyteller."

"Jamal Joseph, is a wonderful communicator, poet, writer, storyteller, gatherer of our lost and lonely young people, and a true balm in the Gilead of our common pain. Thank you, Jamal, for writing this truth. Thank you for teaching our children with the limitless generosity, shown in the giving of your time, your tireless energy, and your undying passion. I am grateful to you for all you have given to my family, my son, and his vision, because what we do now, matters forever."

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Jamal Joseph is a writer, director, producer, Oscar nominee and professor at New York's Columbia University. But he started out as one of the youngest leaders of the Black Panther Party, the militant African-American group the FBI once declared to be the greatest threat to America. Read more...

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"An inspiring, unapologetic account of his transformation from armed revolutionary to revolutionary artist... Readers will draw inspiration from his story of struggle."

"[A] stirring memoir . . . Both the history and the continuing connections make this personal story of a 'political prisoner of war' sure to spark intense discussion."