Tony Medina

Tony Medina wrote this graphic novel as part of the Black Lives Matter movement. He based the fictional Alfonso Jones on several of the young men shot by law officers in the last few years.

I specifically asked for this book to review because I’m white and I’m a racist. As the Black Lives Matter grew to prominence, I reacted with contempt and scorn, pushing aside the movement as the petulant rantings of a self-victimizing people.

It was through speaking with a friend several years ago, show more that I began to question this attitude. Maybe…I was wrong.

I decide to explore the racism in my heart, a journey which has lead me to get involved in my community, listen to voices I previously ignored, contemplate thoughts I previously considered stupid, and – to read books that challenge my own experience and education.

Medina’s book is just such a book. With thick bold lines and dynamic art, Medina weaves the tale of the fictional Alfonso Jones into a narrative of black lives taken through police action. I did not agree with everything Medina said – but I can’t tell if that is because he was actually wrong or because of my own racist perceptions. It seemed as if he was saying that everyone killed by police was innocent of any crime. That isn’t true. But perhaps, that isn’t the point? Guilty or not, every American is entitled to a fair trial and the expectation of safety while under police management. As a white American, I take that expectation as fact. I am learning that for black Americans, it is a lie.

This book did not magically change my thinking. Instead, it is another valuable step in my own journey to understand the struggle of Blacks in America, and my own contribution to that injustice.

I would recommend it as part of any library dedicated to understanding the condition of black Americans and particularly, I recommend this work to anyone looking to understand a perspective outside their own.

Note: I received this free from LibaryThing’s Early Review Program, in exchange for my fair and honest opinion show less

Alfonso and his girlfriend Danetta are out shopping for a suit to wear when his father is released from prison. An off-duty police officer working store security shoots and kills Alfonso after mistaking the hanger in his hand for a gun. As a spirit, Alfonso meets others who were cut down by police brutality and witnesses the impact and global activism that result after his death. I found the narrative disjointed and the illustrations chaotic but in the end this is a story for our time.

"Slavery didn't end in 1865; it evolved."

(Full disclosure: I received a free copy of this book for review through Library Thing's Early Reviewers program. Trigger warning for racist violence.)

At just fifteen years young, Alfonso Jones has already endured more than any human - child or adult - should have to. Before he was even born, Alfonso's father was wrongly convicted of the rape and murder of a taxi fare, a white woman. Alfonso's mother went into premature labor when the officers show more investigating the case executed a search warrant on the couple's apartment, knocking over an altar of candles and starting a fire in the process.

Many people would break under far less, but Alfonso's family persevered. Though he mostly only knows his father through letters, Ishmael has worked hard to stay a constant in his son's life. His mother Cynthia is Alfonso's champion; through sheer force of will - and Alfonso's stellar test scores - she was able to gain him admittance to the prestigious Henry Dumas School of the Arts. She and Alfonso moved in with his paternal grandfather, the reverend Velasco Jones, to be closer to his school, and so Alfonso could have a strong male role model in his life.

Alfonso loves playing the trumpet, dreams of portraying Hamlet in his school's hip-hop production of the play, and works part-time as a bike messenger to save some money to visit his father in Attica. Or so he thinks: just as he's nearing his goal, Ishmael's conviction is overturned on DNA evidence. Instead of a ticket, Alfonso goes shopping for a suit for Ishmael's welcome home party. There, off-duty police officer and Markman's security guard Pete Whitson mistakes the hanger in Alfonso's hand for a gun, and shoots him multiple times. Alfonso dies on the scene, as his crush Danetta screams in shock and horror.

http://www.easyvegan.info/img/i-am-alfonso-jones-02.jpg

When he awakens, Afonso finds himself riding a ghost train, filled with his ancestors and compatriots: other Black Americans who were murdered by police officers. Eleanor Bumpurs. Michael Stewart. Anthony Baez. Amadou Diallo. And, of course, Henry Dumas, for whom Alfonso's high school is named. Alfonso's elders guide him through the afterlife, as he checks in on the people who had such a profound impact on his life: his classmates and teachers; his parents and extended family; and, of course, the officer who killed him - and the communities that both defend and condemn Whitson's actions.

http://www.easyvegan.info/img/i-am-alfonso-jones-01.jpg

Alfonso and his fellow spirits are destined to ride the ghost train until they find justice, making this a journey without end for so many of them - and giving a new meaning to the chant "No justice, no peace."

I Am Alfonso Jones is not an easy read, but it's a necessary one. It touches upon so many of the issues surrounding the Movement for Black Lives: not only excessive force, police brutality, and the shooting of unarmed POC, but also mass incarceration; victim blaming; #NotAllCops; racist media coverage; unequal access to education; the impact of technology on organizing and protest; the generational divide between activists; intersectionality; accountability; the blue wall of silence; the tension between professional nonprofits (read: showboating by outsiders) and local grassroots organizers; and the effects of trauma on survivors, to name a few.

By telling the story through Alfonso's eyes, Medina provides a unique perspective: we get to put ourselves in the victim's shoes, as Alfonso bears witness to the myriad ways his friends, family, and society as a whole cope with his murder. Framing this against the backdrop of a hip-hop Hamlet adds another layer of depth and originality.

http://www.easyvegan.info/img/i-am-alfonso-jones-03.jpg

I Am Alfonso Jones is both a heartbreaking and impassioned call to arms - and an eloquent introduction to the #BlackLivesMatter movement for younger readers. The ending, while especially merciless and unsatisfying, is all too believable and true to life. Medina doesn't pull any punches or try to sugarcoat things with a shiny, happy resolution.

That said, the story is not entirely without hope: Alfonso lived to see the first Black woman president. We should be so blessed.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2018/07/24/i-am-alfonso-jones-by-tony-medina/ show less

Told in graphic novel format, Alfonso Jones, a young African American boy with heartbreaking promise, observes with despair and frustration the traumatic effects his wrongful murder has on his friends, family and community. As I read this book while simultaneously reading The Civitas Anthology of African American Slave Narratives, I can't help but wonder -- à la the ancient Greeks -- what is justice? And is justice to be found in the 21st century, or is it only theoretical?

I received this show more ARC via LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. show less