Ep 42: The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth

<p>On Episode 42: Professor and author Kristin Henning talks about her new book</p> <p><a href='https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/623467/the-rage-of-innocence-by-kristin-henning/'>The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth</a>.  Unfortunately, the epidemic of Black youth being overly criminalized continues and we all have an opportunity to do something about. Yes, even you! Professor Henning will share what each of us can do. All children and adolescents deserve the chance to be young and dumb and make the mistakes that all youth make. We talk about how to walk the fine line as Black parents of not traumatizing our children but making sure we "give them talk" and prepare them for the realities of life in America as a Black youth. Do our children have an accurate picture of justice are some of the questions we explore in this interview. After you listen to this podcast you will realize this book is a MUST read.</p> <p>Drawing upon 25 years of experience representing Black youth in D.C's juvenile court, Henning confronts America's irrational, manufactured fears of Black youth and makes a powerfully compelling case that the crisis in racist American policing begins with its relationship to Black children. Discriminatory and aggressive policing has socialized a generation of Black teenagers to fear and resent the police, and details the long-term consequences of racism and trauma Black youth experience at the hands of police and their vigilante surrogates. Unlike white youth, who are afforded the freedom to test boundaries, experiment with sex and drugs, and figure out who they are and who they want to be, Black youth are seen as a threat to white America and are denied healthy adolescent development. Henning examines the criminalization of Black adolescent play and sexuality, and of Black fashion, hair, and music. </p> <p> She highlights the effects of police presence in schools, and the depth of policing-induced trauma in Black adolescents. Especially in the wake of the recent unprecedent