A Knock at Midnight
Brittany K. Barnett"An essential book for our time . . . Brittany K. Barnett is a star."—Van Jones, author of Beyond the Messy Truth and host of The Van Jones Show
Brittany K. Barnett was only a law student when she came across the case that would change her life forever--that of Sharanda Jones, single mother, business owner, and, like Brittany, black daughter of the rural South. A victim of America's ruthless, devastating war on drugs, Sharanda had been torn away from her young daughter and was serving a life sentence without parole--all for a first-time drug offense. In Sharanda, Brittany saw haunting echoes of own life, both as the daughter of a formerly incarcerated mother and the once-girlfriend of an abusive drug dealer. As she studied Sharanda's case, a system slowly came into focus: one where widespread racial injustice forms the core of our country's addiction to incarceration. Moved by Sharanda's plight, Brittany set to work on gaining her freedom.