GET OFF MY NECK | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Apr 9, 2024 6:00 pm
Location
Columbia
6251 Mango Tree Rd, Columbia, Maryland, 21044
Apr 9, 2024 6:00 pm
Columbia
In Get Off My Neck, Debbie Hines draws on her unique perspective as a trial lawyer, former Baltimore prosecutor, and assistant attorney general for the State of Maryland to argue that US prosecutors, as the most powerful players in the criminal justice system, systematically target and criminalize Black people. Hines describes her disillusionment as a young Black woman who initially entered the profession with the goal of helping victims of crimes, only to discover herself aiding and abetting a system that prizes plea bargaining, speedy conviction, and excessive punishment above all else. In this book, she offers concrete, specific, and hopeful solutions for just how we can come together in a common purpose for criminal justice and racial justice reform.
Get Off My Neck explains that the racial inequities in the prosecutorial system are built into our country's DNA. What's more, they are the direct result of a history that has conditioned Americans to perceive the Black body as insignificant at best and dangerous at worst. Unlike other books that discuss the prosecutor's office and change from inside the office, Hines offers a proactive approach to fixing our broken prosecutorial system through a broad-based alliance of reform-minded prosecutors, activists, allies, communities, and racial justice organizations—all working together to end the racist treatment of Black people.
Told intimately through personal, family, and client narratives, Get Off My Neck is not only a deeply sobering account of our criminal justice system and its devastating impact on Black children, youth, and adults but also a practical and inspiring roadmap for how we can start doing better right now.
Debbie Hines is joining us on the Busboys stage to discuss the American prosecutorial system and its historic and present racial inequities. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and Hines will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of GET OFF MY NECK will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is IN PERSON and will NOT be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets BooksFormer Baltimore prosecutor, Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland, and trial attorney Debbie Hines is an advocate for racial equity in the criminal justice system. She maintains a private law practice focused on civil and criminal litigation in Washington, DC. A leading voice in the discourse of criminal justice and race, Hines is often called on by media networks for legal commentary.
Dr. Niambi Carter is an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. She is the author of the award-winning book American While Black: African Americans, Immigration, and the Limits on Citizenship (2019, Oxford University Press) which offers a critical examination of African American public opinion on immigration. She is a 2021-2022 Woodrow Wilson Fellow and working on a new project examining U.S. Haitian refugee policy (1973-2021). Her work has appeared in numerous publications such as The Washington Post, Journal of Politics, DuBois Review, National Review of Black Politics, Political Psychology, among many others.
