A fiercely important book, that all should read. This fantastic look at police brutality within the United States, and the rise of the groups calling for justice.

Enjoyed is not the right word for this reading experience. This is readable, shocking, and hugely insightful, I really loved the fact that so many different voices were included in this book, and the ability to join Wesley as he delves into the events that happened in Ferguson is a perspective I haven't seen before.
I'm angry that this book is still so badly needed today.

Many people in the general public, especially in the UK, seem to be of the opinion that the 1960s American civil rights movement fixed the racial ills of the world. Not so.
In they can't kill us all, Wesley Lowery explores the relationship between the black communities and the police that are supposed to serve those communities. It is a tale of mistrust, broken agreements, misunderstanding, and above all fear.
The bedrock of policing in a democracy is consent. Police officers are members of the public, paid to concentrate on the law and maintaining the peace in public, they are not, at least in America and the UK, a branch of the military. Most of the time, in most communities, it is a system that works well, and respect is maintained on both sides. This book is about what happens when this system has failed to work.
This is a deeply disturbing book, it is well written and introduces so much first hand experience of the world as seen through the eyes of the black community. What makes it so disturbing is the appalling level of day to day racism that black people expect to face on a daily basis, and the fact that they therefore prepare their children for their own inevitable dealings with the police.
I will recommend this to the students studying to work in the public services.

3.5/5
I hadn't really expected this to be quite as much about the journalism of the movement, as opposed to the black lives matter movement itself.
It was an interesting read and particularly for me, it was quite impactful having all of these stories told at once, instead of the snippets we saw every few months online and the news. However, if you're not particularly interested in the journalism aspect of it and you're relatively familiar with the stories of Trayvon, Mike, Sandra, Tamir, and the many more black people who have been killed, there's not that much here that will be new information for you, expect perhaps the latter chapter to do with student activism.

A strong and powerful little book, with a lot of potential to make people interested in finding out more. I have no doubt that this is a book that would inspire and motivate people to get involved, and I found it a dynamic book.

What I personally liked was that it felt easy to get into even though the topic itself is a pretty hard one to confront and deal with. I felt that the way Lowery addressed each individual shooting, and all the individual interviewees and activists was very nicely done. It does feel a little bit 'paint-by-numbers' as it is does lead you through all the key events and a lot of these were presumably covered by many bews sites at the time, but as an English reader who doesn't always (or often at all) hear about the issues sparking the protests (e.g. shooting by police) I found it both eye-opening and a solid introduction to the topic.

Down the rabbit hole to view the reality of police violence in America.
Wesley Lowery worked tirelessly across more than a year travelling across America to follow the stories of victims of police brutality, interviewing family members and local activists.
A great insight but with so many stories i found it difficult to keep up. It is a book I needed to read and a deeper knowledge of the #blacklivesmatter campaign and be confronted with what prejudice black people face.

I received an arc from the publishers through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

As I live in Europe, I am not as educated in the Black Lives Matter movement, which is why I decided to read this book. I did see news reports on the shocking police shootings and the following protests.

They Can't Kill Us All is written by a journalist, Wesley Lowery. It partly feels like his memoir of sorts and partly as an overview on the Black Lives Matter movement and the key events which led to it's conception. Lowery spends a lot of time relating how he reported a story and such, which I did not expect to read about in advance. He would first relay his experiences and then suddenly start writing about a key figure in the events as if they had written that part themselves. This at times confused me. I would either have omitted myself entirely or used a different form of writing for the accounts of those people. I hope this still makes sense?

This book gave me vital insight in the Black Lives Matter movement and the events surrounding it, which is why I wanted to read the book in the first place. However, I feel there is at times too much background information which can make it a really dense read. For example, the names of certain lawyers and other namedropping did not hold my attention for long as it took me away from the main focus of the book, or else, I did not get the main focus after all. It did give this book more authenticity which was probably the intention of the author.

If you are new to non-fiction books, I believe there are better books you can start with to get acquainted to the genre. However, I thought this book was very instructive and I'm really glad I read it. I gave this book 4 stars and would highly recommend it if you want to know more about the brutal police shootings in the U.S.


Have you read this book or are you planning to? Leave your thoughts down below!

cover101888-medium-1Washington Post writer Wesley Lowery was in Ferguson reporting on the murder of Michael Brown when he was arrested himself for charging his phone up in a local McDonalds. The McDonalds hadn’t complained by the way, the police just didn’t really like black reporters hanging around and doing their jobs it seems.

This is how Lowery came to be at the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement. Over the next year he travelled across the US to uncover life inside the most heavily policed, if otherwise neglected, corners of America today. He conducted hundreds of interviews with the families of victims of police brutality, as well as with local activists working to stop it.

But in this book he also looks back to the things that happened before Michael Brown’s murder and the riots in Ferguson. He’s diligent to give credit where it’s due. He also investigates the cumulative effect of decades of racially biased policing in segregated neighborhoods with constant discrimination, failing schools, crumbling infrastructure and too few jobs. In other words he puts blame where it’s due too.

Reading that back makes it sound a bit dry but it’s really not, it’s more like you’re a rookie reporter getting to ride shotgun on the biggest story of the year. It brings home the very justified fear that most black americans have of the police. Imagine having to teach your child how to not be shot by those that are supposed to protect us.

I found this immensely readable despite the difficult and emotive topics, but more importantly for a book like this I learnt from it.

4 Bites – Highly recommended.

NB I received a free copy of this book through NetGalley in return for an honest review. The BookEaters always write honest reviews

A powerful and important book that manages to capture the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement as well as concisely provide a socio-political context for so much that has come to pass in America, and in turn, inspire such a movement.

Wesley Lowery also gives us an insight into what it is like to be a journalist covering these events and the struggle to remain objective in such an emotional and yet divided climate.

Lowery’s book is a great jumping off point for those trying to acquaint themselves with the movement as well as many years of unrest that preceded its origins. It is incredibly up to date, addressing the hopes and disappointments of the Obama administration. The book presents itself in a fairly linear and concise manner, and whilst very much an abridged detailing of these events, it is very upfront about the complexities the complexities of race relations in America. It is a fairly matter of fact writing style that does at times feature very poignant and human moments, brought together by those who often try to put themselves at the forefront of events, for better or worse, journalists. Moreover, it highlights the complexities of investigating a story that is deeply personal and also divisive.

This is intense . The history of black lives matter showing why and how it happened.

The level of detail is at times dizzying which feels appropriate .

Lowery makes you feel overwhelmed which has to be the right thing. I this is important , interesting and well written .

I have always had an interest in African-American writing (my MA thesis was on African-American Women's Writing and the theme of Magical Realism) and on African-American history and politics, so when I was offered an ARC of this book I immediately took it.

Washington Post writer Wesley Lowery spent over a year on the ground in Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina and Maryland reporting on police violence in America and the quest for justice in the deaths of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Freddie Gray. This book contains interviews with the families of victims of police brutality, which were heartbreaking to read, as well as interviews with local activists who are currently working to stop the violence. it touches on the transformative effect the Presidency of Obama has had on America as well as the effect white supremacy has had on the lives of black people living in America. It is definitely an emotionally-driven read with personal accounts that prove difficult to take in at times, but it is certainly an important topic that deserves discussion.

I found this book a little hard to engage with unfortunately.

I was given this book, by the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Sometimes wishes come true. At the beginning of the year, I had placed this book on the list of my most anticipated reads. I was going to order a copy when the publisher emailed me; asking me if I wished to be sent a copy. Of course, I said ‘yes’.
I was really looking forward to reading this book and I was not disappointed. This book explores the events surrounding the ‘Black lives matter’ campaign, as seen by someone who was actually there. Lowery’s tale begins when he was sent to cover a single death of one man, at the hands of the police, and then continues to tell the story of a story that just kept growing, as more police shootings were brought to light
Lowery tells us how a single commission, a week’s work, would lead to a grueling six month odyssey to capture the slaughter of black men and the campaign that sought to fight against the ever growing tide of deaths. On the way, he outlines: the actions of the police and their differing reactions to the ‘black lives matter campaign’; the individuals who made up that campaign and his role as a, Black African American, journalist covering this story.
This book is an insider view of a very important story. It is a valuable contribution to an important debate. It is a must read for anyone wishing to understand today’s America.

Wesley Lowery is a national reporter for the Washington Post, and he found himself the lead reporter in Ferguson, Missouri on August 9th 2014 covering the killing of unarmed black youth Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson and therefore unknowingly witnessing the birth of the #BlackLivesMatter social movement. Lowery sets out this book in four separate but intertwining sections, weaving back and forth from Ferguson, Missouri and Cleveland, Ohio (his home state) where he mainly focuses on the horrendous case of Tamir Rice being shot by police, and Baltimore, Maryland. The events and the corresponding uproar and protests are covered in great detail by Lowery, in a remarkably fair manner. This does allow the reader to feel the shock and the sadness, and the hope for the future of the movement’s achievements, but it doesn’t let in any really of the author’s personal reactions to the events relayed. It does read, unsurprisingly, like a sometimes dry newspaper article. It is a shame because I expected to be emotionally moved by this book and instead was more intellectually moved – which is not a criticism.
I feel like this is an extremely important and timely book to be reading in 2017.

4.5 stars

Wesley Lowery, reporter at the Washington Post, has deservedly been given immense praise for this book that investigates the origin and early days of the Black Lives Matter movement. A terrific blend of on-the-ground reporting, conversations with the friends and families of those black men and women killed by police across the USA, and interviews with the voices and emerging leaders of Black Lives Matter, Wesley paints a painful portrait of a nation confronting the reality of police violence and the racism that remains endemic in its society.

As a piece of non-fiction, this book could have been dry and inappropriately lacking in any emotion; as a Black man writing about this, Wesley risked overwhelming the narrative with personal experience. Incredibly, he has found the perfect balance as this is a skilfully written book that informs, gives context, but fundamentally gives voice and platform to those who have been aggrieved, wronged and oppressed.

Starting in Ferguson in 2014 with the murder of Michael Brown by Darren Wilson (Wesley is rightly as focused on naming the cops who killed the Black men and women, as he is in naming the victims) Wesley follows the dreadful spate of police killings of Black men and women, across the USA, over the next year - and the powerful spontaneous responses from Black communities in response. that led to the birth of BLM.

Why now? Wesley askeps throughout his work. Police have been killing Black men and women in the States for decades, so why now for BLM? What was it in these killings that was different? Wesley found an assumed answer of 'social media' and 'cameras' to be a bit lazy. Though undoubtedly playing a part, he found that communities became angry and engaged more as a result of media depiction of victims as 'asking for it' or 'deserving', misrepresentation of them, their behaviour, and their communities.

It is these nuances that mark the book out, to dig well beneath the surface, as well as Wesley's ability to delicately intertwine his own experiences of "the talk" and racism into his reporting.

And this book informs too. I learnt so much more about the complexities of the situation on the ground. Black Lives Matter was actually created, named, by three black queer women - something I had not realised - and the book looks at the difficulties as new, almost self-declared, leaders (often men) emerged in a movement that prided itself in its mass movement status and the active role of women. A sense of leadership and recognition being hijacked and assumed.

The book also looks at the challenges facing BLM versus other protests. Take for example the recent Women's March. Yes, that was peaceful, no, there were no arrests. The police worked with he demonstrators. Race plays a part in that, yes, (plenty of WW on the March) but the challenge for BLM is that it is protesting police violence, and the police don't see peaceful demonstrations against them as anything other than a threat. Their legal duty to allow and support peaceful demonstrations is complicated when the protest is against the police.

And then comes the very nature of peaceful action itself - if Black women and men abide by the law and STILL get attacked and killed by police, what incentive is there to remain peaceful?

So many important questions but this book is mostly one of explanation, answers and education. It is informative and offers a more complicated and more human story than the reports at the time.

Of course, you can't help but read this now in the context of Trump's victory - though this book was completed before November 2016. This book ends with a sense of, 'where do we go from here?' A great movement has started, but what now? Undeniably, that question is a hell of a lot more problematic now. It's hard to conceive of progress being made against institutional racism under an administration so steeped in white supremacy.

These are dark days and days where support for Black Lives Matter is critical and necessary. Whatever happens now though, this book will remain an extraordinary and powerful historical record of the origins of an immensely influential new organisation.

A straightforward book. What you read in the synopsis is pretty much what you get. It’s the account of Wesley Lowery about his coverage of black deaths and the birth of Black Lives Matter movement. What I liked best is the insight into the journalistic procedure. I loved how he presented the way a journalist manages to learn information, to get access to certain people, to interview them. I loved his honesty about his vulnerability when he had to do very sensitive interviews, like maybe the mother of the dead person or when he had to ask the same stereotypical questions for the sake of being objective etc. I haven’t followed, nor checked his online presence and articles, so I cannot pronounce myself about his objectivity; but he does inject his personal emotions in this book, and I cannot rule that out, as it gives a bit of character. And again, that’s fine because in my view this book is a personalized experience, they way he has seen the protests and everything else, they way he felt at the time and how he feels upon recounting those events to you and me. I must underline that this book is in no way a truly objective view on the matter of police violence or the weight of race in killings committed by Police force, but mostly a one sided view of the events.

This is not an enjoyable or easy book to read, at times it is downright depressing and horrifying. But it is a book that should be read and digested. A number of the killings covered in this book and the riots in Ferguson made it into the news here in Britain, so I was aware of there being a continuing problem with police in the USA shooting black people, and not being held accountable for their deaths. What I didn’t really grasp before reading this book, was how widespread and endemic this sort of racist behaviour still is, and not just in the Deep South.
The book doesn’t just cover the actual deaths of black people at the hands of the police and white people, but looks at the effects that the deaths have had on families and friends of the victims, and the wider black communities in the affected areas and the rest of the country. It looks at the different black rights activist groups, such as Black Lives Matter" that have emerged in response to these killings – their various aims and methods, and how they have evolved over the years. The book covers the riots born out of anger, frustration at the continuing inequality and the authorities’ disregard for the safety and dignity of black lives. The author was a reporter very closely associated with the events in Ferguson and the many subsequent killings elsewhere, and this book is a very personal record about the people and stories he got to know while covering the issue. It details how a reporter goes about doing his job, and the stresses that such a profoundly emotional issue place on the reporter as well as on the affected communities.
I can understand why a policeman might feel he needs to shoot, if he considers his life to be genuinely in danger, or if others around are in immediate and genuine danger – but why shoot someone running away after being pulled over for a traffic violation, or reaching into their pocket for a driving licence? Or even if the “criminal” lashes out at the policeman, is lethal force really necessary or justified? Whatever crime the person may have perpetrated, surely an immediate death sentence cannot be sanctioned.
When a policeman shoots someone he perceives to be a criminal, he is not just acting as an upholder of social order, but as a self-appointed judge, jury and – if the person dies – as an executioner. Once a person is dead, he has no chance of legal defence, appeal, rehabilitation or of making restitution. Mistakes can never be rectified post-mortem.
After about the tenth black death in the book, you feel that surely the police and authorities’ attitudes must change. And then there is another death, and another, and another … a few minor changes, a (very) few cops charged with murder – but not convicted – then another death, and another …
UK media coverage seems to be perpetually reporting on gun violence in America: massacres; accidents; shootings etc. In American TV shows and films everything always seems to be solved by firing a gun, and killing the perceived enemy. The US is a country where everyone, irrespective of mental stability or actual need, is able to legally buy and use a gun, where all police carry guns, and where the death penalty is still on the statute book. So, police shootings come across as “the American way” – the overt racial angle of the violence is somewhat masked. It seems that all life is cheap in the USA, but this book makes it very clear that black lives are considered even cheaper than others.
What is most worrying for me, is that this all happened under a black president, someone who was supposed to bring hope to the poor, the disenfranchised, and above all to the black communities. Now there is Trump, and soon it may not only be black lives that don’t matter to the powers that be, but also Mexican lives, Muslim lives, asylum seekers lives …

​When I picked this book up, I worried that it would be the same old narrative borne out of bitterness and anger. I was wrong.

Amadou Diallo. Rodney King. Jena Six. Troy Davis.Trayvon Martin. Michael Brown. Black Lives Matter.

Wesley perfectly articulates the systematic abuse and murder of black men and women by the very institution empowered to protect and serve them. He writes in a sensible manner showing the his investigative journalism skills in his beautifully written book.

As a foreigner who is originally from Nigeria and now lives in England, it is a bit difficult to wrap my head around the persecution of Blacks in the USA...I just find it all scary and barbaric. Wesley chronicles the events that have led to the #BlackLivesMatter movement in a way that anyone, even a silly Foreigner like me, can understand.

The protests are ongoing and until there is a radical change in the treatment of Black Americans, these stories will be told. Yes, all lives matter but not all lives have been singled out and persecuted. Black Lives Matter is a statement that unfortunately has to be made.

Yes, maybe they were delinquents but is that a reason to rob a mother of her son/daughter? A child of his father/mother?

Black children are given “the talk” from childhood. No honey, it’s not the “birds and bees talk” that normal households had. Nah.

It is the “say yes sir to any officer you encounter”; or “always keep your hand on the wheel”; or”keep your wallet in the centre console so you never have to reach into your pocket and get shot like Diallo”.

Do other races have to give their kids this talk from the age of 9?
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Rating: 4.5/5.

Favourite Quote: "The underlying theme of this set of warnings passed down from black parents to their children is one of self-awareness: the people you encounter, especially the police, are likely willing to break your body, if only because they subconsciously view you not only as less than, but also as a threat.”
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Recommendation: If you have a hard time understanding the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in USA and the history of police brutality against minorities, this book is a great start. He writes with such empathy and incredible knowledge that you are forced to take him and his narrative serious. The police brutality and murder must stop. Placard carrying is no longer the only option.

Washington Post journalist Wesley Lowery found himself at the heart of the nascent Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the fatal shooting by police of Michael Brown. On the trail of the movement around the US over the following year, he confronts the brutal realities of policing in Black communities, and the white supremacy at the soul of America. Gripping, brilliantly written and driven by a righteous anger, books like this are urgently needed as we enter the era of Brexit and a Trump presidency, and face the rising tide of fascism emboldened by them.

This was a distressing book to read, making me gasp in shock and horror as time after time the author wrote about the young black men gunned down by the police in America.I live in the UK and the only time I've seen armed police is at airports or outside Buckingham Palace. I can't believe that the officers who killed these black men haven't been brought to account because it's not considered a crime by the police unions! I despair that in the 21st century movements like Black Lives Matter still have to be formed because of the blatant racism that continues in this so called 'civilised world'!

I encourage anyone who is interested in social justice, civil rights and equality for all to read this.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Books (UK) for my digital copy in exchange for a review.