It’s a story about the so-called war on drugs and how, instead of treating communities ravaged by crack and heroin, the government responded by locking up millions of people. It’s the story of Los Angeles in the late 1980s and early ’90s, a city where black and brown girls and boys engulfed by the crack epidemic and the rise of street gangs had no guardian angels. Michael was arrested for attempted carjacking at age 15 and sentenced to 12 years and eight months. Why did this happen to a young black man from a loving family? Through memory, letters Michael wrote from prison and interviews with family members, Allen retraces his steps, filling in the parts of his life he kept hidden behind his grin. Allen’s memoir, “Cuz: The Life and Times of Michael A.,” is a doleful and stirring narrative of how Michael Allen Alexander’s magnetic smile slowly dimmed until he was found shot to death in the passenger seat of a car in Los Angeles.Īllen’s heartbreak gives way to a well-researched expedition. But there was really nothing she could do to save her baby “cuz,” because he was already gone.
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