Policing the City

Policing the City is an ethnographic written by Didier Fassin. Originally published in French in 2020, it has now been translated into English. The novel is dedicated "to all those who undergo daily the harassment, the humiliations, the baiting, and sometimes the violence and racism of the police, and who are finally succeeding in making their voices heard." 

The publisher's summary:

Adapted from the landmark essay Enforcing Order, this striking graphic novel offers an accessible inside look at policing and how it leads to discrimination and violence. What we know about the forces of law and order often comes from tragic episodes that make the headlines, or from sensationalized versions for film and television. These gripping accounts obscure two crucial aspects of police work: the tedium of everyday patrols under constant pressure to meet quotas, and the banality of racial discrimination and ordinary violence. Around the time of the 2005 French riots, anthropologist and sociologist Didier Fassin spent fifteen months observing up close the daily life of an anticrime squad in one of the largest precincts in the Paris region. His unprecedented study, which sparked intense discussion about policing in the largely working-class, immigrant suburbs, remains acutely relevant in light of all-too-common incidents of police brutality against minorities. This new, powerfully illustrated adaptation clearly presents the insights of Fassin’s investigation, and draws connections to the challenges we face today in the United States as in France.

While described as a graphic novel, it is not a novel but rather a graphic memoir. Everything in the book actually happened. I dispute some of the author's conclusions, such as that French police officers copied bullying tactics from American law enforcement.  I also do not believe that the anti-crime efforts of the French police are as black and white as they author shows us. Fassin says that almost all of the police rely on their political beliefs when dealing with so-called crime. He also says that the victims of police brutality are 100% innocent. Nothing is really this black and white and I think that Fassin has done a disservice to the problem of police brutality. I believe that he has a prejudice against the police because, as he stated early in the book, his own son had a run-in with the law.

3 out of 5 stars.

Bootblack

Bootblack is a historical graphic novel of 1930s New York City. It takes place during the construction of the Rockefeller Center.  Originally published in French in 2020, it has now been translated in English. The story is about Altenberg Ferguson who hates his German name and family. Leaving home still a child, he lives on the streets working as a shoe shiner also referred to as a blackboot. After changing his name to Al Chrysler, he soon tires of being hungry and sleeping outside in the cold. Al returns home only to see the building his parents were living in on fire. They perished. Returning to the streets he teams up with 2 friends to shine shoes. New friend Frankie talks the trio into running money for the mob but after deciding to steal some of the mob's cash, Al is caught by the police and sentenced to 10 years in an adult prison. By the time he is released WWII is ongoing. Al joins the army and is sent overseas to Germany, where he finds himself in the town of Altenberg, the town he was named after.

I enjoyed Bootblack. There was alot of mystery concerning where life would take Al. The story alternates between Al's childhood and his soldiering during WWII. I initially had a hard time figuring out where the story was going but after realizing that the story was alternating time periods, it was easy to accept and continue reading. In fact, I believe it enhanced the story. I certainly did not expect the ending but it was most appropriate given Al's identity issues.

4 out of 5 stars.

Django

Django is a graphic biography of renowned twentieth century guitarist Django Reinhardt. Born in 1910 in a Roma community in Belgium, Django's childhood friends were taking him in a bad direction. He began stealing and gambling. After a run-in with the police, Django's mother finally buys him what he always wanted-a banjo. Django learns how to play quickly and he develops an expertise by his teen years. He plays in several bands in Paris, earning alot of money. However, after a fire started in his caravan, Django's left hand is seriously burned. He is told that he will never play again but Django overcomes all the odds by switching to playing an easier instrument-the guitar. His fame continued to spread and he is considered one of the best musicians of his time.

The comic had a slow start for me. I had never heard of Django before reading the book. This child prodigy was leading a fantastic life. There wasn't much excitement until the halfway point in the story when he was injured in the fire. Then there was the wondering whether he would recover.  He had to use his hand differently after it was injured but the author did not go into any detail about how he made the transition.  Django had two loves, Naguine and Bella. These storylines were OK but there wasn't much mystery here.

This was an OK book. 3 out of 5 stars.