The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Online) by Michelle Alexander Despite the triumphant dismantling of the Jim Crow Laws, the system that once forced African Americans into a segregated second-class citizenship still haunts America, the US criminal justice system still unfairly targets black men and an entire segment of the population is deprived of their basic rights.

The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth by Kristin Henning An analysis of the foundations of racist policing in America- the day-to-day brutalities, largely hidden from public view, endured by Black youth growing up under constant police surveillance and the persistent threat of physical and psychological abuse.

Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black People in America from the Civil War to World War II by Douglas A. Blackmon In this groundbreaking book, Douglas A. Blackmon brings to light one of the most shameful chapters in American history—the re-enslavement of black Americans from the Civil War to World War II—in a moving, sobering account that explores the insidious legacy of white racism that reverberates today.

Break Every Yoke: Religion, Justice, and the Abolition of Prisons by Joshua Dubler; Vincent Lloyd Argues that changes in the American religious landscape enabled the rise of mass incarceration. Religious ideas and practices also offer a key for ending mass incarceration.

God's Law and Order: The Politics of Punishment in Evangelical America (Online) by Aaron Griffith Argues that we cannot understand the criminal justice system without accounting for evangelicalism's impact on its historical development.

Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice that Restores by Dominique DuBois Gilliard Explores the history and foundation of mass incarceration, examining Christianity's role in its evolution and expansion. He then shows how Christians can pursue justice that restores and reconciles, offering creative solutions and highlighting innovative interventions.

Locking up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman Jr. Weighs the role that some African Americans themselves played in escalating the war on crime. As Forman shows, the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges, and police chiefs took office around the country amid a surge in crime.

Policing Black Bodies: How Black Lives are Surveilled and How to Work for Change by Angela J. Hattery; Earl Smith They connect the regulation of African American people in many settings, including the public education system and the criminal justice system, into a powerful narrative about the myriad ways Black bodies are policed.

Slaves of the State: Black Incarceration From the Chain Gang to the Penitentiary by Dennis Childs Argues that the incarceration of black people and other historically repressed groups in chain gangs, peon camps, prison plantations, and penitentiaries represents a ghostly perpetuation of chattel slavery.