Audiobooks narrated by JD Jackson

This audiobook narrated by J. D. Jackson offers an incisive and sympathetic examination of the case for ending the practice of imprisonment Despite its omnipresence and long history, imprisonment is a deeply troubling practice. In the United States and elsewhere, prison conditions are inhumane, prisoners are treated without dignity, and sentences are extremely harsh. Mass incarceration and its devastating impact on black communities have been widely condemned as neoslavery or “the new Jim Crow.” Can the practice of imprisonment be reformed, or does justice require it to be ended altogether? In The Idea of Prison Abolition, Tommie Shelby examines the abolitionist case against prisons and its formidable challenge to would-be prison reformers. Philosophers have long theorized punishment and its justifications, but they haven’t paid enough attention to incarceration or its related problems in societies structured by racial and economic injustice. Taking up this urgent topic, Shelby argues that prisons, once reformed and under the right circumstances, can be legitimate and effective tools of crime control. Yet he draws on insights from black radicals and leading prison abolitionists, especially Angela Davis, to argue that we should dramatically decrease imprisonment and think beyond bars when responding to the problem of crime. While a world without prisons might be utopian, The Idea of Prison Abolition makes the case that we can make meaningful progress toward this ideal by abolishing the structural injustices that too often lead to crime and its harmful consequences.

Tommie Shelby (Author), J.D. Jackson, JD Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Matter of Black Lives: Writing from The New Yorker

A collection of the New Yorker‘s groundbreaking writing on race in America, including work by James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Hilton Als, Zadie Smith, and more From the pages of the New Yorker comes a bold and telling portrait of Black life in America, with astonishing early work from Rebecca West’s account of a lynching trial and James Baldwin’s ‘Letter from a Region in My Mind’ (which later formed the basis of The Fire Next Time) to more recent writing by Toni Morrison, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Zadie Smith, Hilton Als, Jamaica Kincaid, Malcolm Gladwell, Elizabeth Alexander, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Doreen St. Félix, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Kelefa Sanneh, and more. Reaching back across the last century, The Matter of Black Lives includes a wide array of material from the New Yorker archives ranging across essays, reported pieces, profiles, criticism, and historical pieces. This book addresses everything from the arts to civil rights, matters of justice, and politics, and brings us up to the present day with accounts of what Jelani Cobb calls “The American Spring.” The result is a startling, nuanced and, ultimately, indelible portrait of America’s complex relationship with race.

David Remnick, Jd Jackson, Jelani Cobb (Author), Adjoa Andoh, JD Jackson, January LaVoy, January Lavoy, Jd Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Changes: An Oral History of Tupac Shakur

A New Yorker writer's intimate, revealing account of Tupac Shakur's life and legacy, timed to the fiftieth anniversary of his birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death. In the summer of 2020, Tupac Shakur's single "Changes" became an anthem for the worldwide protests against the murder of George Floyd. The song became so popular, in fact, it was vaulted back onto the iTunes charts more than twenty years after its release—making it clear that Tupac's music and the way it addresses systemic racism, police brutality, mass incarceration, income inequality, and a failing education system is just as important now as it was back then. In Changes, published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Tupac's birth and twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, Sheldon Pearce offers one of the most thoughtful and comprehensive accounts yet of the artist's life and legacy. Pearce, an editor and writer at The New Yorker, interviews dozens who knew Tupac throughout various phases of his life. While there are plenty of bold-faced names, the book focuses on the individuals who are lesser known and offer fresh stories and rare insight. Among these are the actor who costarred with him in a Harlem production of A Raisin in the Sun when he was twelve years old, the high school drama teacher who recognized and nurtured his talent, the music industry veteran who helped him develop a nonprofit devoted to helping young artists, the Death Row Records executive who has never before spoken on the record, and dozens of others. Meticulously woven together by Pearce, their voices combine to portray Tupac in all his complexity and contradiction. This remarkable book illustrates not only how he changed during his brief twenty-five years on this planet, but how he forever changed the world.

Sheldon Pearce (Author), Aden Hakimi, Ashton Grooms, Cary Hite, Fred Sanders, Guy Lockard, Heather Alicia Simms, JD Jackson, Jackie Sanders, Jd Jackson, Landon Woodson, Leon Nixon, Pete Simonelli, Robin Miles (Narrator)

Audiobook

Prayers for Knowing God: Drawing Closer to Him

Transform your understanding of God from head knowledge to heart knowledge Prayer is vital to your ability to deepen your faith. God gave you this incredible tool not just so you can ask Him to meet your needs, but so you can more fully recognize His role in your life as father, provider, and friend. In Prayers for Knowing God, pastor and author Dr. Tony Evans is here to guide you through the dynamic use of biblically based prayer to better understand your Creator. These thoughtful and intentional prayers are designed to help you experience God's character and nature on a spiritual, emotional, and individual level, and reflect daily on the work He is doing in your life. Faithful prayer will keep you growing in your relationship with God no matter how long you've followed Him. This book will help transform your walk as a Christian, putting the knowledge you've gained from Scripture into practice through an active, personal connection to your heavenly Father.

Dr. Tony Evans (Author), JD Jackson, Mirron Willis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Standoff: Race, Policing, and a Deadly Assault That Gripped a Nation

This program includes an author's note read by the author Standoff is award-winning journalist Jamie Thompson's gripping account of the deadliest attack on law enforcement since 9/11, and the officers behind an audacious plan to stop it. On the evening of July 7, 2016, protesters gathered in cities across the nation after police shot two black men, Philando Castile and Alton Sterling. As officers patrolled a march in Dallas, a young man stepped out of an SUV wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a high-powered rifle. He killed five officers and wounded eleven others. It fell to a small group of cops to corner the shooter inside a community college, where a fierce gun battle was followed by a stalemate. Crisis negotiator Larry Gordon, a 21-year department veteran, spent hours bonding with the gunman—over childhood ghosts and death and racial injustice in America—while his colleagues devised an unprecedented plan to bring the night to its dramatic end. Thompson’s minute-by-minute account includes intimate portrayals of the negotiator, a surgeon who operated on the fallen officers, a mother of four shot down in the street, and the SWAT officers tasked with stopping the gunman. Their stories go to the heart of the deeply pressing issue of race and policing in our country, and reflect America’s divide over how to view the men and woman assigned to protect us. A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company

Jamie Thompson (Author), JD Jackson, Jamie Thompson, Jd Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Takeoff

Still reeling from a devastating personal tragedy, air marshal turned investigator Seth Walker embarks on his first case. All he has to do is accompany female pop star Max Magic to Los Angeles and deliver her to the FBI. But when their routine flight ends in a hail of gunfire at LAX, Walker has no choice but to take the frightened diva on the run. After a second attack leaves him battered and bloody, Walker realizes he cannot trust the FBI. To keep his client alive, he must use a patchwork of trusted aviation contacts to get her home to Austin, where the key suspects await. But as they race to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers, the biggest danger of all may be what they're heading toward-the dark secrets that Max herself has been keeping . . .

Joseph Reid (Author), JD Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

My Brother Moochie

At the age of nine, Issac J. Bailey saw his hero, his eldest brother, taken away in handcuffs, not to return from prison for thirty-two years. Bailey tells the story of their relationship and of his experience living in a family suffering from guilt and shame. Drawing on sociological research as well as his expertise as a journalist, he seeks to answer the crucial question of why Moochie and many other young black men-including half of the ten boys in his own family-end up in the criminal justice system. What role do poverty, race, and faith play? What effect does living in the South, in the Bible Belt, have? And why is their experience understood as an acceptable trope for black men, while white people who commit crimes are never seen in this generalized way? My Brother Moochie provides a wide-ranging yet intensely intimate view of crime and incarceration in the United States, and the devastating effects on the incarcerated, their loved ones, their victims, and society as a whole. It also offers hope for families caught in the incarceration trap: though the Bailey family's lows have included prison and bearing the responsibility for multiple deaths, their highs have included Harvard University, the White House, and a renewed sense of pride and understanding that presents a path forward.

Issac J. Bailey (Author), JD Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Devil's Descent

I'm Luther Cross, but you already knew that. Hard to forget a dangerously handsome, effortlessly stylish half-demon like myself. I earn my living using my knowledge of the occult and demonic heritage as Chicago's foremost paranormal investigator. My last case roped me into a potential war between Heaven and Hell, and though I managed to stop the crisis, the big threat's still out there. An angel is trying to kickstart armageddon, but there's only one person who knows that angel's identity. And he's stuck in the one place no one can touch him-Purgatory. There's only one way I can learn the truth, and that's by facing the dangers of Purgatory. Fortunately, I'm not alone. Unfortunately, my traveling party includes a demon trying to corrupt me and an immortal killer I had to con. What could possibly go wrong?

Percival Constantine (Author), JD Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Things That Make White People Uncomfortable

Super Bowl Champion and two-time Pro Bowler Michael Bennett is an outspoken proponent for social justice and a man without a censor. One of the most scathingly humorous athletes on the planet, he is also a fearless activist, grassroots philanthropist, and organizer. Bennett, a defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks, has gained international recognition for his public support for the Black Lives Matter Movement and women's rights. Bennett donates all his endorsement money and half of the proceeds from his jersey sales to fund health and education projects for poor underserved youth and minority communities, and has recently expanded his reach globally to provide STEM programming in Africa. Dave Zirin has been called the "finest, most important writer on sports and politics in America," by Dr. Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at the Harvard Divinity School. He is sports editor for The Nation and author of several titles for Haymarket Books, including his critically acclaimed book The John Carlos Story, written with 1968 Olympian John Carlos.

Dave Zirin, Michael Bennett (Author), JD Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Devil's Due

Luther Cross here. Dangerously handsome, effortlessly stylish half-demon, at your service. As I have inherited certain . . . abilities with my odd genetics, I've put them to use as Chicago's foremost paranormal investigator. My current case? Well, I have to admit, it feels a little personal. I'm helping a mysterious girl who's turned up on my doorstep, pregnant through mystic means. I can't help but think of my own mother . . . and if I don't help her, she'll face the same fate. Turns out, someone is trying to create an army of half-demons. While it might be a pleasant change to hang out with my own kind, I know most half-demons don't have my sense of morality. If I don't stop this evil plan, the armistice between Heaven and Hell will be broken and all of the Earth will pay . . . It will be the beginning of the end.

Percival Constantine (Author), JD Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Good Liar

Can you hide a secret with the whole world watching? When an explosion rips apart a Chicago building, the lives of three women are forever altered. A year later, Cecily is in mourning. She was supposed to be in the building that day. Instead, she stood on the street and witnessed it going down, with her husband and best friend inside. Kate, now living thousands of miles away, fled the disaster and is hoping that her past won't catch up with her. And Franny, a young woman in search of her birth mother, watched the horror unfold on the morning news, knowing that the woman she was so desperate to reconnect with was in the building. Now, despite the marks left by the tragedy, they all seem safe. But as its anniversary dominates the media, the memories of that terrifying morning become dangerous triggers. All these women are guarding important secrets. Just how far will they go to keep them?

Catherine McKenzie (Author), JD Jackson, Kate Rudd, Teri Clark Linden, Whitney Dykhouse (Narrator)

Audiobook

Pryor Convictions: And Other Life Sentences

Richard Pryor (Author), JD Jackson (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by JD Jackson