His Name Is George Floyd: One man's life and the struggle for racial justice

Description

Written with unprecedented access, this is the only and definitive biography of George Floyd. The murder of George Floyd sparked a fiery summer of activism and unrest all over the world in 2020. People marched under the Black Lives Matter banner, demanding an end to racial injustice. The movement has led many to redouble their efforts, and government officials to examine the causes of systemic inequality. Drawing on The Washington Post's in-depth reporting and award-winning series on Floyd, His Name Is George Floyd is a definitive biography diving deep into the structural racism that shaped Floyd's life and death. This biography features exclusive reporting as well as unparalleled access to Floyd's family and the people who were closest to the man whose name has become one of the most recognized on the planet. By zooming in for an intimate portrait of this one, emblematic life, while also assessing the institutions that shaped it, the authors deliver a powerful exploration of institutional racism and of a public reckoning of unprecedented breadth and intensity.

Robert Samuels (Author) Robert Samuels is a national political enterprise reporter at The Washington Post. He has traveled across the United States over the course of three presidencies to write human stories about politics, race and the changing American identity. Toluse Olorunnipa (Author) Toluse Olorunnipa is a political enterprise reporter for The Washington Post and a CNN analyst. Reporting from five continents and more than forty states during three presidencies, he has documented the real-world impact of the White House and federal policy on underserved communities.

'In this age of misinformation, where the victims of police killings are made out to be the problem, this humanising of Floyd is necessary... Samuels and Olorunnipa's greatest triumph is placing Floyd's life in the context of white supremacy.' * Observer * An intimate, unvarnished and scrupulous account of his life...brilliantly revealing. * New York Times * Since we know George Floyd's death with tragic clarity, we must know Floyd's America - and life - with tragic clarity. His Name Is George Floyd is essential for our times. -- Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist Detailed, vivid and moving. * Washington Post * A wondrous feat of vivid writing and deep reporting, from the way it leads the reader through George Floyd's final fateful day on earth to its masterly account of Floyd's hopes and frustrations in the larger context of race in America. -- David Maraniss, author of Barack Obama: The Story We have come to know George Floyd as a symbol but have known little of George Floyd the man. In a monumental work of reporting and storytelling, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa reveal who George Floyd was in life, and the extent to which his death was the result not just of the callous choices of a single police officer but of four hundred years of societal decisions to devalue Black life. -- Wesley Lowery, author of They Can't Kill Us All: The Story of the Struggle for Black Lives A sobering, deeply intimate account of George Floyd's life and all that he had to carry and contend with as a Black man coming of age in America. In a remarkable feat of reporting, Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa help us come to know Floyd as a full, rich, complicated human being. -- Alex Kotlowitz, author of There Are No Children Here A much-needed portrait of the life, times, and martyrdom of George Floyd, a chronicle of the racial awakening sparked by his brutal and untimely death, and an essential work of history I hope everyone will read. -- Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author of The Black Church A vivid, necessary portrait of a Black man in America, in all its nuance, tragedy, and fullness. -- Abby Phillip, CNN anchor and senior political correspondent This multifaceted and exceptionally informative account is both a moving testament to Floyd and a devastating indictment of America's racial inequities. * Publishers Weekly * Writing with cogency and compassion, the authors free Floyd from the realm of iconography, restoring his humanity . . . A brilliant biography, history book, and searing indictment. * Kirkus Reviews * A wrenching chronicle of one of the most devastating events of our time . . . vital and illuminating. * Booklist * His Name is George Floyd takes more than 400 interviews with Floyd's siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, cellmates, lovers, roommates, coaches, neighbours and teachers, and weaves them into a complex, compelling and lyrical biography. * Sydney Morning Herald * Masterful, thorough and even-handed. * Associated Press * An expertly researched and excellent biography, a necessary and enlightening read for all. * Atlantic * The definitive work on who Floyd was and what his murder triggered. Gripping, heartbreaking, revelatory. * Oprah Daily * A deeply reported biography... Vivid storytelling drawn from interviews with family and friends reveals how the clouds of poverty, addiction and racism that preside over America often loomed over and got the better of Floyd... A sobering and essential work. * New Statesman * Excellent, important... A novelist seeking to create a character whose life exemplifies the challenges facing African American males could scarcely find a better model than Floyd. * Time Literary Supplement * Deeply reported, expansive, and empathetic-gives readers a clearer understanding of a man who tried, against the steep odds of systemic racism, to lead a full, peaceful life in America. -- Top Ten Non-fiction Books of the Year * Time Magazine * The definitive work on who Floyd was and what his murder triggered. Gripping, heartbreaking, revelatory. * Oprah Daily * Detailed, vivid and moving. * Washington Post *