Description

In this unforgettable memoir, Emerald Garner recounts her father’s cruel and unjust murder, the immense pain that followed, the
pressures of an exploitative media, and her difficult yet determined journey as an activist against police violence. She begins with the morning of July 17, 2014—a rare day off from work, one she had hoped to enjoy with rest and family, that quickly turned her world inside out. What follows is a personal account of the suffering Emerald and her family endured: unsympathetic camera lenses, the stares and whispers of strangers, and the inability to mourn in private. In addition to these vulnerable, personal essays, Finding My Voice includes conversations with politicians, athletes, and activists like Brian Benjamin and Etan Thomas; with others surviving similarly unfathomable grief like Lora Dene King, Angelique Kearse, and Pamela Brooks; and with Emerald’s own family, Mrs. Esaw Garner and Eric Garner Jr. The book ends with a powerful call to action by the author and daughter of Malcolm X, Ilyasah Shabazz.

As calls for radical transformation and accountability grow, Emerald Garner’s memoir is a story of family and community, and the strength it takes to survive, to stand, to speak.

EMERALD GARNER is the youngest daughter of six children and is currently the executive director of her nonprofit, We Can’t Breathe Inc., which is named after her late father Eric Garner and her sister Erica Garner.

978-1-64259-831-5 • 180 pages