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Among the ethnic gangs that rule America’s inner cities, none has had the impact of the Jamaican posses. Spawned in the ghettos of Kingston as mercenary street-fighters for the island’s politicians, the posses began migrating to the United States in the early 1980’s, just in time to catch and ride the crack wave as it engulfed the country.
Laurie Gunst’s provocative exposé of the Jamaican politicians’ role in creating this problem is also a moving and compelling tale of suffering and exploitation. Leone Ross’ substantial afterword examines further the issues raised by the book from a British and Jamaican perspective
“A truly remarkable achievement”
washington Post
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“one of the true classics of the genre…The versatility of her writing, whether from a personal, analytical, historical, creative or academic point of view, is simply outstanding, as is the depth of her research…a recommended read.”
the Voice
“This book is a fine piece of investigative journalism, jettisoning any pretence at objectivity, distilling dispassion and compassion in equal measure.”
the Herald
“Laurie Gunst’s reportage brilliantly traces the tangled nexus of Hollywood gangster movies, corrupt party politics, archaic class structures and transglobal cocaine routes that feed into Jamiaca’s nomadic criminal posses. A dense and complex analysis of predatory hypercapitalism.”
id Magazine
“fuelled by a deep empathy”
independent On Sunday
Laurie Gunst
Laurie Gunst earned her doctorate in history at Harvard, and her work has appeared in The Nation, Spin, and The Stories that Shape Us: Twenty Women Write About the West. She received a grant from the Harry Guggenheim Foundation to write Born Fi’ Dead. She lives in New York and Wyoming.