When Crack Was King

A People's History of a Misunderstood Era

By: Donovan X. Ramsey

Narrated by: Donovan X. Ramsey

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • A “vivid and frank” (NPR) account of the crack cocaine era and a community’s ultimate resilience, told through a cast of characters whose lives illuminate the dramatic rise and fall of the epidemic

“A master class in disrupting a stubborn narrative, a monumental feat for the fraught subject of addiction in Black communities.”—The Washington Post

“A poignant and compelling re-examination of a tragic era in America history . . . insightful . . . and deeply moving.”—Bryan Stevenson, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Just Mercy

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD • ONE OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY AND VULTURE’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Time, The Washington Post, NPR, Chicago Public Library, Publishers Weekly, She Reads, Electric Lit, The Mary Sue

The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s is arguably the least examined crisis in American history. Beginning with the myths inspired by Reagan’s war on drugs, journalist Donovan X. Ramsey’s exacting analysis traces the path from the last triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement to the devastating realities we live with today: a racist criminal justice system, continued mass incarceration and gentrification, and increased police brutality.

When Crack Was King follows four individuals to give us a startling portrait of crack’s destruction and devastating legacy: Elgin Swift, an archetype of American industry and ambition and the son of a crack-addicted father who turned their home into a “crack house”; Lennie Woodley, a former crack addict and sex worker; Kurt Schmoke, the longtime mayor of Baltimore and an early advocate of decriminalization; and Shawn McCray, community activist, basketball prodigy, and a founding member of the Zoo Crew, Newark’s most legendary group of drug traffickers.

Weaving together riveting research with the voices of survivors, When Crack Was King is a crucial reevaluation of the era and a powerful argument for providing historically violated communities with the resources they deserve.

History through the lens I want to see

I feel so much more informed on literally every facet on crack as a fixture in American society.

Good but flawed

Really informative read full of important and all too often overlooked information. The cultural conversation on the crack epidemic being reframed as a moral panic was enlightening and the analysis of that panics effect on the political environment was top notch. That said the personal approach to some of the storytelling meant that we were often moved around in time and subjected to a lot of detail that to me seemed to distract.

The performance wasn’t great and was full of poorly mastered punch ins and volume swells that were SUPER distracting.

Intriguing account of the 80’s and 90’s crack era through different lenses

The author describes the era via several different characters and manages to enlighten the reader with scenes and realities that we were not subjected to. This allows you to develop empathy and understanding to many aspects that are hard to describe in a non fiction book Also great survey of different writings, approaches and political opinions with regards to drugs through that period.

Amazing!!

While listening to this book I reflected on my past child hood and what my community looked like at the time. This book made me smile and cry while thinking of the past

It's a harrowing account of an epidemic

I loved that the book focused on real people caught up in many aspects of this epidemic and how some still managed to survive.