Papers by Lawrence Grandpre
THE COMMUNAL IMPACTS OF DRUG CRIMINALIZATION IN MARYLAND, 2023
This project attempts to reframe the harms of drug
criminalization. Influenced by African-Centere... more This project attempts to reframe the harms of drug
criminalization. Influenced by African-Centered Research
Methodologies, we engaged in a literature review and
qualitative research of the communal impacts of drug
decriminalization in Maryland, with a specific focus on
Baltimore.
We discovered that targeted hyper-incarceration driven by drug
criminalization has harmed communities' ability to exercise
self-determination and thus exacerbates the impacts of white
supremacy and anti-Blackness. Moreover, we find that the
erosion of community capacity from targeted hyper-
incarceration via drug criminalization has brought with it an
ecosystem of nonprofits centered on addiction that has harmed
community capacity for self-governance.
This analysis makes the case that decriminalization of drugs
must be accompanied by a vision of reparations for the War on
Drugs to accomplish the social justice outcomes advocates seek.
Also, this perspective may be necessary to generate the political
support for the successful passage and implementation of the
policy.
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Fear of a Black Planet, 2024
The association of people of African descent with notions of criminality is nothing new. However,... more The association of people of African descent with notions of criminality is nothing new. However, the analysis of internalized self-hatred and racism as the roots of urban criminality, how notions of anti-blackness function within the collective white imagination, and the specific impacts of these dynamics on real-world policy debates have been undertheorized.
“Fear of a Black Planet” employs historical analysis, African-centered theory, and experiences in real-world policy advocacy in Maryland to argue that society-wide notions of anti-blackness, fear of Black sovereignty, and a failure to recognize people of African descent as fully human create the context for the consistent criminalization of Black life. This environment makes “tough on crime” drug/criminal justice policies appear logical and creates blindness to the limitations of dominant liberal, public health, and white non-profit “solutions” to crime.
“Fear of a Black Planet” explains how Black institutions, utilizing the cultural resources of African people, create real solutions to crime and violence in the Black community and counter media propaganda around innate Black criminality and inferiority.
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New Timbuktu, 2019
Inspired by Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" Podcast, In Search of Black Power host Lawrence Grand... more Inspired by Dan Carlin's "Hardcore History" Podcast, In Search of Black Power host Lawrence Grandpre does a deep dive on Baltimore history, using the stories of the riots of the 1860s and the 1960s to show Baltimore as a site where the highest hopes, and deepest darkness, of the American experiment in race relations have been played out.
https://newtimbuktu.com/2019/04/15/hardcore-black-history-part-1-utopia-and-apocalypse-on-the-patapsco/
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New Timbuktu, 2019
The HBO show The Wire is hailed as a "realistic" portrayal of the Baltimore's street drug trade... more The HBO show The Wire is hailed as a "realistic" portrayal of the Baltimore's street drug trade and violence that springs from it. But is this true? In the first episode of "In Search of Black Power" activists and residents from Baltimore challenge the show's depictions, incorporating analysis from Baltimore history and of current movements to show the real Baltimore is more complicated, and beautiful, that the show could imagine.
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New Timbuktu, 2019
With a Vietnam tested playbook, the Ford Foundation waged war vs. Black radicalism in NYC. Their ... more With a Vietnam tested playbook, the Ford Foundation waged war vs. Black radicalism in NYC. Their weapons; grants, patriarchy & the illusion of independence
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New Timbuktu, 2019
While politicians use reparations rhetoric when they discuss cannabis legalization, their policie... more While politicians use reparations rhetoric when they discuss cannabis legalization, their policies are reformist at best and counterproductive at worst.
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New Timbuktu, 2019
A Book Review of Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber.
David Graeber’s book Bullshit Jobs: ... more A Book Review of Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber.
David Graeber’s book Bullshit Jobs: A Theory argues most jobs are depressing because they are full of unnecessary make work, or are completely pointless. But he fails to account for the history of race, which teaches the white masses they should expect to be bosses, and thus someone is to blame if they have crappy jobs. Before we imagine radical wealth redistribution or a world without work, we must understand the racial dynamics that cause many, Black and white, cling to work as the measure of human value.
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New Timbuktu, 2019
An analysis of economic development strategy in West Baltimore n the 90s and how neoliberal econo... more An analysis of economic development strategy in West Baltimore n the 90s and how neoliberal economic theory produced the conditions leading to the Baltimore Uprising of 2015.
Concludes with an analysis of how investing in indigenous Black run microenterprise is an alternative disruptive and counterproductive large scale neoliberal economic interventions in Black communitites.
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New Timbuktu, 2019
Read through the lens of Jame Forman Jr.'s book Locking Up Our Own, Jordan Peele's movie Us can b... more Read through the lens of Jame Forman Jr.'s book Locking Up Our Own, Jordan Peele's movie Us can be read as a narrative of how classism in the African American community produced a Black underclass stuck in oppressive conditions and the prison industrial complex, and asks the audience to recognize their own complacency in the construction of the Black underclass.
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In 2014, I voted Republican for the first time in my life to disrupt Maryland’s racist Democratic... more In 2014, I voted Republican for the first time in my life to disrupt Maryland’s racist Democratic political machine. For the same reason, four years later, I am supporting an upstart Democratic candidate for governor.
The lessons which brought me to these decisions are illustrative of how grassroots political power can build leverage through activism and tactical voting, helping to create space for solutions for our contemporary political stagnation.
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Baltimore City Paper, 2015
The Wire's story around how debate "saved" a former drug-dealing youth shows the show's inability... more The Wire's story around how debate "saved" a former drug-dealing youth shows the show's inability to conceptualize black agency and replicates the troph of the "white savior".
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Taxing legal cannibis sales could fund a stratagy for reperations for the war on drugs. This pape... more Taxing legal cannibis sales could fund a stratagy for reperations for the war on drugs. This paper helps outline how this stratagy might unfold.
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Ralph Elision's Invisible Man has been heralded as one of the great American novels of the 20th ... more Ralph Elision's Invisible Man has been heralded as one of the great American novels of the 20th century. While many have focused what the book contributes to an understanding of race relations, few have examined how these lessons are amplified and modified through Elision use of environmental/ nature imagery. Through numerous references to weather, light, food, and animals, Elision's Invisible Man uses natural imagery and metaphor to speak not only of how humans should relate to each other, but also how human should relate to urban and rural environments.
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This paper argues anti-Blackness must be theorized as its own political system. Since negative so... more This paper argues anti-Blackness must be theorized as its own political system. Since negative social outcomes for Blacks in America can not be fully explained by class/poverty in many instances, anti-Blackness is essential corrective to "class first" analysis if anti-Black outcomes in medical, criminal justice, education, and economic arenas are to be properly understood. The paper does a case study of "red state" responses to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to argue that the complete rejection of the act in many of these states can only be understood through the lens of anti-Blackness and Whiteness theory. It ends with an example of the changes to liberal/progressive political strategy necessary to account for anti-Blackness. Originally written for Baltimore Racial Justice Action (BRJA) as a primer for their participants in anti-Racism workshops.
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Talks by Lawrence Grandpre
LBS President of Research Lawrence Grandpre answers questions of political strategy at a book tal... more LBS President of Research Lawrence Grandpre answers questions of political strategy at a book talk on The Black Book: Reflections from the Baltimore Grassroots at Red Emma's Coffee Shop and Bookstore in Baltimore. For more information visit lbsbaltimore.com
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An except from a radio interview where the notion the "Negrophilia/Negrophobia Paradox" is explai... more An except from a radio interview where the notion the "Negrophilia/Negrophobia Paradox" is explained using the example of college and professional football.
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A talk given to High School Students at Baltimore's Patterson High School. It focuses on introduc... more A talk given to High School Students at Baltimore's Patterson High School. It focuses on introducing the concept of the Eurocentric beauty myth and a starting point for examining the plays political conflict between Eurocentric forces of assimilation and individualism versus Black community/African centered notions of community.
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A discussion of the function of whiteness/anti-blackness in the structure and practice of non pro... more A discussion of the function of whiteness/anti-blackness in the structure and practice of non profits. Focused on specific examples both hypothetical and empirical. Concludes with a discussion of how to proceed. Given at Johns Hopkins University.
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LBS VP of Research Lawrence Grandpre gives a talk at Johns Hopkins University on Non-Profits. Par... more LBS VP of Research Lawrence Grandpre gives a talk at Johns Hopkins University on Non-Profits. Part two introduces the concept of the Non-profit Industrial Complex and explains why is it is just as dangerous as the prison industrial complex. For more information visit lbsbaltimore.com
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Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle VP for Research Lawrence Grandpre gives at talk on racism and the... more Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle VP for Research Lawrence Grandpre gives at talk on racism and the Non-Profit Industrial Complex. Part one gives context and background, focusing on Baltimore history and a discussion of whiteness to explain how racist policy produced the poverty stricken environment shown on "The Wire" in which Baltimore's non-profits operate. For more information visit lbsbaltimore.com.
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Papers by Lawrence Grandpre
criminalization. Influenced by African-Centered Research
Methodologies, we engaged in a literature review and
qualitative research of the communal impacts of drug
decriminalization in Maryland, with a specific focus on
Baltimore.
We discovered that targeted hyper-incarceration driven by drug
criminalization has harmed communities' ability to exercise
self-determination and thus exacerbates the impacts of white
supremacy and anti-Blackness. Moreover, we find that the
erosion of community capacity from targeted hyper-
incarceration via drug criminalization has brought with it an
ecosystem of nonprofits centered on addiction that has harmed
community capacity for self-governance.
This analysis makes the case that decriminalization of drugs
must be accompanied by a vision of reparations for the War on
Drugs to accomplish the social justice outcomes advocates seek.
Also, this perspective may be necessary to generate the political
support for the successful passage and implementation of the
policy.
“Fear of a Black Planet” employs historical analysis, African-centered theory, and experiences in real-world policy advocacy in Maryland to argue that society-wide notions of anti-blackness, fear of Black sovereignty, and a failure to recognize people of African descent as fully human create the context for the consistent criminalization of Black life. This environment makes “tough on crime” drug/criminal justice policies appear logical and creates blindness to the limitations of dominant liberal, public health, and white non-profit “solutions” to crime.
“Fear of a Black Planet” explains how Black institutions, utilizing the cultural resources of African people, create real solutions to crime and violence in the Black community and counter media propaganda around innate Black criminality and inferiority.
https://newtimbuktu.com/2019/04/15/hardcore-black-history-part-1-utopia-and-apocalypse-on-the-patapsco/
David Graeber’s book Bullshit Jobs: A Theory argues most jobs are depressing because they are full of unnecessary make work, or are completely pointless. But he fails to account for the history of race, which teaches the white masses they should expect to be bosses, and thus someone is to blame if they have crappy jobs. Before we imagine radical wealth redistribution or a world without work, we must understand the racial dynamics that cause many, Black and white, cling to work as the measure of human value.
Concludes with an analysis of how investing in indigenous Black run microenterprise is an alternative disruptive and counterproductive large scale neoliberal economic interventions in Black communitites.
The lessons which brought me to these decisions are illustrative of how grassroots political power can build leverage through activism and tactical voting, helping to create space for solutions for our contemporary political stagnation.
Talks by Lawrence Grandpre
criminalization. Influenced by African-Centered Research
Methodologies, we engaged in a literature review and
qualitative research of the communal impacts of drug
decriminalization in Maryland, with a specific focus on
Baltimore.
We discovered that targeted hyper-incarceration driven by drug
criminalization has harmed communities' ability to exercise
self-determination and thus exacerbates the impacts of white
supremacy and anti-Blackness. Moreover, we find that the
erosion of community capacity from targeted hyper-
incarceration via drug criminalization has brought with it an
ecosystem of nonprofits centered on addiction that has harmed
community capacity for self-governance.
This analysis makes the case that decriminalization of drugs
must be accompanied by a vision of reparations for the War on
Drugs to accomplish the social justice outcomes advocates seek.
Also, this perspective may be necessary to generate the political
support for the successful passage and implementation of the
policy.
“Fear of a Black Planet” employs historical analysis, African-centered theory, and experiences in real-world policy advocacy in Maryland to argue that society-wide notions of anti-blackness, fear of Black sovereignty, and a failure to recognize people of African descent as fully human create the context for the consistent criminalization of Black life. This environment makes “tough on crime” drug/criminal justice policies appear logical and creates blindness to the limitations of dominant liberal, public health, and white non-profit “solutions” to crime.
“Fear of a Black Planet” explains how Black institutions, utilizing the cultural resources of African people, create real solutions to crime and violence in the Black community and counter media propaganda around innate Black criminality and inferiority.
https://newtimbuktu.com/2019/04/15/hardcore-black-history-part-1-utopia-and-apocalypse-on-the-patapsco/
David Graeber’s book Bullshit Jobs: A Theory argues most jobs are depressing because they are full of unnecessary make work, or are completely pointless. But he fails to account for the history of race, which teaches the white masses they should expect to be bosses, and thus someone is to blame if they have crappy jobs. Before we imagine radical wealth redistribution or a world without work, we must understand the racial dynamics that cause many, Black and white, cling to work as the measure of human value.
Concludes with an analysis of how investing in indigenous Black run microenterprise is an alternative disruptive and counterproductive large scale neoliberal economic interventions in Black communitites.
The lessons which brought me to these decisions are illustrative of how grassroots political power can build leverage through activism and tactical voting, helping to create space for solutions for our contemporary political stagnation.
Rare voices that have intimate experience with the academy, but are not beholden to its stylistic and political limitations, the authors provide frank commentary on the contemporary crisis in Black politics, calling out seemingly benevolent institutions such as nonprofits and showing the links between liberal academic discourses and the continuing devaluation of black bodies and the notion of black autonomy. Their advocacy of African centered thought deployed toward the goal of producing independent Black institutions yields practical policy and personal recommendation for addressing the continuing system of racism/white supremacy, in the hope that by posing better questions, better answers can be found in these most precarious of times.
We close with an interview with Sonja Sohn, the actress who played Detective Kima Greggs in The Wire, to unpack the shows complicated legacy.
https://newtimbuktu.com/2019/02/04/sayhername-gender-policing-and-the-wire/