“The central argument is that prisons are a domain of war and essentially that the prison is, in fact, a microcosm for the broader society. So by studying prison and studying the prison as war, we can study how war shapes the political system that we live in outside the walls.” — Dr. Orisanmi Burton, author of Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the long Attica Revolt (Univ of California Press, 2023).

This interview took place shortly after the book’s publication in October 2023 (posted in August 2024 to YouTube channel at John Hope Franklin Institute, Duke University).

get Tip of the Spear from a library (mostly in academic libraries now), its publisher. This and related titles at SpatzReads abolition book list

Mark Anthony Neal (Neal’s bio at Duke University) interviewed Dr. Orisanmi Burton (Burton’s bio at American University). See also Black Archival Imagination Lab at John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute.

Image: “Left of Black” YouTube screenshot shows book cover plus Dr. Burton in his own library in conversation with Mark Anthony Neal in his.

Image: cover illustration is a prison corridor in a spear-point view, i.e., a small opening showing part of what exists behind a black wall. Book title and author — Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the long Attica Revolt, Orisanmi Burton — surround the small inside view.