A riveting, deeply moving account of a Black college student’s killing by police during one of the most explosive periods of the civil rights era
In the volatile week following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, protests erupted in cities across the United States. More than forty people were killed by police in what was called the Holy Week uprisings, or the King riots. Police claimed that victims like Harlan “Bruce” Joseph, a nineteen-year-old Black college sophomore shot by a white policeman in Trenton, were looters, troublemakers, or arsonists. Uprisings uncovers a different story.
Drawing on dozens of original in-depth interviews, Alison Isenberg revisits the causes of the unrest, placing Joseph, his family’s history, and his city at the center of that momentous week. She corrects the record about Black anger, protest, and peacemaking in cities like Trenton, showing how misinformation about the uprisings resulted in entire communities being written off as dangerous and too risky for investment. In the aftermath, young men like Harlan Joseph and their ideals were eclipsed. Isenberg’s epic begins in South Carolina where Joseph’s grandparents endured terrifying racial attacks that led families north in search of peace in the Great Migration. Joseph’s life unfolded against the backdrop of his family’s rise in a city confronting deindustrialization and escalating tensions around desegregation and educational inequality. To understand Joseph’s death, Isenberg poignantly tells the story of his life and what brought young people onto the streets in that tumultuous week. His killing by police was never fully investigated—until now.
Uprisings paints an unforgettable portrait of a young man’s passion to make a better Trenton, and whose life and tragic death reflect the enduring power of youth to drive change.
