I Am Maroon: The True Story of an American Political Prisoner

Former Black Panther Shoatz (1943–2020) recounts his controversial life and work in this illuminating posthumous memoir coauthored with journalist D’Almeida. Shoatz grew up in Philadelphia and joined the Coast street gang when he was 11. In 1963, after nearly a decade of criminal activity, Shoatz heard Malcolm X speak in Harlem. Though he didn’t immediately quit the gang, the “life-altering event” spurred Shoatz to join Philly’s nascent Black Unity Council, where he planned food drives and cultural events and, eventually, intervened to stop gang conflicts throughout the city. In 1970, after the BUC allied with the Black Panthers, Shoatz joined an attack on a Philadelphia police station that left Sgt. Frank Von Colin dead (“I will not jeopardize any party’s freedom or safety by revealing what I know about that attack,” Shoatz writes). He was sentenced to life in prison, though he managed to escape twice, before dying of cancer in 2020 while out on compassionate release. Shoatz is an impassioned and endearing narrator, clear-eyed about his mistakes even as he pushes back on his treatment by Pennsylvania prosecutors. Not every reader will be swayed by his worldview, but those interested in the Panthers and their legacy would do well to check this out. Agent: Alison Lewis, Frances Goldin Literary. (Sept.)