The Minneapolis Reckoning: A Book Conversation with Michelle S. Phelps and Marisa Stevenson
Tue, Jun 11
|Moon Palace Books
A book talk with UMN Sociology Professor Michelle S. Phelps and Canopy Roots Program Manager Marisa Stevenson about Minneapolis's arrival at the brink of police abolition and the city’s struggles over what constitutes real accountability, justice, and safety amid possibilities and challenging times.
Time & Location
Jun 11, 2024, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Moon Palace Books, 3032 Minnehaha Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55406, USA
About the event
Join University of Minnesota Sociology Professor and author Michelle S Phelps and Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Program Manager with Canopy Roots (Minneapolis's Behavior Crisis Response Team) Marisa Stevenson in a conversation about Phelps' new book The Minneapolis Reckoning: Race, Violence, and the Politics of Policing.
About the Book:
The eruption of Black Lives Matter protests against police violence in 2014 spurred a wave of police reform. One of the places to embrace this reform was Minneapolis, Minnesota, a city long known for its liberal politics. Yet in May 2020, four of its officers murdered George Floyd. Fiery protests followed, making the city a national emblem for the failures of police reform. In response, members of the Minneapolis City Council pledged to “end” the Minneapolis Police Department.
Yet the politics of transforming policing were more complex than they first appeared. The Minneapolis Reckoning shows how the dualized meaning of the police—as both the promise of state protection and the threat of state violence—creates the complex politics of policing that thwart change.
In The Minneapolis Reckoning, Michelle Phelps describes how Minneapolis arrived at the brink of police abolition. Her account of the city’s struggles over what constitutes real accountability, justice, and safety offers a vivid picture of the possibilities and limits of challenging police power today.
About Michelle S. Phelps:
Michelle S. Phelps is associate professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is the coauthor of Breaking the Pendulum: The Long Struggle Over Criminal Justice. Her research has been featured in the Washington Post, The New Yorker, Time Magazine, NPR, FiveThirtyEight, The Appeal, and other media outlets, and has informed criminal justice reform efforts by the Human Rights Watch and Pew Charitable Trusts Public Safety Performance Project.
About Marisa Stevenson:
Marisa Stevenson (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) who received a BSW from St. Catherine University and an M.A. from St. Mary’s University. She currently serves as the Program Manager for the Minneapolis Behavioral Crisis Response (BCR) operated by Canopy Roots, where her leadership philosophy promotes innovative approaches to macro and systemic narratives, and centers on cultural competency, authenticity, and person-centered care.
General admission tickets for this event are FREE with a suggested donation of $20.00 to support the work of the MNJRC as you are able.