Police Brutality & Violence – Page 14 – Trigger Warning Database

City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

A hundred and thirty years have passed since Arathiel last set foot in his home city. Isandor hasn’t changed—bickering merchant families still vie for power through eccentric shows of wealth—but he has. His family is long dead, a magical trap has dulled his senses, and he returns seeking a sense of belonging now long lost.

Arathiel hides in the Lower City, piecing together a new life among in a shelter dedicated to the homeless and the poor, befriending an uncommon trio: the Shelter’s rageful owner, Larryn, his dark elven friend Hasryan, and Cal the cheese-loving halfling. When Hasryan is accused of Isandor’s most infamous assassination of the last decade, what little… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Parental abandonment
Physical & emotional abuse
Memory loss
Torture
Police brutality
Hanging
Death by fire mentioned
Homelessness

One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite

One of the Good Ones by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite

When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. One of the good ones.

Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind—why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?—Happi and her sister Genny embark on a journey to honor Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book as their guide. But there’s a twist to Kezi’s story that no one could’ve ever expected—one that will change everything all over again.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Coming out themes
Racism
Queermisia
Nonconsensual drugging
Grief & loss depiction
Murder
Police brutality & violence
Hanging & lynching
Fire & arson
Kidnapping & confinement

The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D Jackson

The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz & Tiffany D. Jackson

No one can be at peace until he has his freedom.

In Charlestown Prison, Malcolm Little struggles with the weight of his past. Plagued by nightmares, Malcolm drifts through days unsure of his future. Slowly, he befriends other prisoners and writes to his family. He reads all the books in the prison library, joins the debate team and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm grapples with race, politics, religion, and justice in the 1940s. And as his time in jail comes to an end, he begins to awaken — emerging from prison more than just Malcolm Little: Now, he is Malcolm X.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & white supremacy
Suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Police brutality
Death row executions mentioned

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho

Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Boy by Emmanuel Acho

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy is an accessible book for children to learn about systemic racism and racist behavior. For the awkward questions white and non-black parents don’t know how to answer, this book is an essential guide to help support communication on how to dismantle racism in our youngest generation.

Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy creates a safe, judgment-free space for curious children to ask questions they’ve long been afraid to verbalize. How can I have white privilege if I’m not wealthy? Why do Black people protest against the police? If Black people can say the N-word, why can’t I? And many, many more

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racial slurs
Slavery
Death of a child
Death of a parent
Police brutality
Gun violence

Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask—yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and “reverse racism.”

In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. He asks only for the reader’s curiosity—but along the way, he will galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racial slurs
Hate crimes
Slavery
Physical abuse
Police brutality
Gun violence

The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough

It’s a hot summer, and life’s going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. It’s almost Christmas, school’s out, and he’s hanging with his mates, teasing the visiting tourists, avoiding the racist boys in town. Just like every year, Jackson’s Aunty and annoying little cousins visit from the city – but this time a mysterious boy with a troubled past comes with them… As their friendship evolves, Jackson must confront the changing shapes of his relationships with his friends, family and community. And he must face his darkest secret – a secret he thought he’d locked away for good

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Racism & racial slurs
Homophobia, internalised homophobia & slurs
Coming out themes & outing
Parental abandonment & physical child abuse recounted
Domestic violence recounted
Alcohol consumption & drug use
Emesis
Minor physical injuries, including broken bones & snake bite
Police violence & racial profiling
Incarceration

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed

Los Angeles, 1992

Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.

Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming
Lesbomisia
Homomisia
Racism & racist slurs
Colourism
Parental abse
Domestic abuse
Cheating
Sexual harassment
Attempted suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Recreational drug use & abuse
Blood depiction & physical injuries
AIDS mentioned
Riots
Police brutality & racial profiling
Gun violence
Lynching
Physical assault
Wildfires

Cop Town by Karin Slaughter

Cop Town by Karin Slaughter

Atlanta, 1974. As a brutal killing and a furious manhunt rock the city, Kate Murphy wonders if her first day on the police force will also be her last. For life is anything but easy in the male-dominated world of the Atlanta Police Department, where even the other female cops have little mercy for the new girl.

Kate isn’t the only woman on the force who is finding things tough. Maggie Lawson followed her uncle and brother into the ranks to prove her worth in their cynical eyes… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Racism
Queermisia
Antisemitism
Murder
Police brutality

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn’s happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father—Pikeville’s notorious defense attorney—devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night. Twenty-eight years later, Charlotte has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a lawyer herself—the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again, and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized, Charlotte is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism & racism
Misgendering
Graphic rape & paedophilia
Infidelity
Suicide mentioned
Miscarriage & late-term pregnancy loss
Police brutality
School shooting
Fire & arson
Bullying

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short.

It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life.

And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes.

With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Self-harm
Depression
Anxiety
Death of a parent
Death of a sibling
Anti-black violence
Slavery
Inter-generational trauma
Poverty
Police brutality