In the US, police conduct millions of traffic stops for reasons unrelated to safety. Study after study confirm that Black drivers experience higher rates of non-safety stops, searches, and use of force than White drivers.
In Arrested Mobility: Overcoming the Threat to Black Movement, Charles T. Brown, founder and CEO of Equitable Cities, examines why mobility is not afforded in the same way to everyone. He argues that the legacy of structural racism and White supremacy has led to disinvestment and over-policing in Black communities and communities of color, thwarting opportunity, as physical mobility and social mobility are intrinsically linked. This experience for Black people around the world is what Brown refers to as arrested mobility.
Mobility embodies freedom and allows people, places, and cities to thrive. In the US, freedom-synonymous with national identity-is so often represented by acts of movement such as walking, cycling, driving a car or traveling to a different city. However, for Black Americans, exercising freedom of mobility continues to mean confronting the harsh reality of White fear, fragility, and violence.
Understanding the causes of arrested mobility, will help us to develop solutions to increase mobility for Black people and other marginalized groups, Brown explains. The conditions society has created have their roots in what Brown calls "The Four Ps": Polity, Policy, Planning, and Policing. He examines the four P's, drawing from research, his own experience and the experience of other Black Americans. Brown then suggests solutions, some of which are already being implemented in the US.
In Arrested Mobility, Brown shows how un-arresting mobility creates an opportunity not just for a better society for Black people, but for all people. Arrested mobility is detrimental to our society as a whole, not just the people it directly harms. By not providing equitable access to jobs, community resources, and public spaces, we are limiting the potential of a large percentage of our population to participate and contribute to society. Change is possible. We can un-arrest mobility together. Charles T. Brown shows us how. ""Arrested Mobility reminds one of a bar from Goodie Mob's 'Cell Therapy', 'But every now and then, I wonder if the gate was put up to keep crime out - or keep our ass in.' Brown's book deftly gives language to a condition, a cancer he calls it, that Black folks in the United States have lived with since the 1600s - the control of Black mobility. Brown destroys all arguments that the violence, brutality and fear Black people experience while walking, running, biking, driving or riding public transit are isolated incidents, and reveals them as extensions of a gripping legacy and purposeful policy. Arrested Mobility is a must read for anyone looking to more deeply understand racial housing patterns, wealth curtailment, or the pervasiveness of segregation. In a world where the powerful are literally whitewashing history by banning any text that directly addresses the experience of others, Brown should prepare for his book to be banned, because the knowledge it contains, if heeded, could do serious damage to the cancer of arrested mobility and help change the country.""---Topher Sanders, Reporter, ProPublica "
"Charles T. Brown delivers a powerful and unflinching exploration of the impact of mobility on communities of color in the United States. This thought-provoking examination challenges the conventional belief that increased law enforcement automatically leads to enhanced safety, urging readers to confront the unexamined assumptions that underlie our perceptions of security.
Brown emphasizes that transportation is more than movement-it's life. He bravely addresses inequities woven into our legal and societal fabric while presenting concrete solutions that aim to dismantle these obstacles, fostering a future where everyone can experience the
