ABSTRACT
Violence against black bodies often begins on the individual level, but this chapter argues that these harms are met by and intersect the various levels of brutality found in one's neighborhood and perpetuated by social institutions. It addresses home-grown sadism may very well have been subject to violence that reshapes the soul, psyche, and (as argued by) the body of the child. The chapter looks at violence against black youth as perpetrated by adult caregivers who are addicts. It does so through the lens of liberation sociology and with careful attention to the intersectional nature of power, violence, and resourceful navigations against these domineering forces. The chapter examines different forms of state and institutional violence levied against black bodies as acknowledged by the sociology of inequality. It concludes with a commonsense and organic call to activism that starts at home and extends into the areas that immediately influence one's home life—community resources.
