Title: Black, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement
Author: Frederick Douglass Reynolds
Publisher: MindStir Media
ISBN: 978-1638485216
Pages: 396
Genre: Law Enforcement Biographies / Black & African American Biographies
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina

Read Book Review

One of the more controversial and heated topics of debate in the United States throughout the last century, especially within the past decade, has been the discussion of police departments and their treatment of non-white dominated communities, especially the Black community. Too many stories of violence and unnecessary deaths of Black men and women who were arrested or treated as criminals have dominated the news in our modern age, and the question of the root causes of these issues have come greatly into play. As Mary Frances Berry once said, “When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe.”

In author Frederick Douglass Reynolds’s Black, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement, the author writes a truly unique perspective on this topic as a Black man from both sides of the law. Exploring his early years as a creative youth who found himself in circumstances much like many young Black men in Detroit in the 60’s, as well as his transition into the life of a police officer in one of the most dangerous cities in the 80’s in America, Compton, CA, this book delves into the trauma and toll his work would take not only on him, but his family as well, and how his unique perspective can touch upon the issues of racism and law enforcement taking over our modern era of politics and society as a whole.

The author truly brought a personal, thoughtful, and insightful perspective to such an important topic of discussion. The author spared no details, opening himself and his life up to readers to share the highs and lows of life, as the author describes it, on “both sides of the bars,” both as a troubled youth in Detroit and a decorated officer in Compton. The themes of personal redemption, injustices found within all facets of society, and violence and its physical and mental impacts on those on the front lines of that violence were well documented and articulated throughout this book. Some of the more attention-grabbing things the author mentions in this book, aside from his own engaging life, included things like details from Tupac Shakur’s murder, to the rise of rap and Death Row Records, and so much more. The way the author infuses these details so naturally into the grander narratives of his life felt so intriguing and kept me invested as a reader.

This is the perfect read for those who enjoy memoirs and biographies, especially those non-fiction books which will focus on Black and African-American biographies, non-fiction focusing on law enforcement, and the concept of law enforcement and its impact on the Black communities. What made me, as a reader, feel for the author’s journey was his service in Compton. My father worked in the city during that period of time, and the violence and gangs in that area impacted so many different areas of industry that I could feel the anxiety and trauma the author was describing from his work there.

Memorable, engaging, and thought-provoking, author Frederick Douglass Reynolds’s Black, White, and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement is a must-read non-fiction memoir for those interested in understanding both sides of the United States Law institutions. One theme which really stood out after reading this book was that we cannot erase or ignore our past, but we can use it to grow and become the people we were meant to be. The author’s story really brought this theme into perspective, and the balance that he found with both his youth and his adult lives was so amazing to see come together.