• The New Jim Crow

  • Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, 10th Anniversary Edition
  • By: Michelle Alexander
  • Narrated by: Karen Chilton
  • Length: 16 hrs and 57 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (12,728 ratings)

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The New Jim Crow

By: Michelle Alexander
Narrated by: Karen Chilton
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Publisher's summary

Seldom does a book have the impact of Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow. Since it was first published in 2010, it has been cited in judicial decisions and has been adopted in campus-wide and community-wide reads; it helped inspire the creation of the Marshall Project and the new $100 million Art for Justice Fund; it has been the winner of numerous prizes, including the prestigious NAACP Image Award; and it has spent nearly 250 weeks on the New York Times best seller list.

Most important of all, it has spawned a whole generation of criminal justice reform activists and organizations motivated by Michelle Alexander’s unforgettable argument that “we have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it”. As the Birmingham News proclaimed, it is “undoubtedly the most important book published in this century about the U.S.”

Now, 10 years after it was first published, The New Press is proud to issue a 10th-anniversary edition with a new preface by Michelle Alexander that discusses the impact the book has had and the state of the criminal justice reform movement today.

©2010, 2012, 2020 Michelle Alexander (P)2012, 2020 Recorded Books

Featured Article: The Best Black Audiobook Narrators to Listen to Right Now


A skilled performer has the ability to take the written word to new heights, infusing an author’s work with empathy, warmth, and excitement. And representation matters just as much for audio as it does for any visual medium: listeners should feel and hear themselves in art driven by powerful performers and authentic deliveries. We’ve gathered a few of the best Black audiobook narrators in the business and their can't-miss performances.

Editor's Pick

Shedding light on a mass injustice
"I’m known as a bit of a true crime junkie around the office, and I can talk your ear off about how ethically executed content is the future of the genre. But there are bigger fish to fry than just salacious stories about serial killers and cults—like how the US criminal justice system has come to replace segregation as a large-scale tool of racial oppression. Civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander’s extensively researched, groundbreaking work on mass incarceration is a must-listen for anyone interested in the hot topic of criminal justice reform, and the myriad racial and ethical issues surrounding it."
Kat J., Audible Editor

What listeners say about The New Jim Crow

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Important!

Straight & to the point. Author makes a very real, very difficult subject easily digestible without sugar coating it. As a young African-American in today’s society this is a MUST READ.

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Amazing Insight

This book provided an amazing insight to the past, present, and future effects of mass incarceration!

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The new must-read of African American literature.

This audio book was in all nothing short of mind shocking, presenting to the listener a life changing truth about the deep seeded racial indignity, human injustice, and moral turpitude blacks as a whole are subjected to in present day society.

By leaps and bounds , one of the most powerful audio books I have ever lent an ear to.

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An important read

If you have a heart, it will break it. A brain, anger it. And a conscience, hopefully awaken it. My only disappointment in the book was it didn't tell the reader what we can do to change things. But, awareness is first step and this book is a huge step

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Very Insightful

Where does The New Jim Crow rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best, if not the best book I've read.

What did you like best about this story?

It is loaded with facts and not just assumptions.

Have you listened to any of Karen Chilton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Am I not a Man? Am I not your brother?

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The New Jim Crow

I think that this is a very important read, particularly in this day and age in which “cosmetic” integration overshadows the sad truth of inner city ghettos and vast racial inequality. The narration is excellent, the statistics raw and poignant. There is quite a lot of redundancy, and thus some of the effect is lost. Regardless, important.

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Powerful and important read

Alexander's work is constantly relevant and an essential read for anyone that wishes to understand American society.

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This book is super informative and applicable

I've found the book to be unbiased and applicable to anyone sensible enough to listen ears wide open.

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Loved it!!!

This book should be required reading. It puts a lot of things in perspective. I will be buying the hard cover.

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Powerful Book with insightful perspective

This book is full of knowledge and eye opening facts correcting the misconception that is race in this country. It helps the reader understand the cause and effect that brings down the black community from both social and institutional standpoint. It truly is a must read if you have a desire to better understand what walking around as black man or women is like in the United States. The fear is real. I hope people choose to better understand

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