I Can't Breathe: A Killing on Bay Street

That moment on July 17, 2014, when Eric Garner uttered his last words, "I can't breathe"—now a rallying cry for the "Black Lives Matter" movement—was a convergence of years of social, political, and racial injustice, according to Taibbi (The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap). Here Taibbi dives deep into who Garner was and how he wound up on a Staten Island sidewalk selling bootleg cigarettes. In telling Garner's story through the eyes of people connected to him, Taibbi lays down the backdrop that led to Garner's arrest and the police choke hold caught on video for millions to see. The New York Police Department's aggressive stop-and- frisk policies, the emphasis on crime statistics and belief in the "broken windows theory," which focused on policing minor offenses in order to prevent serious and violent crimes, played a part in the events of that day, Taibbi writes. Dominic Hoffman's flowing narration and vocal characterization of the dialog in Taibbi's vignettes illuminate Garner's story.