Allow Me to Transform: A Black Guy’s Guide to a New Constitution

Authors

Brandon Hasbrouck, Washington and Lee University School of LawFollow

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Title

Michigan Law Review

Publication Date

2023

DOI

https://doi.org/10.36644/mlr.121.6.allow

Abstract

Elie Mystal’s Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution works within the tradition of lay synopses of constitutional law, filling a gap among those that came before. Some works have provided nonlawyers with an explicitly Black perspective on major issues in modern civil rights, while others have provided an introduction to constitutional law as a field. Mystal broadens the focus and audience, illuminating constitutional issues with his trademark humor and his life experience as a Black man in America. He creates a comprehensive overview for lay readers, emphasizing the experiences and needs of Black men. The result is a guidebook to recognizing, applying, and navigating the Constitution in its intersections with our daily lives.

Recommended Citation

Brandon Hasbrouck, Allow Me to Transform: A Black Guy’s Guide to a New Constitution, 121 Mich. L. Rev. 883 (2023) (reviewing Elie Mystal, Allow Me to Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution (2022)).