What is the author's perspective in the nonfiction book, Locking Up Our Own?

The author writes from a variety of perspectives that interact to give his overall point of view weight, authority, and credibility. First, he self-identifies as being black, and has first-hand experience of what being black in America means. Second, he has an extensive background in the law, in terms of both theory (i.e. having worked, studied, and researched in a variety of academic environments) and practice (i.e. having worked for years as a public defender within the legal system in Washington, D.C.). Third, he has a family history of social activism, having been raised by parents who were heavily involved in the American civil rights movement during his childhood and youth. Fourth, he co-founded the Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington D.C., an institution designed to do exactly what he claims, throughout the book, needs to be done: give young black people options, other than street crime, for generating income, finding security in community, and developing a sense of control, or agency, in their lives.

All that said, an essential point to note about the author’s perspective, and therefore the perspective of the book, is that it is extremely focused – specifically, on the history and consequences of black attitudes towards black crime, primarily in Washington D.C. (where the author began his legal career) but also, by glancing extension, in America as a whole.