The Man Nobody Killed
Life, Death, and Art in Michael Stewart's New York
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $15.99
Publisher Description
The first comprehensive book about Michael Stewart, the young Black artist and model who was the victim of a fatal assault by police in 1983, from Elon Green, the Edgar Award-winning author of Last Call.
At twenty-five years old, Michael Stewart was a young Black aspiring artist, deejay, and model, looking to make a name for himself in the vibrant downtown art scene of the early 1980’s New York City. On September 15, 1983, he was brutally beaten by New York City Transit Authority police for allegedly tagging a 14th Street subway station wall.
Witnesses reported officers beating him with billy clubs and choking him with a nightstick. Stewart arrived at Bellevue Hospital hog-tied with no heartbeat and died after thirteen days in a coma. This was, at that point, the most widely noticed act of police brutality in the city's history. The Man Nobody Killed recounts the cultural impact of Michael Stewart’s life and death.
The Stewart case quickly catalyzed movements across multiple communities. It became a rallying cry, taken up by artists and singers including Madonna, Keith Haring, Spike Lee, and Jean-Michel Basquiat, tabloid legends such as Jimmy Breslin and Murray Kempton, and the pioneering local news reporter, Gabe Pressman. The Stewart family and the downtown arts community of 1980s New York demanded justice for Michael, leading to multiple investigations into the circumstances of his wrongful death.
Elon Green, the Edgar Award–winning author of Last Call, presents the first comprehensive narrative account of Michael Stewart's life and killing, the subsequent court proceedings, and the artistic aftermath. In the vein of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace and His Name is George Floyd, Green brings us the story of a promising life cut short and a vivid snapshot of the world surrounding this loss. A tragedy set in stark contrast against the hope, activism, and creativity of the 1980’s New York City art scene, The Man Nobody Killed serves as a poignant reminder of recurring horrors in American history and explores how, and for whom, the justice system fails.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This sterling true crime account from Edgar winner Green (Last Call) plunges readers into the gritty landscape of 1980s New York City. Against that backdrop, Green introduces Michael Stewart, a 25-year-old Black artist who was fatally beaten by Transit Authority officers at a subway station in lower Manhattan in the fall of 1983. The officers claimed Stewart was visibly drunk or high and tagging the subway walls, but witnesses—including a young Rob Zombie—and certain details, including the officers' assertion that the scrawny Stewart knocked them to the ground, cast doubt on their version of events. Soon, the case became a rallying cry for those pushing back against the NYPD's brutal treatment of Black New Yorkers. Balancing propulsive pacing, careful research, and shrewd cultural analysis, Green convincingly highlights the failures of justice that led to Stewart's death, and examines the impact of the case on the work of artists including Toni Morrison (who drew from the Stewart case for her play, Dreaming Emmett) and Spike Lee. It's a harrowing look at a forgotten tragedy.
