Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs and the Police Killing that Galvanized New York City, by LaShawn Harris. Beacon Press, 2025. 352 pages. $35.00. ISBN 978-0807011966

Authors

• Thomas Aiello, Valdosta State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Review

Abstract

A historian and scholar of African studies, Thomas Aiello reviews LaShawn Harris’ Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs and the Police Killing that Galvanized New York City, which details the police killing of a 66-year old grandmother during a court-ordered eviction from her apartment in 1984, a time of elevated state violence against dispossessed people in New YorkCity, and its consequences, including the trial of the officer charged in her shooting and the public’s response. Tell Her Story examines the intersecting oppressions of racism, classism, sexism, ableism, and weight-based discrimination that shaped Bumpers’ experiences with bureaucracy, especially around housing, and police violence.

Recommended Citation

Aiello, Thomas (2026) "Tell Her Story: Eleanor Bumpurs and the Police Killing that Galvanized New York City, by LaShawn Harris. Beacon Press, 2025. 352 pages. $35.00. ISBN 978-0807011966," Journal of Hate Studies: Vol. 19: Iss. 1, Article 11.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64749/2169-7442.1271
Available at: https://repository.gonzaga.edu/jhs/vol19/iss1/11

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