There were times when Donovan X Ramsey thought writing this book was going to kill him. As he struggled through each chapter, “the story fought back”, inflicting brain fog, insomnia, stomach pains, heart palpitations. “On more than one occasion I visited the ER, certain that I was dying,” the 35-year-old writes.
But he got it done: When Crack Was King is a panoramic social and political history of the crack cocaine epidemic that destroyed countless Black lives in the 1980s and 90s. Ramsey came to realise that his illness was not due to “book jitters” or a mysterious medical condition. After visiting the 10 cities hardest hit by crack and interviewing hundreds of former addicts, crime victims, community activists, ex-prisoners, journalists, police officers and politicians, he was manifesting classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
