The Little Black Book

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BBC Radio 4 - The Little Black Book

The story of the survival guide for young black men in America.

In 1985, Carol Taylor wrote a survival guide for young black men who are stopped by the police. Her son Laurence Legall charts how it came about.

Growing up in New York in the 1980s, Laurence Legall was more than aware of the dangers of walking down the street. It didn't take much for a young black man to be stopped and searched by the city police - and if you made a wrong move, you could end up dead.

In this programme, from his home in Brooklyn where he has lived for much of his life, Laurence tells the story of the small but vitally important book created by his mom to help young black men stay safe on the streets of NYC.

It all began one day in 1985 when he went to buy some shoes with friends. They were robbed by a group of young men. Seeing a police car, they flagged them down but the NYPD didn't take their complaint seriously. When he got home, his mom was furious. But rather than just accept it, she decided do something about it. 

And she was no stranger to 'doing something about it'. Back in 1957, Carol Taylor fought discrimination on the airlines to become the first black flight attendant in the United States. A few years later, she took her place on the podium at the March on Washington in 1963 with other civil rights campaigners. 

And then years later, she wanted to make a stand for her son and all other young black men. Laurence's experience had been the last straw and, that evening, Carol sat down and wrote a list of survival rules for not just her son but for all black men to follow in the event of being stopped by the police. She called it The Little Black Book. This programme charts the story of that book, its important list of 30 rules and how it continues to be relevant nearly 40 years after its first publication.

Producer: Caroline Heywood
Executive Producer: Ashley Byrne
A Made in Manchester production for BBC Radio 4

Picture: Courtesy of Laurence Legall

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