His Name Is George Floyd | Robert Samuels & Toluse Olorunnipa

His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice | Robert Samuels & Toluse Olorunnipa

How did one man’s complex American journey spark a worldwide reckoning on justice, equality, and human dignity? Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa investigate.

Accolades:

• Winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Nonfiction
• Winner of the Dayton Literary Peace
• Finalist for the National Book Award and Los Angeles Times Book Prize
• Finalist for the J. Anthony Lukas Prize
• A BCALA 2023 Honor Nonfiction Award Winner

Summary:

A landmark biography by two prizewinning Washington Post reporters that reveals how systemic racism shaped George Floyd's life and legacy—from his family’s roots in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, to ongoing inequality in housing, education, health care, criminal justice, and policing—telling the story of how one man’s tragic experience brought about a global movement for change.

About the Book:

The events of that day are now tragically familiar: on May 25, 2020, George Floyd became the latest Black person to die at the hands of the police, murdered outside of a Minneapolis convenience store by white officer Derek Chauvin. The video recording of his death set off the largest protest movement in the history of the United States, awakening millions to the pervasiveness of racial injustice. But long before his face was painted onto countless murals and his name became synonymous with civil rights, Floyd was a father, partner, athlete, and friend who constantly strove for a better life.

His Name Is George Floyd tells the story of a beloved figure from Houston's housing projects as he faced the stifling systemic pressures that come with being a Black man in America.

Placing his narrative within the context of the country's enduring legacy of institutional racism, this deeply reported account examines Floyd's family roots in slavery and sharecropping, the segregation of his schools, the overpolicing of his community amid a wave of mass incarceration, and the callous disregard toward his struggle with addiction—putting today's inequality into uniquely human terms.

Drawing upon hundreds of interviews with Floyd's closest friends and family, his elementary school teachers and varsity coaches, civil rights icons, and those in the highest seats of political power, Washington Post reporters Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa offer a poignant and moving exploration of George Floyd’s America, revealing how a man who simply wanted to breathe ended up touching the world.

Praise:

"It is a testament to the power of His Name Is George Floyd that the book’s most vital moments come not after Floyd’s death, but in its intimate, unvarnished and scrupulous account of his life . . . Impressive.”
—New York Times Book Review (Editors' Choice)

“Since we know George Floyd’s death with tragic clarity, we must know Floyd’s America—and life—with tragic clarity. Essential for our times.”
—Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist

“A much-needed portrait of the life, times, and martyrdom of George Floyd, a chronicle of the racial awakening sparked by his brutal and untimely death, and an essential work of history I hope everyone will read.”
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., author of The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song

Frequently Asked Questions About His Name Is George Floyd:

• Q: Did this biography win any major literary or historical awards?
  A: Yes, exceptionally so. The book is highly decorated, winning the prestigious 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction. It also won the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, was named a finalist for the National Book Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and won the BCALA Honor Nonfiction Award.
• Q: Is this book primarily a forensic procedural about the trial of Derek Chauvin?
  A: No. While it addresses his murder and the massive global protest movement that followed, the emotional core of the book is an intimate, scrupulous biography of George Floyd as a human being. It maps his life as a son, father, partner, athlete, and musician growing up in Houston's housing projects long before his face was painted onto global murals.
• Q: What unique research and reporting background does the author team bring to the text?
  A: The book was meticulously compiled by Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, two prize-winning political and investigative reporters for The Washington Post. They built this definitive account by conducting hundreds of exclusive interviews with Floyd’s closest childhood friends, family members, elementary school teachers, coaches, and civil rights icons.
• Q: How does the biography connect one man's life story to broader systemic issues?
  A: The authors use Floyd’s life as a direct microcosm to illustrate systemic failures in America. Each chapter contextualizes his struggles against generational institutional racism—tracing his family's roots in sharecropping, the systemic segregation of his schools, housing inequalities, mass incarceration, overpolicing, and the healthcare system’s disregard toward his battle with substance addiction.
• Q: Is the tone of the narrative overly academic, sensationalized, or political?
  A: Not at all. Critics widely praise the writing style for being deeply compassionate, humanizing, and elegant. Instead of treating Floyd as a political symbol or a mere statistic, the book puts America's complex ongoing racial debate into raw, uniquely human terms that any reader can connect with.

Bibliographic Data:

• Full Title: His Name Is George Floyd: One Man's Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice
• Author(s): Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa
• Publisher & Imprint: Viking (An imprint of Penguin Random House)
• Publication Date: May 17, 2022
• Binding Format: Hardcover (First Edition)
• Condition: Pre-Owned / Very Good
• Edition: 1
• Print Length: 432 Pages
• Language: English
• ISBN-13: 9780593490617
• ISBN-10: 0593490614
• Library of Congress (LCCN): 2021062302
• Primary Genre (BISAC): BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Social Activists
• Sub-Genres (BISAC): SOCIAL SCIENCE / Discrimination & Race Relations; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Cultural, Ethnic & Regional / African American & Black; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Criminology
• Dimensions: 6.24 x 1.38 x 9.26 inches
• Weight: 22.7 oz (approx. 1.42 lbs)

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Systemic racism, personal history, and the tragic catalyst of a global movement. Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa examine the life of George Floyd.

Explore the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography that looks beyond the headline to reveal the full humanity behind a historic movement. Tap to discover this work today!