To understand what’s behind existing wealth and opportunity gaps, history is sometimes our greatest teacher. But chances are when we think of the crack era, our minds go to how it was depicted in the media or political campaigns and policing in the 1980s and 1990s. Do we really know the individuals who suffered and what happened to them? And while people suffered, who profited? How do the failures of that epidemic continue to haunt and hold back our plight against drugs, as well as social justice and wealth equality today? Donovan Ramsey is our guest and the author of the new, acclaimed book WHEN CRACK WAS KING: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era. (This episode aired originally on July 31).

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