Finding My Voice: On Grieving My Father, Eric Garner, and Pushing for Justice
with Emerald Garner, Etan Thomas, and Monet Dunham
In this unforgettable memoir, Emerald Garner recounts her
father’s cruel and unjust murder, the immense pain that
followed, the pressures of an exploitative media, and her
difficult yet determined journey as an activist against police
violence.
She begins with the morning of July 17, 2014—a rare day off from work, one she had hoped to enjoy with rest and family, that quickly turned her world inside out.
What follows is a personal account of the suffering Emerald and her family endured: unsympathetic camera lenses, the stares and whispers of strangers, and the inability to mourn in private.
In addition to these vulnerable, personal essays, Finding My Voice includes conversations in which Emerald found inspiration, empathy, and community: with politicians, athletes, and activists like Brian Benjamin and Etan Thomas; with others surviving similarly unfathomable grief like Lora Dene King, Angelique Kearse, and Pamela Brooks; and with Emerald’s own family, Mrs. Esaw Garner and Eric Garner Jr.
The book ends with a powerful call-to-action by author and daughter of Malcolm X, Ilyasah Shabazz. As calls for radical transformation and accountability grow, Emerald Garner’s memoir is a story of family and community, and the strength it takes to survive, to stand, to speak.
Emerald Snipes-Garner is the youngest daughter of Esaw Snipes Garner and Eric Garner, who was murdered at the hands of a now former police officer Daniel Pantaleo in 2014 and is the Executive Director of the nonprofit We Can’t Breathe Inc., which is inspired by her father, Eric Garner, and her sister Erica Garner.
She has become the leading voice in the fight for justice for her father and has vowed to never stop fighting laws and policies that help police officers get away with murder.
Etan Thomas, a former eleven-year NBA player, was born in Harlem and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He has published multiple books including We Matter: Athletes and Activism (voted among the top ten books on activism by BookAuthority) and More Than an Athlete, Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge, and Voices of the Future.
Thomas was honored for social justice advocacy as the recipient of the 2010 National Basketball Players Association Community Contribution Award, as well as the 2009 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation Legacy Award. His writing has appeared in the Washington Post and on Huffington Post, CNN, and ESPN. He can be frequently seen on MSNBC and he cohosts a weekly local radio show, The Collision, on WPFW about the place where sports and politics collide.
Born and raised in New York, with a BA in Theater/Psychology from Vassar College and an MS in Special Education from Adelphi University, Monet Dunham is a retired multiple award-winning teacher of special needs students. Monet is also a musician, singer/songwriter, actor, film director, and film casting director. Prior to retiring she often used her artistic training and talents to implement programs for her students including those legally blind, non verbal, and emotionally and/or physically homebound by using music, technology, and other creative means to help facilitate and make learning enjoyable.
As an actor Monet has played key roles in several projects including Just Another Girl On the IRT (1992) now considered a cult classic, New Jersey Drive (1995), recent independent films Love Don't Last Forever (2019) and multiple festival award–winning My King (2021), and the very popular 2018 web series Best Frenemies. As a casting director, Monet cast Hal King the Movie (2021).
As a musician, Monet has released two full-length projects and one EP. Songs from these projects have been featured on the following television shows Criminal Minds (CBS, now in syndication and on Hulu), The Mindy Project (FOX, now on Hulu), The Hill (Sundance Channel), and the Weather Channel. Monet has played flute on more than thirty projects and performed on stage with many artists, including Eric Roberson, Sy Smith, Tarrah Reynolds, and the late GURU, and has recorded with Angela Johnson, DJ Spinna, Ty Causey ,Tortured Soul, and many more. Monet's most popular songs are "Spirit" and "Vain," both instrumentals, and "Hold Me Sweetly," which she co-wrote and features her vocals.