Excited delirium : race, police violence, and the invention of a disease
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Excited Delirium examines the policing of Afro-Latiné religions and communities, focusing primarily on the creation and use of the cause-of-death classification known as 'excited delirium syndrome.' This classification is often used by police to characterize sudden and inexplicable death, but in reality, these deaths occur most often during police interactions where use of force is applied. Excited delirium is a direct result of the criminalization of Afro-Latiné religions and policing of Blackness. Investigating the term as such, Aisha M. Beliso-De Jesús tells the story of Charles Victor Wetli, a medical examiner in Miami, FL who coined the term 'excited delirium syndrome,' his connection to Afro-Caribbean 'cults,' and the classification's subsequent effects on Black and Brown people as a result of police violence. Through ethnographic journal entries, the author also works through her own trauma from research on this topic using her traditions as a practitioner of Santería to help her heal, and further connecting her to the spirits effected by this violence. By demonstrating the intentionality of excited delirium as a tool of abuse and power in policing, Beliso-De Jesús makes a case for decolonial abolition and radical reconfiguration of policing"-- Provided by publisher.