My Life After Hate

by Arno Michaels

A former racist skinhead examines aspects of his past: Where did the hate begin? How did a teenaged alcoholic become a central figure in the white power movement of the late 80s and early 90s? What happened to bring about his drastic change of mind and heart? With a collection of reflective essays, disturbing flashbacks, and an interview, My Life After Hate scrubs scabs off the festering wound of racism, then soothes with the essential wisdom of forgiveness and compassion. ..".a reckoning between who a person was and who a person can be. The drastic changes of Arno's perspective and the effects thereof clearly demonstrate that how we experience reality is up to us-that we can always choose compassion over aggression." -Bashir Malik, Artist, Milwaukee Community Elder "My Life After Hate is the new standard of brutally honest. It is sure to invoke strong reactions and personal moral inventories. The recounting of past hate oozes ugliness, but it is a necessary evil if others are to understand the true meaning of the word 'change.'" -Sammy Rangel, Mental health and AODA therapist, former gang leader

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Essays, Memoir

222 pages, Paperback

First published December 24, 2010

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book because Arno is a personal friend. however, I am glad I did. It will make you think differently about things. its real, its gritty, its real life and not just some ideological words.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waited for months to get this book through intra library lending. I'm glad I got it. I was curious to get inside the mind of a skinhead. He gave honest thoughts and feelings. Interesting read. Recommend for anyone who is a racist and not a racist. Some of them can be awakened to the beauty of all mankind.

[Elliot Ratzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s something really appealing about this self-published collection of essays, letters and an interview. Arno was a teenage skinhead. Before he was a skin, I was surprised to learn he was a normal charismatic kid and a breakdancer. Nursing a drinking problem and a fighting problem, he finds himself moving from punk to skinhead subcultures, wrapped up in white power circles and eventually fronting a hate music band, Centurion. Having read a few other memoirs by former skins, this one feels unpolished and real. The violence is raw, brutal, and out in the open; his in-draft reflections on his own angry youth are honest with the feel of someone grasping—often successfully—for the right metaphor. His emergence from this subculture seems to be tagged to becoming a single parent, smoking lots of pot, rediscovering the Beastie Boys. He opens up in a community college writing course. Arno ends up leaving the scene, co-founding Life After Hate. I’m looking forward to reading his second book!

[GinaMaria Opalescent · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most provocative books I've read. Hard to read about such a level of violence and racism but I'm also very happy to say I've had the fortune to meet Arno and see what he has become. I recommend this book to anyone who is trying to understand where white supremacy comes from. Not sure he answers all the questions but, he does a great job of drawing you right into where his head was.

[Kelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was really hard to read the first half of this book. frightening and shocking. I do, however, find this man's change of heart fascinating and uplifting.

[bassfunk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. Large amounts of mind altering psychotropic drugs in Milwaukees public drinking water supply, thats the only explanation I could come up with for this book.
This is the dumbest ex White power skinhead book I ever read. Glad I only paid a dollar for it.
I grew up listening to Arno's band Centurion, and still love the 1st album, so was curious to read this.
It goes from, "I savagely and sadistically beat and almost killed random homeless people to save the White race", to, "...and then I just woke up one day and felt like dancing !!" ..."now im voting for Obama !!"
ok, sure, makes perfect sense.
Beating homeless people and senseless violence against strangers based on race is stupid and counter productive.
However, there is NOTHING wrong or "racist" in taking pride in your racial heritage and wanting to preserve your European culture and pass it along to your children, without being persecuted by society, government and media as a result. If you think that is somehow "evil" or some "supremacist" dogma, then "YOU" have been "BRAINWASHED" .

[Ellen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I live just a few miles from where this book takes place - a city that has the distinction of being one of the most racially segregated cities in the US (even 20 years after some of the events in the book took place). I was curious about Arno’s story. I appreciated the author’s transparency and reflection on his journey- but I wish it had been professionally edited to make it less cumbersome.

[Noor · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was boring. The author was only a skinhead for seven years, and it seems he primarily became one to lash out at the world. I would have liked to read about a former skinhead that was involved in the movement longer and with deeper white power roots; it would have been much more revealing.

[Bookwormsince81 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This guy is a self righteous narcissist and this book is NOT the redemptive tale you’re seeking.