In this excerpt, legendary civil rights attorney Tony Serra reflects on one of the most defining chapters of his early legal career, defending Black Panther Party co-founder Huey Newton.

Through vivid personal recollections, Serra brings to life the charged atmosphere of the late 1960s and early ’70s: the sound of police sirens in the night, the sandbagged safehouses of the Panthers, and the quiet resolve of being the “white lawyer at the door” in case the raids came.