Career
His latest book is People Wasn"t Made to Burn: A True Story of Race, Murder, and Justice in Chicago () published by Haymarket in 2011. Allen was born in Stoughton, Massachusetts, the son of Beverly Ann Vigneaux and William Henry Allen. He has three sisters.
He graduated from Stoughton High School in 1978.
He entered the University of Massachusetts Boston in the fall of 1978 and took classes through 1983 but did not graduate. Allen is a regular contributor to the International Socialist Review.
He currently lives in Pilsen, Chicago.
