Reviews

The Next American Revolution: Sustainable Activism for the Twenty-First Century by Grace Lee Boggs

adfj897's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Page 47 on

“...linking Love and Revolution is an idea whose time has come” (47)

“...we need to go beyond traditional capitalism” (48)

“This kind of organizing takes a lot of patience because changing people and people changing themselves requires time” (49)

“ what we urgently need are impassioned discussions everywhere, in group small and large, where people from all walks of life are not only talking but also listening to one another” (52)

“ what do you mean by revolution? It is hard to struggle for something that you have not yet tried to define a name” (53)

“[Jimmy and Grace]... concluded that although rebellion is a stage in the development of revolution, it falls short of revolution” (67)

“[Americans] are the ones who must begin to live more simply so that others can simply live” (73)

“We want and need to exercise power, not take it” (76) 

“...a concept of Love ([MLK] called it “Agape”), which is based on the willingness to go to any lengths to restore or create community. Practicing this concept of Love empowers the oppressed to overcome Fear and the oppressors to transcend Hate” (95)

“...Love isn’t about what we did yesterday; it’s about what we do today and tomorrow and the day after” (97)

“[movement builders] hate unjust deeds but are careful not to hate the doers of these deeds” (100)

“[Detroit] views cities as an ecosystem rather than a machine” (124)

“...we need to see progress. It in terms of ‘having more’ but in terms of growing our souls by creating community, mutual self-sufficiency, and cooperative relations with one another” (134)

“Like workers in the factory, children and young people are denied their full humanity by a [school] system that trains them to survive, consume, and produce” (142)

“By recognizing our own culpability instead of putting all the blame on and demonizing others, we can discover the power within each of us to change the world by changing ourselves” (168) 

sumabreddy's review against another edition

inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

megangafvert's review

3.0

Great chapter on education, but lots of philosophy and history that was over my head

anneliehyatt's review

4.0

Grace Lee Boggs' discussion of what good activism should be is stirring for the youth of our country. Boggs is an incredible and extremely accessible writer who fortunately does not possess the linguistic pretensions of contemporary academics. I would love if Boggs provided more concrete examples, though, for the ways in which people can engage in activism, especially young people who want to engage in politics at college.

tielqueen's review

4.0

now i want to garden

on moving toward ~community self-reliance and an economy rooted in human solidarity rather than amoral competition ~

brev100's review against another edition

5.0

an essential read for the future

wcsheffer's review against another edition

5.0

I could not put down this book, which does not happen to me very often with non-fiction. Lee Boggs was a talented writer and a brilliant social philosopher. This book felt like I sat down with my woke grandmother on her cozy window seat with a cup of tea and she told me all about her life and her plan to make the country and the world a much better place. Something about the deeply honest and personal nature of the Lee Boggs' prose made me feel like I was getting a hug the entire time I was reading. In writing all that I worry that I'm undermining the importance of Lee Boggs' deeply radical text. Lee Boggs' walks through her philosophical journey and illustrates that the way that we conceptualize of revolution does not match our current age. She argues that the way to revolution and serious change is through DEEPLY caring for one another and building systems that support communities. The penultimate chapter, on education reform, is the one that affected me the most but I found all parts of the book to be strong and important to her argument. I can't recommend this highly enough to anyone interested in how to make long lasting and sustainable changes to our society.

bittermelona's review against another edition

i finished this book in literally one day so i'll do a review later i just never want to read again

whatannikareads's review against another edition

I'm gonna preface this that I have a skewed opinion because I wasn't in the mindset to read this, I don't think.

That being said, this book just let me down mostly. I saw in a review that said it sounds like a commencement speech, and I totally see that. It just read like a lot of inflated rhetoric that isn't super specifically helpful and, while she has the right to brag about her work because she's accomplished so much, it just didn't sit right with me that a lot of it was centered on her achievements.

She also referenced Gandhi a few times, and we don't like Gandhi anymore lol. This might've been more poignant if I was reading it during the Obama era, when it was written. While it still holds true to the atrocities we're experiencing now, I just didn't take away from this as much as I wanted to. However, I think her autobiography is still something I'd be down to check out.

anneliehyatt's review against another edition

4.0

Grace Lee Boggs' discussion of what good activism should be is stirring for the youth of our country. Boggs is an incredible and extremely accessible writer who fortunately does not possess the linguistic pretensions of contemporary academics. I would love if Boggs provided more concrete examples, though, for the ways in which people can engage in activism, especially young people who want to engage in politics at college.