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sunrays118's review against another edition
3.0
This book takes a deep look at the issue of freedom in the United States. The author spends about half the time in the late 1960's and the rest looking at the past few years with a substantial amount of attention on the failings of Obama. Despite being a thin book this was a heavy read that required a decent amount of outside research.
I would recommend this book to someone who is serious about wanting deeper information. In particular, some of the research in the book regarding police profiling and the relation to capitalism and slavery is exceptionally compelling and frightening. It is not an easy read, however. The author zig-zags all over concepts and time making it a challenge to follow directly. There is certainly an assumed knowledge barrier as well. Most disappointing is the lack of consideration on how to move forward other than the blanket statement, 'keep fighting to learn to fight.' The only real solution the author presents is to get rid of capitalism. Those missing steps are important and I feel a huge miss in the overall book.
In the end, I would say it is worth reading but not the first book to pick up.
I would recommend this book to someone who is serious about wanting deeper information. In particular, some of the research in the book regarding police profiling and the relation to capitalism and slavery is exceptionally compelling and frightening. It is not an easy read, however. The author zig-zags all over concepts and time making it a challenge to follow directly. There is certainly an assumed knowledge barrier as well. Most disappointing is the lack of consideration on how to move forward other than the blanket statement, 'keep fighting to learn to fight.' The only real solution the author presents is to get rid of capitalism. Those missing steps are important and I feel a huge miss in the overall book.
In the end, I would say it is worth reading but not the first book to pick up.
pierce_ellinwood's review against another edition
5.0
A stunning look at the myriad ways that American Capitalism and society is built on the oppression of African Americans. Taylor’s argument confirms that this is not a crisis of coincidence, but one of necessity that demands sweeping change in economic and political structures. A must-read.
lornadoone14's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Important read for those who want a history from Ferguson to the post- Obama years and the Black Lives Matter movement. I thought the parts explaining Ferguson were super enlightening since I was 19 and not dialed into the events as they were unfolding. It is a good entry-point to learning about the BLM movement but basic to those who are already really familiar with Obama/ Post Obama era politics. This book was published in 2016 and it was interesting to listen in 2024 after living through Trump, the Pandemic, living in Minneapolis through George Floyd, and at the end of Biden's first term and realizing that the fallout of the last 8 years has charted a different course for the movement. Infuriatingly, police shootings have still been increasing since 2016: https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/
ralowe's review against another edition
5.0
*from #blacklivesmatter to black liberation* is keeanga-yamahtta taylor's impressive tour de force re: how race and class thought together adds up to a massive threat to the established order: got x and king killed. but no, it's a lot more scandalous and exciting than that! grounded solidly in nothing less than the tea of history, from lee atwater and the southern strategy implemented into nixon's ostensibly colorblind neoliberal cuts on the social infrastructure blacks desperately need (serving as a blueprint for ford, reagan, carter, ad nauseum"_) on up to al sharpton's middle class respectability manifesting as constant condemnatory attacks on ferguson street resistance characterized as "thugs"ќ, taylor shows and proves how essential the analytical force where race and class intersects is to any true advance. also, i believe this book should be read alongside saidiya hartman's *scenes of subjection* due to both holding such precise and provocative articulations of the harrowing plight of black folks trapped in america. the indisputable fact that the whole system gotta burn is given quite compellingly in accounts of black elected official's vocal anti-black contempt baked into the job description, in stoplights rigged so cops can write traffic tickets on black motorists, in criminalizing truancy so black minors get funneled into special legal proceedings without defense counsel. elephant in the room: aside from a harmless sentence on page 30 from hal draper there is nothing related to the international socialist organization in taylor's book, published 2016. the iso officially dissolved early this year, taylor was a member. reading this was like our initial black queer *moonlight* screening, waiting for something bad to inevitably happen. if i was being proselytized to i didn't know it. haven't read any iso materials to compare. unlike other texts orbiting BLM organizing there was no project managerial tone; one better, taylor holds the feet of the professionalization of activism to the fire. i did wonder if taylor's critique of nonprofits was a retention of the tactics the iso would use to draw the unsuspecting into their cult. whatever the cause, this book is a perfect storm of radical anti-establishment history propelling black mobilization. in another stunning moment, when considering demands as ways to hold police accountable, taylor dodges the conventional strategies: the whole book has been a critique of assimilation, of co-optation, of top-down. for taylor, demands "to rein in the police state"ќ (page 181) provide an intersectional structure towards coalescing street rebellion, rather than a supplication for institutional outcome. taylor shows it works. inspiring, BLM's apparent anti-institutional movement. a driving concern is whether black political life in the wake of BLM can maintain this mobilized understanding of race and class as expansive reciprocating analytical entities to further a better world. this, in the tradition of assata shakur and angela davis, is what taylor brilliantly writes here.
juliarose11's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
11corvus11's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent. If I were to make an anti-racist syllabus, this would definitely be on it. Very informative, well organized, and well written. Longer review to come when I'm not typing on my phone.
1_and_owenly's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
anweshab's review against another edition
5.0
If you want to understand race, discrimination and class, a must read!
pattydsf's review
4.0
“The essence of economic inequality is borne out in a simple fact: there are 400 billionaires in the United States and 45 million people living in poverty. These are not parallel facts; they are intersecting facts. There are 400 American billionaires because there are 45 million people living in poverty. Profit comes at the expense of the living wage. Corporate executives, university presidents, and capitalists in general are living the good life--because so many others are living a life of hardship.”
I had the privilege to hear Taylor speak at Randolph-Macon College about a month ago. I feel honored to have met and spoken with Dr. Taylor. She is an excellent writer and a very good speaker. I was so impressed with the way she talked with, not down to, the students who came to her talk. Taylor teaches at Princeton and there is a big difference between the students at R-MC and Princeton. She treated everyone as a valuable person. That included this old white woman.
I was halfway through this book when Taylor spoke. I had reached the chapter about the Obama administration and was wishing for better news. Taylor was willing to talk to me and to give me hope. This kind of interaction is why I am usually glad to meet authors. Taylor gave hope to all the attendees of her talk because she reminded us that change always comes from the streets – not from the politicians.
This book is excellent, and I am looking forward to reading more of Taylor’s works. This was part of my continuing education about the United States and all our horrible prejudices. It reinforced my viewpoint that we as a country need to be more equitable, more kind and more open to justice for all.
I had the privilege to hear Taylor speak at Randolph-Macon College about a month ago. I feel honored to have met and spoken with Dr. Taylor. She is an excellent writer and a very good speaker. I was so impressed with the way she talked with, not down to, the students who came to her talk. Taylor teaches at Princeton and there is a big difference between the students at R-MC and Princeton. She treated everyone as a valuable person. That included this old white woman.
I was halfway through this book when Taylor spoke. I had reached the chapter about the Obama administration and was wishing for better news. Taylor was willing to talk to me and to give me hope. This kind of interaction is why I am usually glad to meet authors. Taylor gave hope to all the attendees of her talk because she reminded us that change always comes from the streets – not from the politicians.
This book is excellent, and I am looking forward to reading more of Taylor’s works. This was part of my continuing education about the United States and all our horrible prejudices. It reinforced my viewpoint that we as a country need to be more equitable, more kind and more open to justice for all.