Reviews - La libertad es una batalla constante: Ferguson, Palestina y los cimientos de un movimiento

I won't talk too much about the "what" of this book, because it is very short and readable and there’s no excuse for anyone who has access to books to not acquire and read this. And I’m probably echoing a lot of reviews when I stress that this is a very introductory text and should be followed/supplemented with further reading on the topics of prison abolition, policing, the military industrial complex, etc.

What I feel the need to urgently highlight are some key takeaways of Davis’s speeches and interviews that are currently flying so completely over our heads here in the U.S. that it will soon be too late for us to change course on any of the violence and oppressive politics that are happening. Most of these texts originated in the early-to-mid 2010s and the relevance they still have (possibly even more so) a decade later is startling but not altogether surprising.

The sub-title of this book throws some people off; what, they wonder, do Ferguson and Palestine have to do with each other? I admittedly would not have understood this connection ten years ago as much as I do now. But it’s a connection we must understand if we’re to confront the machinations of the U.S. empire in any meaningful way.

As a vehicle for capitalism and imperialism, the U.S. has colonized other lands around the world, through violence, starvation, suppression of Communist governments, and genocide. Overseas, we currently fund the extinction of the entire population of Gaza. At home, our two-party system has worked side by side to usher in a fascist regime that purports to mass murder Americans through restricted housing, healthcare, food, and incarceration on a large scale that leads into death camps.

The point that’s lost me a handful of friends these past few years is when you connect what goes on outside the country to what’s happening in it, which is where Davis’s book comes in. We in this nation with an authoritarian government have to realize that whatever they’re doing to brown people overseas, they will turn around and do to us too.

They already are, in some cases. The Ferguson-Palestine connection is rooted in racism and hate, but if -isms are too vague, the likenesses don’t end there. Davis reminds us in multiple interviews that U.S. police are trained by the IOF. Palestinian protestors in Ferguson recognized the weaponry used against them by police because it’s the same equipment used by Israeli soldiers in Gaza.

We mostly think of genocide as a quick act. Many of us, thankfully, are able to watch what’s happening in Palestine and call it a genocide. It’s harder to see when it’s slower, but Davis’s explanations of the U.S. prison system show the gradual mass extinction of Black and brown people, who are often funneled from childhood through their schools into the carceral system. Some, like Michael Brown, don’t even make it there, murdered in the street by police who deem themselves judge and jury. We’re seeing it on an accelerated scale now, as non-white people are kidnapped off the streets and taken to what are called detention centers, but in the absence of the judicial system, is really a death camp.

I’ve already gone on more than I intended, IG and TikTok are free and can provide more than enough education on the U.S.’s global role in oppressing entire populations, both overseas and at home. This book is also a good resource and starting place for you to wake tf up before it’s too late. I did the audio version, which was fine, but recommend the physical book as it’s a better format for reading interviews.

chelleygl's review against another edition

5.0

informative fast-paced

joyliminal's review against another edition

5.0

challenging informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

empresssekani's review against another edition

3.0

reflective medium-paced

mayritaah's review against another edition

4.0

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

mattthebard's review against another edition

4.25

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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