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juanitamfm's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
This book has lots of good ideas on how to make communities more safe using healing practices. It gives lots of personal stories where the current system has created more harm instead of solving issues.
caffeinated_gills's review against another edition
3.0
This book was ok. The author got distracted (by other important issues) very frequently. There was an error in one of the included stats. It was well sourced and informative, but I didn't find it as convincing as other books I've read on the topic.
cogowno's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Police brutality, and Gun violence
eatenbysharks's review against another edition
4.0
Strong ideas with valid solutions. The only one I would want to dive into more is housing. If we push a housing credit to everyone, the impact on the housing market would drop many home values that were purchased over the last few years putting many people back into circumstances of being underwater on their mortgages. There would have to be some sort of system in place to deal with those issues as well as incentives for builders to continue to provide new construction.
pennym_'s review
informative
medium-paced
4.5
great info both in the history of how the us has become such a fear-based and punitive state, and data-driven policies for change and healing. i really appreciated the human stories included, even though they were difficult to read. i had to take my time with this because of that, but it is 100 percent worth doing so.
benwendt's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
mx_ash's review
5.0
We Keep Us Safe lives up to the promise of providing a blueprint for holding people accountable while still holding them in community.
First off, I really liked the design of this book. I appreciated the way Zach Norris used time-vignettes and narratives when beginning his chapters. That emphasized the humanity-of-it-all before getting into the more analytical pieces of a chapter’s argument. The ideas offered are complex but he wrote them in an accessible and attention-keeping way. The content touches on a wide range of topics that together form a comprehensive map for the path forward.
Some reviewers have mentioned that they think some of the ideas for change offered in this book aren’t obtainable enough. However, nearly every one of these ideas has been tested either in some part of the U.S. or in other nations that are similarly economically situated. Every major improvement in this nation was at first considered outlandish. The best piece of advice on activism I ever received (from an accomplished activist elder) was that when you write your list of demands you absolutely MUST include demands that will likely be considered “too much.” Not only does this make the other demands look more “reasonable” (and thus more likely to be fulfilled) it also sets a long-term vision. If we don’t set the bar high, we never even make it up the first few rungs.
I recommend this book to anyone who knows something isn’t right with our nation’s approach to harm, who wishes for a vision for the future, and who wants real solutions for getting there.
Below is a succinct summary of what you’ll find if you read this book. If for some reason you don’t want spoilers for this work of nonfiction, this is your spoilers warning.
.
.
.
In the Introduction Zach Norris defines and details the ideas of safety & security, accountability, and what he means by a Culture of Care.
The first section, The Unsafe World, outlines the state of things as they are now and makes a strong argument for why we need change. Chapter One outlines what harm is and why Zach focuses on harm, not “crime”. It also calls on readers to recognize the Architects of Anxiety that keep our current fear-based model of safety churning. Chapter Two describes The Framework of Fear and it’s four key elements.
The second section, A Vision of Safety, builds the foundation for the creation of a real safety, and sets the stage for the additional detailed solutions that come later in the book. In Chapter Three Zach contrasts punishment and accountability and then takes a deep dive into the method of Restorative Justice. In Chapter Four he shares with readers a real life example of criminal-legal change, the Richmond Model, and describes other ways we can move from the Framework of Fear to a Culture of Care.
As others have mentioned, the third section, Reimagined Realities, is arguably the most emotionally difficult part of the book. In each chapter (5-7), Zach shares the personal story of those mentioned in the title and then (as the section title suggests) reimagines how their path could have been different were we living in a culture of care. He doesn’t just point out what went wrong and how it went wrong, he weaves in concrete solutions that would make change (succinctly summarized as recommendations at the end of each of this section’s chapters). I’m not going to dissect these chapters because I think part of their power lies in the reader processing their content for themselves.
If you’re looking for real ideas for real change, you won’t be disappointed.
First off, I really liked the design of this book. I appreciated the way Zach Norris used time-vignettes and narratives when beginning his chapters. That emphasized the humanity-of-it-all before getting into the more analytical pieces of a chapter’s argument. The ideas offered are complex but he wrote them in an accessible and attention-keeping way. The content touches on a wide range of topics that together form a comprehensive map for the path forward.
Some reviewers have mentioned that they think some of the ideas for change offered in this book aren’t obtainable enough. However, nearly every one of these ideas has been tested either in some part of the U.S. or in other nations that are similarly economically situated. Every major improvement in this nation was at first considered outlandish. The best piece of advice on activism I ever received (from an accomplished activist elder) was that when you write your list of demands you absolutely MUST include demands that will likely be considered “too much.” Not only does this make the other demands look more “reasonable” (and thus more likely to be fulfilled) it also sets a long-term vision. If we don’t set the bar high, we never even make it up the first few rungs.
I recommend this book to anyone who knows something isn’t right with our nation’s approach to harm, who wishes for a vision for the future, and who wants real solutions for getting there.
Below is a succinct summary of what you’ll find if you read this book. If for some reason you don’t want spoilers for this work of nonfiction, this is your spoilers warning.
.
.
.
In the Introduction Zach Norris defines and details the ideas of safety & security, accountability, and what he means by a Culture of Care.
The first section, The Unsafe World, outlines the state of things as they are now and makes a strong argument for why we need change. Chapter One outlines what harm is and why Zach focuses on harm, not “crime”. It also calls on readers to recognize the Architects of Anxiety that keep our current fear-based model of safety churning. Chapter Two describes The Framework of Fear and it’s four key elements.
The second section, A Vision of Safety, builds the foundation for the creation of a real safety, and sets the stage for the additional detailed solutions that come later in the book. In Chapter Three Zach contrasts punishment and accountability and then takes a deep dive into the method of Restorative Justice. In Chapter Four he shares with readers a real life example of criminal-legal change, the Richmond Model, and describes other ways we can move from the Framework of Fear to a Culture of Care.
As others have mentioned, the third section, Reimagined Realities, is arguably the most emotionally difficult part of the book. In each chapter (5-7), Zach shares the personal story of those mentioned in the title and then (as the section title suggests) reimagines how their path could have been different were we living in a culture of care. He doesn’t just point out what went wrong and how it went wrong, he weaves in concrete solutions that would make change (succinctly summarized as recommendations at the end of each of this section’s chapters). I’m not going to dissect these chapters because I think part of their power lies in the reader processing their content for themselves.
If you’re looking for real ideas for real change, you won’t be disappointed.
applesaucecreachur's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
I originally bought this book to participate in a community reading group, and while I wasn't able to read it on that schedule, I appreciated being able to read and absorb Norris' compiled stories and recommendations on my own timeline. Defund Fear did the work by both identifying where our society errs and how to halt and reverse many of the harms done in this society. Norris went the extra mile by fleshing out his recommendations with real-life examples of community care. By divesting from the "framework of fear" and transitioning into a "culture of care", we can approach true democracy and invest in the power of the collective. I plan to give this book away now that I have finished reading it so that others can hear his words; I may just need to buy a second copy for myself.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Racism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Sexism, Police brutality, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Murder, Mental illness, and Hate crime
rapunzel711's review
Interesting book, just wasn’t what I thought it would be and expected.