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270 reviews for:
Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements
Charlene Carruthers
4.25 AVERAGE
270 reviews for:
Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements
Charlene Carruthers
4.25 AVERAGE
There was a bit of history in this book that I was unaware of, especially about organizing in Chicago and what success looks like in that city. The book spent less time on actually offering a mandate and more on teaching basics of organizing and justice movements. It felt a little more like a personal account than a broad overview. It was interesting to read.
Written with insight, transparency and compassion. If you are looking for a place to challenge what you think you know and/or become a better ally this is a great place to start. What we don't challenge we become complacent in.
"What is at stake for me in striving to end violent death for black people? I am not a black man, boy, or trans women, but we share a common heritage through our shared of oppressors. We all inherited a world where our bodies are marked for exploitation and violent death. We are connected through our struggles..."
"What is at stake for me in striving to end violent death for black people? I am not a black man, boy, or trans women, but we share a common heritage through our shared of oppressors. We all inherited a world where our bodies are marked for exploitation and violent death. We are connected through our struggles..."
A terrific view into what it takes to be an activist and to grow a movement. The sections about Palestinian liberation work have only gotten more relevant since this was published.
“Identity doesn’t dictate behavior or values. We learn values and choose political commitments. Just because a person is Black, a woman and queer or transgender (or both) does not mean one is automatically radical or a revolutionary. Being radical is a choice, and it takes work. A person with a marginalized identity can engage in conservative, oppressive political work, and activists, organizers and intellectuals living under capitalism, colonialism, anti-Black racism and
Patriarchy require years of unlearning or decolonization. Our customs, beliefs, values, behaviors, and even our bodies are shaped by the societies and powerful systems we grow up in. At best, as marginalized people, we choose to resist. At worst, we internalize oppression and live in ways that do not serve our collective liberation.”
“King was also a visionary who had a brilliant team around him, including the openly gay pacifist Bayard Rustin who helped school him in nonviolent civil disobedience. Rustin was the lead strategist behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, but being openly gay impacted public perception and treatment by activists and opponents in the movement...His is not a household name, but it should be.”
When leaders of color stop excluding LGBTQ+ people from the resistance, maybe we will get somewhere. It really is frustrating to be asked to choose an identity to fight for while knowing members of that identity will easily turn around and oppress another part of your identity.
Seeing Black women fight so hard for Black men (most notably in the streets when we march against police brutality) and seeing how Black men do not have that energy towards us is disheartening to say the least. To fight for Black people and have Black people look down on you because you’re not Christian and heterosexual is also ugly. The way we need to do better and be better. Not tomorrow, today. Black liberation is literally meant for ALL Black people. That includes the poor, those perceived as “ghetto”, sex workers, those unjustly incarcerated, trans people, gay people, etc. You don’t get to pick and choose which Black person is deserving of your solidarity.
Patriarchy require years of unlearning or decolonization. Our customs, beliefs, values, behaviors, and even our bodies are shaped by the societies and powerful systems we grow up in. At best, as marginalized people, we choose to resist. At worst, we internalize oppression and live in ways that do not serve our collective liberation.”
“King was also a visionary who had a brilliant team around him, including the openly gay pacifist Bayard Rustin who helped school him in nonviolent civil disobedience. Rustin was the lead strategist behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, but being openly gay impacted public perception and treatment by activists and opponents in the movement...His is not a household name, but it should be.”
When leaders of color stop excluding LGBTQ+ people from the resistance, maybe we will get somewhere. It really is frustrating to be asked to choose an identity to fight for while knowing members of that identity will easily turn around and oppress another part of your identity.
Seeing Black women fight so hard for Black men (most notably in the streets when we march against police brutality) and seeing how Black men do not have that energy towards us is disheartening to say the least. To fight for Black people and have Black people look down on you because you’re not Christian and heterosexual is also ugly. The way we need to do better and be better. Not tomorrow, today. Black liberation is literally meant for ALL Black people. That includes the poor, those perceived as “ghetto”, sex workers, those unjustly incarcerated, trans people, gay people, etc. You don’t get to pick and choose which Black person is deserving of your solidarity.
Obviously Charlene's story is incredibly powerful, and the movement she is helping to lead (and the intentionality with which she is going about it) is inspiring. I just struggled to follow the book because it seemed to jump around so much. I couldn't find the narrative, it seemed like each chapter was separate. I think if you approach it more like a series of essays it could be easier to get into. So! Read it as an inspiration for organizing, and I think you'll get more pleasure out of it than reading it for literature.
challenging
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
If we see Alinsky's Rules for Radicals as foundational to community organizing, then Unapologetic is the critical addendum for the modern Black liberation movement. Carruthers expands on basics by infusing the legacy and lessons from queer Black feminist movements, and then adds new dimensions learned from young organizers of today versed in taking momentum from social media to the streets. Central to the book is the adoption of three imperatives for movements today: develop leaders to ensure continuity and strength, create space for healing justice to deal with the layering effects of trauma, and combat liberalism's toxic influence of reducing revolution down to compromised reform. Carruthers paints a picture of what youth-led, queer-centered change looks like and how it operates, showing us all a path forward that fights oppression on many fronts simultaneously. This text is worth reading and rereading to stay grounded in the principled struggle.
I want to be a non fiction girly, but so far it isn't happening, maybe it'd work better if I had access to audiobook versions
informative
reflective
I’d say this is a must read for anyone involved in or considering movement, activist, advocacy work.
informative
inspiring
fast-paced