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casswhitesell's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
slow-paced
4.0
reneoro's review against another edition
4.0
La unidad es el arma más poderosa contra el racismo y la persecución política.
erboe501's review
2.0
I appreciated this book as a historical artifact educating me on the Black Liberation Movement and prison abolition in the 1960s-70s. Especially interesting was her championing of the Communist party, including in the USSR and East Germany, a view she now disavows in her 2021 preface. The West/capitalism was doing a lot wrong, but supporting North Korea seems naïve now. As a compelling autobiography, I found it incredibly dry. Davis states in her prefaces that she'd only write an autobiography if she could map her personal story onto the greater political struggle. But in so doing, you lose most of the warmth and intimacy that makes autobiography engrossing. Davis has earned her righteous tone for her commitment to political activism, but I honestly found her self-righteous tone often insufferable. I started to skim toward the end.
I'm glad I've read this to be more informed about the time period and Davis's life and work. But I wish I'd just been able to listen to it on 2x speed.
I'm glad I've read this to be more informed about the time period and Davis's life and work. But I wish I'd just been able to listen to it on 2x speed.
moonreads1432's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
5.0
jeripearl's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
Angela Y Davis is inspiring and her story, and edition introductions, continue this. If anybody ever doubts the importance or impact of a grassroots movement or an individual, read her autobiography. She reminds us we are all important in the fight for justice.
wellreadsinger's review
informative
reflective
5.0
This autobiography is not like most as it is not only about the author. In fact, most of it is about other people, a collective of people that have been integral to her being able to do the work she does. The work of fighting oppression is constant. It is work that will require your empathy and your rage, but those emotions mean nothing if they don’t manifest into action. Little did I know that Davis would give me the keys for channeling my passion for it to serve a bigger purpose.
That rage James Baldwin speaks of is one that I have been familiar with for some time now, but the fierceness has intensified over the last few months. I have been asking myself what do I do with it? Where is it supposed to go? Angela Davis understands that rage more than anyone should have to, but her relaying her knowledge in this book is what I had been needing. Davis reminds us that the emotions we experience as a community when faced with the horrors of our oppression are useless on their own, but powerful within organized struggle.
Understanding intersectionality allows one to see that when Angela was found not guilty on all counts it was not an isolated victory for her. It was a victory for Franklin and Kendra Alexander, for Leo, Howard, Margaret, Fania. It was a victory for the Soledad Defense Committee, for the National United Committee to Free Angela Davis. Any defeat against our oppressors and these systems is a resounding reminder that collective liberation is attainable and (with work) imminent. Yes, the first step is to be moved by bearing witness to another’s struggle, but pure emotion will lead you nowhere but in a circle.
Black women like Angela, Assata, and Afeni have been intrinsic in my evolution of thinking. Because of women like them I understand my history and this country’s history beyond what any school textbook deemed worthy of acknowledging. I now let my passion lead me towards liberation instead of a sporadic cycle of individual work. Freedom is undoubtedly a constant struggle, but when our struggles intersect the work does not feel as arduous when we come together.