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reads2cope's review
5.0
Anything Alice Wong published is a must-read, and this anthology was even more moving than I expected. Most of the essays are a clear time-capsule from the core of the Trump presidency. Reading now about perseverance in the face of the Trump's election - when I feel so much more hopeless as Biden advances Trump's policies to the silence and sometimes cheers of alleged “liberals" - this book still managed to give me hope and energy. My reaction surprised but heartened me, and I'm so grateful to have read this now. A very limited sample of my favorite quotes:
“The trend here is the eugenics-laden sentiment that the disabled should cease to exist, if only to end our suffering. We should not exist. We should disappear. As a disabled woman, my instinct is to say, “Screw that!” I will resist disappearing. How do I resist? How do I find hope? Connecting. Ceremony. Being visible! Shouting “NO!” Self-care. Creating.” - Mari Kurisato
“I'm not finished yet, no matter what emotional state I'm in. Today wasn’t enough. I can’t even begin to imagine enough: unable to plan even a year ahead of the now, I can only live moment to moment as if another one will come after this one. I have to act as if what I do matters, even if I'll never see the outcome of my work. Is that hope? I don't know how to manufacture feelings of positivity. But I do know how to keep moving into the darkness and the unknown, waving my flashlight for the other lost and lonely, until my path ends. If hope is a choice we make to act like someone will have a future if we give them one, maybe the work isn't hopeless after all.” - Lev Mirov
“We have very little, generally speaking, in the way of institutional power, much less influence. Instead, we’re running on what we’ve managed to scrape together for ourselves, but mostly on the memories of our worst individual and collective experiences; the knowledge of where we could’ve been but for relative luck; the urgency of current conditions; and the love for and camaraderie of our community. This might not be power in a traditional or tangible sense, but it is strength.” - Shain M. Neumeier
“Once you have tweeted and snapped, call or write your representatives. In their minds, every year is an election year. Give what you can to organizations and candidates who champion disability rights.” - Maysoon Zayid
No one's free until we're all free. Wear a mask and support your local organizers!
lottie1803's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
gloomyboygirl's review
2.0
This felt kind of like a series of selfintroductory motivational speeches you'd hear at the beginning of an activist event. Very much 2016-2018 period piece without a lot of theory or meat, just introductions to individual activists and their thoughts on Trump era politics. I felt almost nothing about any of the book-- I was intrigued to maybe check out other writing by some of the contributors, but not because of the actual content of the essays usually, just because the biography after was interesting. Also, sorry, but the concept of saying "permanently disable Trump's electability" or whatever was... it floored me. I feel bad for such a negative review, it's nice to see so many disabled people centered, but the actual essays just weren't there and felt like introductions to more interesting thoughts.
courtneyfalling's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I’m not gonna lie I kinda forgot I read this because it’s been so long where I’ve gotten behind on review/notes to myself? But I’m assuming I liked it, set the stage for Disability Visibility later, you can see Alice Wong’s editorial sensibilities growing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
inamerata's review
2.0
Some essays were engaging, but overall this collection was nothing new to me, especially in 2023. It felt like reading a Tumblr archive, for better and worse. There's vulnerability and passion, and some enduring points about what it means to keep living and finding meaning in a difficult world. However, the content notes (not warnings) are self-reported, inconsistent, and unhelpful. The frequent use of slurs and divisive language around LGBT people was annoying and undermined numerous points, as well.