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184 reviews for:
Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead--My Life Story
Cecile Richards
4.31 AVERAGE
184 reviews for:
Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead--My Life Story
Cecile Richards
4.31 AVERAGE
Both inspirational and insightful, Cecile Richards gives us a look into the daily work of organizing for labor rights, political campaigns, and movements across the United States. From a childhood immersed in phone banks and mailings to leading Planned Parenthood across the nation, her descriptions of living her values and following her passions how each of us can make a real impact on the world around us.
Better than I expected. I had no idea Ms. Richard's background in organizing. She is a force to be reckoned with.
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
This book was gifted to me from one of my professors when I was an undergrad, and I honestly feel so lucky I was able to learn from.
"Make Trouble" is about Richards' personal journey through social justice, from standing up against unfair rules I'm elementary and middle school to being an organizer starting in her 20s, all the way to being president of Planned Parenthood. Her journey is inspiring and definitely made me reconsider ways in which I can be doing more for causes that matter to me.
Don't expect this story to be one full of information and diverse perspectives. But do expect to be inspired to make a difference.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexism, Abortion
Minor: Alcoholism
I read this a few months ago around the time when all the anti-women/pro-breeding laws were being passed in the Midwest and south and was meaning to post this review then because it seemed timely. However, fate/Goddess had me wait because a more opportune time was around the corner.
The current crisis at the border where children are being kept in actual concentration camps is immediately what I think of as I write this, because the people who are all gung ho about being pro-birth and continue to talk to me about the millions of aborted babies are all of a sudden silent, no where to be found and in all honestly totally fine or find some sort of weak justification for what is going on. Morality and a conscience is a funny thing that seems for certain people to only rear a head when convenient and when it has nothing to do with people of color of communities that are designated as an “other”.
Gloria Steinem in her self help booked discussed what happens when your heart hardens, and that one doesn’t selectively get to pick and choose where that hardening happens. In plainer terms – if you are able to make fun and not care about black or brown lives, LGBT lives, refugee lives, women’s lives, or to take it one step it further, the life of the world around us, and yet are at all the pro birth rallies, I don’t for one second believe you actually give a tinkers fart about the lives of the babies that have the potential to be born – because you certainly don’t give a modicum of care to the mothers and women actually birthing the children.
This book is poignant and while Planned Parenthood is not a perfect organization, it is an organization that is doing important work that extends far beyond providing care for women in emergency situations. Turn off Fox News and give this a read if you really claim to care about women and the babies they have the potential of carrying, otherwise start stitching your blue/red cloaks now and practice your ‘blessed be the fruits’.
The current crisis at the border where children are being kept in actual concentration camps is immediately what I think of as I write this, because the people who are all gung ho about being pro-birth and continue to talk to me about the millions of aborted babies are all of a sudden silent, no where to be found and in all honestly totally fine or find some sort of weak justification for what is going on. Morality and a conscience is a funny thing that seems for certain people to only rear a head when convenient and when it has nothing to do with people of color of communities that are designated as an “other”.
Gloria Steinem in her self help booked discussed what happens when your heart hardens, and that one doesn’t selectively get to pick and choose where that hardening happens. In plainer terms – if you are able to make fun and not care about black or brown lives, LGBT lives, refugee lives, women’s lives, or to take it one step it further, the life of the world around us, and yet are at all the pro birth rallies, I don’t for one second believe you actually give a tinkers fart about the lives of the babies that have the potential to be born – because you certainly don’t give a modicum of care to the mothers and women actually birthing the children.
This book is poignant and while Planned Parenthood is not a perfect organization, it is an organization that is doing important work that extends far beyond providing care for women in emergency situations. Turn off Fox News and give this a read if you really claim to care about women and the babies they have the potential of carrying, otherwise start stitching your blue/red cloaks now and practice your ‘blessed be the fruits’.
The audacity of Cecile Richards, her family, and the comapny she keeps is beyond inspiring. To be half as driven and indefatigable would make the world a better place.
This autobiography felt like a candid conversation. Cecile Richards shares the story of her upbringing and her life as it led to her becoming the president of Planned Parenthood. Richards then continues to share the challenges and joys of having such a huge responsibility. It was a celebration of the women before us who fought tirelessly to give us a better life in addition to a celebration of the young women who are making a difference now. This book made me feel so inspired.
My only bone to pick was the never ending chapter on the Clinton campaign. It felt somewhat irrelevant to everything else to that point. Otherwise, this book will go down as one of my favorites. I’m ready to knock some doors after this one!
My only bone to pick was the never ending chapter on the Clinton campaign. It felt somewhat irrelevant to everything else to that point. Otherwise, this book will go down as one of my favorites. I’m ready to knock some doors after this one!
In a time where women's healthcare decisions are (once again) in jeopardy of being taking away, this book was very timely and inspiring to me.
[4.75 of 5 ⭐]
Face paced and inspiring - this is a book I could not put down.
Cecile Richards is one heck of an organizer and activist. If she doesn't inspire you to step forward and make a difference in the current political climate, I'm not sure who will.
I have only two complaints regarding this book. First, the fast pace made a couple of spots seem a little disjointed. Where Becoming by Michelle Obama could've used a little more editing to shorten it, this book could've expanded on certain ideas. Second, I wish there had been mention of how the Women's March failed to be inclusive & was dominated by white cisgender voices. While Cecile Richards has been presented as a person who fights for individuals of all races, transwomen seem to have been left out of this narrative.
Overall though, I loved this book. I feel invigorated by it and it was definitely a call to action for me.
Face paced and inspiring - this is a book I could not put down.
Cecile Richards is one heck of an organizer and activist. If she doesn't inspire you to step forward and make a difference in the current political climate, I'm not sure who will.
I have only two complaints regarding this book. First, the fast pace made a couple of spots seem a little disjointed. Where Becoming by Michelle Obama could've used a little more editing to shorten it, this book could've expanded on certain ideas. Second, I wish there had been mention of how the Women's March failed to be inclusive & was dominated by white cisgender voices. While Cecile Richards has been presented as a person who fights for individuals of all races, transwomen seem to have been left out of this narrative.
Overall though, I loved this book. I feel invigorated by it and it was definitely a call to action for me.