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alissa417's review
5.0
I was on maternity leave in Hong Kong bonding with my newly adopted toddler daughter during the winter of 2016 when I first encountered the work of civil rights activist Valarie Kaur. This period of time, you may recall, was a particularly interesting one to be an American diplomat overseas, as our presidential election results had just shocked the world; it was also an interesting time to find my footing as the single mother of a child of a different ethnicity - and U.S. immigration status - than my own. Prior to this time in my life, I’d fleetingly recognized my own privilege, but now I felt an overwhelming surge of love for someone who would never know some of the privileges I’d been raised to carelessly expect and enjoy.
I felt breathless with anxiety for my small family’s future as I clicked on a video clip virally circulating on my Facebook page that winter. In the six-minute clip, Kaur spoke eloquently to a Protestant church’s packed congregation of the challenges faced when raising brown bodies in a country where racism continues to thrive. I felt suddenly renewed with energy as she asked her audience to ponder, “Is this the darkness of the tomb, or of the womb?... What if our America has yet to be born?” Kaur’s central hypothesis was - rather than watching the end of our nation’s history unfold, as so many feared at that unsettling time - perhaps we were living in a transitory period where Americans could utilize the tools of revolutionary love to manifest an America truly capable of providing hope and prosperity for all its inhabitants.
Valarie Kaur’s See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love (416 pp. One World, $28.00) begins with a dedication: “This book is for anyone who feels breathless. Maybe moving through this world, in your body, is enough to make you feel constriction in your chest… Your breathlessness is a sign of your bravery. It means you are awake to what’s happening right now: The World is in transition.” She goes on to describe her philosophy of Revolutionary Love as “the choice to enter into wonder and labor for others, for opponents, and for ourselves in order to transform the world around us. It is not a formal code or prescription but an orientation to life that is personal and political and rooted in joy. Loving only ourselves is escapism; loving only our opponents is self-loathing; loving only others is ineffective. All three practices together make love revolutionary, and revolutionary love can only be practiced in community.”
See No Stranger is, on its face, a memoir, describing Kaur’s background steeped in the Sikh faith on her family’s farm in California. Her world, along with so many others’, was rocked on September 11th, 2001, and she found a path towards healing through her study of U.S. constitutional law and her work with Guantanamo Bay detainees. But it is her descriptions of motherhood and its impact on her worldview that resonate most deeply with me. While describing her pregnancies, she raises infinitely larger questions regarding our society’s founding principles. “If we see the story of America as one long labor, then we have… a series of expansions and contractions, and each turn through the cycle brings us closer to what is being born… Transition is the most painful and dangerous stage, but it’s also where we begin to see what comes into the space we open up.” I cannot recommend this book enough for those struggling to find their voice and role in confronting both the challenges and opportunities facing our country in this moment. One of the great joys of my summer has been helping folks find the right book to begin their antiracism work. I hope this title speaks to you and other members of your family, and that after reading it, you strive to work to strengthen our community in any positive direction you are capable of as we move towards a brighter future for all our neighbors.
This title is available at Salisbury’s independent bookstore, South Main Book Company, located at 110 S. Main St. Call 704-630-9788 or email [email protected] to confirm store hours and events. Alissa Redmond is the owner of this store.
You may purchase a copy from the store buy clicking on this link: https://bookshop.org/a/36/9780525509097
I felt breathless with anxiety for my small family’s future as I clicked on a video clip virally circulating on my Facebook page that winter. In the six-minute clip, Kaur spoke eloquently to a Protestant church’s packed congregation of the challenges faced when raising brown bodies in a country where racism continues to thrive. I felt suddenly renewed with energy as she asked her audience to ponder, “Is this the darkness of the tomb, or of the womb?... What if our America has yet to be born?” Kaur’s central hypothesis was - rather than watching the end of our nation’s history unfold, as so many feared at that unsettling time - perhaps we were living in a transitory period where Americans could utilize the tools of revolutionary love to manifest an America truly capable of providing hope and prosperity for all its inhabitants.
Valarie Kaur’s See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love (416 pp. One World, $28.00) begins with a dedication: “This book is for anyone who feels breathless. Maybe moving through this world, in your body, is enough to make you feel constriction in your chest… Your breathlessness is a sign of your bravery. It means you are awake to what’s happening right now: The World is in transition.” She goes on to describe her philosophy of Revolutionary Love as “the choice to enter into wonder and labor for others, for opponents, and for ourselves in order to transform the world around us. It is not a formal code or prescription but an orientation to life that is personal and political and rooted in joy. Loving only ourselves is escapism; loving only our opponents is self-loathing; loving only others is ineffective. All three practices together make love revolutionary, and revolutionary love can only be practiced in community.”
See No Stranger is, on its face, a memoir, describing Kaur’s background steeped in the Sikh faith on her family’s farm in California. Her world, along with so many others’, was rocked on September 11th, 2001, and she found a path towards healing through her study of U.S. constitutional law and her work with Guantanamo Bay detainees. But it is her descriptions of motherhood and its impact on her worldview that resonate most deeply with me. While describing her pregnancies, she raises infinitely larger questions regarding our society’s founding principles. “If we see the story of America as one long labor, then we have… a series of expansions and contractions, and each turn through the cycle brings us closer to what is being born… Transition is the most painful and dangerous stage, but it’s also where we begin to see what comes into the space we open up.” I cannot recommend this book enough for those struggling to find their voice and role in confronting both the challenges and opportunities facing our country in this moment. One of the great joys of my summer has been helping folks find the right book to begin their antiracism work. I hope this title speaks to you and other members of your family, and that after reading it, you strive to work to strengthen our community in any positive direction you are capable of as we move towards a brighter future for all our neighbors.
This title is available at Salisbury’s independent bookstore, South Main Book Company, located at 110 S. Main St. Call 704-630-9788 or email [email protected] to confirm store hours and events. Alissa Redmond is the owner of this store.
You may purchase a copy from the store buy clicking on this link: https://bookshop.org/a/36/9780525509097
danacmyers's review
5.0
If this book has caught your eye, read it.
It is breathtakingly beautiful. A balm for my spirit and a loving invitation to return to the path I know in my heart.
So much love and gratitude for this book ❤️
It is breathtakingly beautiful. A balm for my spirit and a loving invitation to return to the path I know in my heart.
So much love and gratitude for this book ❤️
sr_yancey's review
I love when the books I read fit into patterns and I can already incorporate the lessons into real life
danileighta's review
5.0
I can't get enough of this book; that's why it took me so long to read it. I also asked for a used copy for Christmas.
Kaur is a powerful voice for healing, reconciliation, and finding ways to love those that, honestly, seem unlovable. Be assured that this is not a spiritual bypass book encouraging us to immediately forgive and embrace our enemies. We might get to the embracing, but only after a whole lot of internal and external work. And it needs to happen on both sides of the conflict.
For me, this felt like a handbook on how to be a more loving and open human being and I want to keep practicing with it indefinitely.
Kaur is a powerful voice for healing, reconciliation, and finding ways to love those that, honestly, seem unlovable. Be assured that this is not a spiritual bypass book encouraging us to immediately forgive and embrace our enemies. We might get to the embracing, but only after a whole lot of internal and external work. And it needs to happen on both sides of the conflict.
For me, this felt like a handbook on how to be a more loving and open human being and I want to keep practicing with it indefinitely.
ovenbird_reads's review
5.0
Beautiful, fierce, and meditative. It's easy to get stuck not knowing how to face the endless injustice of the world, but Kaur lays out a framework for laboring to create a better world and she does it in a way that feels possible rather than theoretical and idealistic. I will be revisiting many pieces of this book on my work I'm sure!
t_m_loewenelofson's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Gun violence, and Confinement
meganpbell's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
This memoir astonished and altered me. Coming of age as an American Sikh in the aftermath of 9/11, Valarie Kaur’s dedication to making a difference and her extraordinary courage in the face of hate crimes, police brutality, and sexual assault are made only more remarkable by her resilient compassion toward those who’d harm her. Read this if you believe a better world takes both courage and kindness and you’d like to become more of both.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, and Hate crime
Moderate: Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Racism, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Sexism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Medical content, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Suicide attempt and Torture
mmotleyu's review
4.0
I was in the exactly right place in my life for this book to resonate with me. I have been reading many books with a social justice theme, and this one helped me see these issues through a new lens. Push yourself to see everyone's stories, especially those whose beliefs you find abhorrent. This reminded me a touch of Rising Out of Hatred, but it had more suggestions for how to work through these issues in your own life. The "little critic" and the "wise woman" were particularly enlightening for me. I also appreciated the insight into the Sikh culture.
beth_simmons's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
This book should be required reading at this moment in our society. Full of insight, hope, and honesty, Kaur's idea of revolutionary love and how we practice it is so engaging it needs more than one read-through. I led a discussion about it which was supposed to be a single one-hour session. Instead, we stretched it out over four sessions which all went well past the time allotted. It is just so full.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Hate crime, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Violence, and Medical content