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112 reviews for:
A Bigger Picture: My Fight to Bring a New African Voice to the Climate Crisis
Vanessa Nakate
4.18 AVERAGE
112 reviews for:
A Bigger Picture: My Fight to Bring a New African Voice to the Climate Crisis
Vanessa Nakate
4.18 AVERAGE
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Great toolkit for anyone looking to learn more about contemporary climate activism. Rarely has a book detailing so much of the modern climate breakdown also left me feeling inspired and not hopeless. Using her experiences as a young Ugandan student activist for the climate, and her infamous cropping out from a picture of (white) climate activists, Vanessa Nakate explains in simple terms the already-happening effects of climate breakdown, the interconnectedness of ecological systems (Congo River Basin, Ugandan forests, shrinking of Lake Chad, desertification, flooding, drought, etc) AND the inequities in the climate justice movement (anti-Blackness, patriarchy, cosmetic diversity etc).
I listened to a copy via my library, and will go back and buy a copy to keep me inspired. It’s alarming how rare it is to hear/see the voices of young African women being centred in the climate conversation, so this was a welcome diversion from a harmful norm.
“Every activist has a story to tell
I listened to a copy via my library, and will go back and buy a copy to keep me inspired. It’s alarming how rare it is to hear/see the voices of young African women being centred in the climate conversation, so this was a welcome diversion from a harmful norm.
“Every activist has a story to tell
Every story has a solution to give
Every solution has a life to change”.
- Vanessa Nakate, Chapter5 end.
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
surprisingly, for a non fiction book, this held my attention rlly well and the topics actually interested me!
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
After discovering she’d been cropped out of a group photo of climate activists, in which she was the only person of colour, Vanessa Nakate shares the story of her journey into activism.
Combating society's expectations of how Ugandan women should behave, whilst being careful to confine with strict protesting laws, Nakate takes the plunge into activism raising awareness of the climate emergency & most importantly starting the conversation of climate justice and action in her home country of Uganda.
Throughout the book, Nakate highlights some of the devastating impacts the climate crisis is already having on Uganda, and the rest of the Global South, including droughts, floods & heat waves - all of which have detrimental effects on crop growth, meaning people are left with little or no source of food or income. This also leads to girls being forced out of school and becoming victims of child marriage, to provide their families with money to buy food.
‘A Bigger Picture’ is vital reading. A great resource to educate ourselves on the effects of the climate crisis in Uganda & Africa as a continent, and also how it effects people of colour & marginalised communities - which we rarely get made aware of by the media who focus predominantly on the Global North. In the final chapter, Nakate provides ‘10 ways to stand up for what is right and just’, alongside lists of activists & organisations to follow and support, hashtags to use, and even lists suggestions of slogans to use on placards when protesting.
No matter how tuned in you are with the climate crisis, I think everyone can learn something from reading Vanessa’s inspiring & urgent message.
Combating society's expectations of how Ugandan women should behave, whilst being careful to confine with strict protesting laws, Nakate takes the plunge into activism raising awareness of the climate emergency & most importantly starting the conversation of climate justice and action in her home country of Uganda.
Throughout the book, Nakate highlights some of the devastating impacts the climate crisis is already having on Uganda, and the rest of the Global South, including droughts, floods & heat waves - all of which have detrimental effects on crop growth, meaning people are left with little or no source of food or income. This also leads to girls being forced out of school and becoming victims of child marriage, to provide their families with money to buy food.
‘A Bigger Picture’ is vital reading. A great resource to educate ourselves on the effects of the climate crisis in Uganda & Africa as a continent, and also how it effects people of colour & marginalised communities - which we rarely get made aware of by the media who focus predominantly on the Global North. In the final chapter, Nakate provides ‘10 ways to stand up for what is right and just’, alongside lists of activists & organisations to follow and support, hashtags to use, and even lists suggestions of slogans to use on placards when protesting.
No matter how tuned in you are with the climate crisis, I think everyone can learn something from reading Vanessa’s inspiring & urgent message.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Police brutality, Murder, Abandonment, War
informative
slow-paced
fast-paced
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Nakate is one of a new generation of climate activists - this passionate and fearless coterie of young people who hold up signs until someone joins them, and whose anger and incredulity might just change the world. Nakate tackles not only global devastation, but deep racism which dismisses not only her but her entire continent. This book is written to make herself, and Uganda, visible. Nakate points out that those with the most to lose the need to be the most heard, not the least. I admired Nakate, just as I felt a little too old and tired for her audience.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
In this inspiring, motivational book (or audio-book, read by herself), Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate tells her story and gives useful advice on how everyone can stand up against global warming and other forms of social injustice.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced