A review by whatlinareads
Experiments in Imagining Otherwise by Lola Olufemi

hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

I finished this about a week ago and still struggle to put my thoughts about it into words. Imagining Otherwise is a bit like a scrapbook, only without the graphic part. In a very vague sense, it simply explores what the system we currently live in has taken from us and what it could be like instead. In fragments of various sorts, Olufemi invites us to imagine through reflective arguments as well as bits of prose poetry. 

Her foundation in Black feminist scholarship, activism and community work always shines through – which was perhaps also what I enjoyed the most about this piece. As my efforts to describe my reading experience are evidently in vain, I reckon I’ll just leave it at saying that I found Experiments in Imagining Otherwise very fascinating despite its fragmented and vague style. What I’ll take from this book is the reminder that everything doesn’t have to be this way and that the first step towards differently designed societal systems is to dare to imagine otherwise.