A review by froggin_around_
We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by adrienne maree brown

2.0

this booklet let me with somehow of a sour taste. this is my first encounter with the author and from AMB's reputation, I really thought this would be more nuanced. while using vocabulary from the basic leftist booklet, it felt a lot like a very centrist take on cancel culture. statements about capitalism, abolitionism and other leftist talkpoints were constantly brought into the text, but without any depth. and I also felt that the text was quite dismissive of the survivors' perspective. despite many disclaimers related to the reactions to the initial essay, I felt like survivors' perspective was pretty much just an aside. also I haven't read the initial essay which is supposed to have some bad metaphors that have been fixed here, but to me the cancer/disease metaphor was pretty bad even in this form. ultimately, no collection like this should exist without it actually engaging with what transformative justice means and how support can be built for the survivors. in this form, it gives off the impression that for the author the fear of being accused of something is a lot stronger than the care for those harmed.

also I almost forgot, but somewherr at the beginning there's this part that talks about who the US is as a nation and about how great some other states are for having better leadership and I couldn't stop eyerolling, which is why the whole abolishing the state felt very performative