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dbg108's review against another edition
5.0
We are a new unsettling force for liberation, and we’ve got nothing to lose but our chains.
caroline16's review against another edition
5.0
This is a wonderful and inspiring book for the current dark times. Realistic, and yet hopeful that racism, inequality and fear can be overcome and a better society can be created. Rev. Barber provides examples of reconciliation from his own experience.
jiujensu's review against another edition
5.0
Aside from being the memoir of NC's Moral Monday movement, there is a lot of history to be learned in the book. The fusion politics and resulting backlash in 1898 are compared with the events of today and the similarities are striking. What follows is not just a lament or analysis, but action and a viable way forward if we remain vigilant.
One thing that really struck a chord with me was when he was talking about community work and feeding the hungry that many churches participate in, including the ultra conservative sect of Christianity I grew up in.
*This aspect is something I was always proud of. My reading of the Bible lined up with helping all people and concretely feeding and clothing and meeting actual needs. I was less fond of declaring that good people who weren't baptized would go to hell or that everything happens for a reason (from births to terminal illnesses) and is God's will, but that's another story...
Around page 46 of my edition, he says that meeting these immediate physical needs didn't go far enough, he knew that he had to effect change in the power structure that was built on white supremacy to really make any difference in these people's lives. Barber looked to his early activism experiences and failures as well as our state's history of fusion politics for the answers.
*This was so refreshing to read, since the fundamentalist sect I grew up in read the same Bible, yet was very politically conservative: anti abortion and anti feminism, anti gay and anti equal rights, anti welfare, anti labor, basically against every institution or policy that helped people, especially the most vulnerable. This I could never reconcile in all my years of trying to believe.
As a fusion movement, he had difficulty explaining that this was neither a Democrat not Republican effort, it was just doing the most good for the people. He likes to say -- not advocating for left or right but all that is good and right. He details the conservative takeover of the state legislature by Art Pope and Thom Tillis with the help of ALEC and dark money, the impact of which is evident today, sadly, in the attacks on voting rights, fair taxes, public education, labor, women and immigrants.
Something that wasn't evident as I was struggling to reconcile the faith as I learned it with how those around me were acting on it is something Barber spells out multiple times. The dog whistle, or subtle racism was unclear to me earlier in my life but I only knew it as a vague discomfort and sense that something didn't add up. He names those dog whistles and we should all remember them and name them too: small government, fiscal responsibility, inefficiency of government programs, "law and order," attacking "entitlement" programs. The Southern Strategy and segregation were still advocated for, but they were cleansed and given a new legitimacy.
The fusion politics of Barber is encouraging, the religious aspect is less so. He wants to include those of faith and those struggling with it, but I hope he includes humanists and those who aren't religious but believe in doing the most good for the most people. His brand of Christianity seems to embrace actual religious freedom- unlike those who impose their religion in the law. In any movement, I need to see separation of church and state as a definite goal and cornerstone, but it was refreshing to see a religious person with the desire to act in the best interest of all human beings. I am skeptical of religious motives in general, but Barber is very persuasive.
*All that to say that as a formerly religious person who currently has no affiliation, this was very encouraging to get another view of the religious landscape.
One thing that really struck a chord with me was when he was talking about community work and feeding the hungry that many churches participate in, including the ultra conservative sect of Christianity I grew up in.
*This aspect is something I was always proud of. My reading of the Bible lined up with helping all people and concretely feeding and clothing and meeting actual needs. I was less fond of declaring that good people who weren't baptized would go to hell or that everything happens for a reason (from births to terminal illnesses) and is God's will, but that's another story...
Around page 46 of my edition, he says that meeting these immediate physical needs didn't go far enough, he knew that he had to effect change in the power structure that was built on white supremacy to really make any difference in these people's lives. Barber looked to his early activism experiences and failures as well as our state's history of fusion politics for the answers.
*This was so refreshing to read, since the fundamentalist sect I grew up in read the same Bible, yet was very politically conservative: anti abortion and anti feminism, anti gay and anti equal rights, anti welfare, anti labor, basically against every institution or policy that helped people, especially the most vulnerable. This I could never reconcile in all my years of trying to believe.
As a fusion movement, he had difficulty explaining that this was neither a Democrat not Republican effort, it was just doing the most good for the people. He likes to say -- not advocating for left or right but all that is good and right. He details the conservative takeover of the state legislature by Art Pope and Thom Tillis with the help of ALEC and dark money, the impact of which is evident today, sadly, in the attacks on voting rights, fair taxes, public education, labor, women and immigrants.
Something that wasn't evident as I was struggling to reconcile the faith as I learned it with how those around me were acting on it is something Barber spells out multiple times. The dog whistle, or subtle racism was unclear to me earlier in my life but I only knew it as a vague discomfort and sense that something didn't add up. He names those dog whistles and we should all remember them and name them too: small government, fiscal responsibility, inefficiency of government programs, "law and order," attacking "entitlement" programs. The Southern Strategy and segregation were still advocated for, but they were cleansed and given a new legitimacy.
The fusion politics of Barber is encouraging, the religious aspect is less so. He wants to include those of faith and those struggling with it, but I hope he includes humanists and those who aren't religious but believe in doing the most good for the most people. His brand of Christianity seems to embrace actual religious freedom- unlike those who impose their religion in the law. In any movement, I need to see separation of church and state as a definite goal and cornerstone, but it was refreshing to see a religious person with the desire to act in the best interest of all human beings. I am skeptical of religious motives in general, but Barber is very persuasive.
*All that to say that as a formerly religious person who currently has no affiliation, this was very encouraging to get another view of the religious landscape.
toria's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
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