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williamsangm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
allisonreadsabook's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
kimuchi's review against another edition
4.0
June Jordan was profound in many of these essays. Loved it. Similar to Angela Davis’ If They Come in the Morning, many of the essays are in response to very specific events and locales. It would have benefited greatly from an introduction giving better context to events that happened before my time (and I’m no spring chicken) and were very localized to specific cities or even neighbourhoods in the US. I had to do a lot of googling.
sara_jaramillo's review against another edition
essay collection, will return to read the rest of the essays!
lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhat outdated in terms of gender ('his or hers', etc.) though it felt more like a product of its time judging by my memories of the 90s and by how sensitive she was when it came to other political or social issues, including LGBT ones, that were relevant when she wrote these essays. When it came to issues like police brutality, being an activist, etc. it still felt like it could impart strength.
I also appreciated her essay on her mother's suicide. Having a parent who commits (or attempts) suicide is not something widely talked about so it felt important to read her essay on this particular pain.
I also appreciated her essay on her mother's suicide. Having a parent who commits (or attempts) suicide is not something widely talked about so it felt important to read her essay on this particular pain.
angelreadsthings's review against another edition
4.0
As the painful reality of the injustice and ignorance rampant in the world fought to drown my spirit over the past couple of weeks, this collection of essays kept me afloat. Jordan's mix of intellectualism, vivid storytelling, and down-to-earth realness created a mental and emotional place of recharge and growth that allowed me not only to expand my way of considering the world but also to find solace and hope during a time of sorrow and uncertainty. Her dedication to explicating both personal and political truth and all the ways the personal and political connect regardless of how unfavorably others would receive those truths were especially encouraging for me as someone who shares several identity categories with Jordan (Black, bisexual, female, writer). This collection was an absolute gift to my life, and I highly recommend it to everyone. Even if you don't agree with some of the ideas and perspectives Jordan put forth, her essays will make you think more deeply about what you do believe.
ericawrites's review against another edition
4.0
I'm glad she ended this book with her focus on love because reading this in 2021 has been soul crushing. Ever single issue she wrote about from the 1960s to her death in 2002, we still have. Cops killing Black people, Jordan wrote it here. Poverty, crumbling democracy, propaganda, here. Palestine, here. Biphobia, rape culture, lack of real healthcare, here too.
Jordan and I may disagree on some finer points, but these essays are a ton of bricks.
Jordan and I may disagree on some finer points, but these essays are a ton of bricks.
raulbime's review against another edition
5.0
This incredible, incredible book. Decades worth of activism, humanitarianism, criticism all written with such stirring force. June Jordan's encompassing love for truth and justice was a necessary encounter.
"Freedom is indivisible or it is nothing at all besides sloganeering and temporary, short-sighted, and short-lived advancement for a few."
Over the past two weeks, I've read this book, taking my time with it. Devouring, understanding, letting the words sit and turning them over and I was simply amazed by the scope her work covers. Whether urging bravery in the face of brutality or writing against the erasure of Black women activists and writers and poets or when condemning racism, islamophobia, sexism, child abuse and neglect, homophobia or biphobia, her words still as essential now as they were then.
"Freedom is indivisible or it is nothing at all besides sloganeering and temporary, short-sighted, and short-lived advancement for a few."
Over the past two weeks, I've read this book, taking my time with it. Devouring, understanding, letting the words sit and turning them over and I was simply amazed by the scope her work covers. Whether urging bravery in the face of brutality or writing against the erasure of Black women activists and writers and poets or when condemning racism, islamophobia, sexism, child abuse and neglect, homophobia or biphobia, her words still as essential now as they were then.
raodical9's review against another edition
5.0
June Jordan is shockingly timely. Brave, bold, eloquent essays that have given me heart during this time.