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dkatreads's review against another edition
4.0
The speeches and writings of this collection are nearly a decade old, but it’s crazy how her discussion of Palestine seems as if it could have been said today.
Really appreciated Ch 9 on the Southern Freedom / Black Freedom movement of the 50s/60s and the importance of recognizing the power of movement comes from the collective, and usually the community of women within it, which empowers it. Also, the discussion of the militarization of US police forces and the export of surveillance and counter-terrorism technology from Israel to the U.S., used against its own people. Ch. 4s discussion of this was important.
Really appreciated Ch 9 on the Southern Freedom / Black Freedom movement of the 50s/60s and the importance of recognizing the power of movement comes from the collective, and usually the community of women within it, which empowers it. Also, the discussion of the militarization of US police forces and the export of surveillance and counter-terrorism technology from Israel to the U.S., used against its own people. Ch. 4s discussion of this was important.
booksmellers's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I read this for the first time in 2022 as an introduction to abolitionist literature, and I did learn a lot from it, but while I did had some context on Ferguson and the prison industrial complex in the U.S., I had no context of what was happening in Palestine. Now, just two years later, with Palestine having become a global focus, I feel like I got a lot more out of this reread and was able to more fully understand Davis's point of view. And she's totally right---the violence we're seeing from police on campus protests now is directly connected to the IDF.
Free Palestine.
Free Palestine.
kayfenn6's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
fantastic book. listened to it as an audiobook and it's such a powerful and informational book. Some things were a bit repetitive due to its interview-based nature but overall a great read.
miss_cheevious's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
miajakobsen's review against another edition
5.0
I think that solidarity always implies a kind of mutuality... I think we share our experiences. Just as I think the development of Black feminism and women-of-colour feminisms can offer ideas, experiences, analyses to Palestinians, so can Black feminisms and women-of-colour feminisms learn from the struggle of the Palestinian people and Palestinian feminists.
Optimism is an absolute necessity, even if it’s only optimism of the will, as Gramsci said, and pessimism of the intellect. What has kept me going has been the development of new modes of community. I don’t know whether I would have survived had not movements survived, had not communities of resistance, communities of struggle. So whatever I’m doing I always feel myself directly connected to those communities... we have to encourage that sense of community particularly at a time when neoliberalism attempts to force people to think of themselves only in individual terms and not in collective terms. It is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism.
Angela Davis is brilliant. A must read.
scoobierubie's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
This is the first nonfiction book I’m reviewing, so it feels a little strange giving it a star rating? But I want to stay as consistent as I can! That being said— I thought that this book, while short, was deeply informative and covered an array of topics with strong arguments for their connective tissue. I think the only reason this, for me, is a 4.25 and not higher, is that I found the interviews to be slightly repetitive? It makes sense, they were conversations happening years apart, but as a reader just going over the transcriptions it felt as though the book started by reiterating a lot of the same points. But they were important points! Some are just slightly more dated? But that has less to do with the quality of the work and more just to do with time passing.