Book Review: Creative Interventions Toolkit

Image: the cover of the book is a muted orange color. In the center is a woodcut style print in black with a slightly lighter orange background. It shows an old twisted tree with a thick trunk extending up into 7 smaller interlocking branches. There are circular formations like leaves at the end and the tree is rooted in a lush landscape of plants. Across the top in white capital letters is "creative interventions toolkit" with "toolkit very large. Below that in small white letters is "a practical guide to stop interpersonal violence." On the bottom are for white circles, each containing an icon of a bee, a shell, a gear & wrench, and a wave.
 

Reading Creative Interventions Toolkit brought up a thousand thoughts and feelings. As a result, this review ended up being both a review of the book and a blog of the thoughts and feelings (moreso than usual) that it awakened in me. 

The Creative Interventions Toolkit was assembled by the organization by the same name and is available for free via PDF on their website or in print version via AK Press. I really liked the design of the print version. It was easy to read, follow, navigate, and I felt engaged by the layout. I have not examined the PDF version to be able to say if it is similar. The print version is gigantic- think of a textbook. This is intimidating, which the authors do acknowledge, and at first I found myself frustrated with it. I wanted to read it cover to cover in order to give it a proper review, but there is so much repetition. I finally reassessed how I should be reading it and that improved the experience. This book works less as a "read this cover to cover if you want a successful accountability process" and more of a combination between a textbook (where a teacher would assign only some relevant chapters throughout class) and a collection of independent sections that can be read alone (with the proper foundation set up in the beginning of the book.) Reading it like this meant "cover to cover" was more like reading only certain long form sections. 

 Even with the reading adjustment, I do think it could have been condensed into a shorter volume. I adore that this book is written with everyone in mind- not just small communities of far left organizers with extensive vocabularies and organizing skills. I think they do a good enough job explaining things that condensing a lot of it would make the book far less intimidating and more likely to be used by those who need it most. This book is clearly written by people who wanted it to be able to be used by a far larger audience. They are true abolitionists who clearly have put immense thought and care into its creation. I am very grateful it exists.

Here's where I talk about myself too much and the thoughts this brought up. Let me get one thing clear- this part of this post is me talking to an audience of "my" people. So, I am writing with the assumption that we all agree that most sexual assault accusations are the truth, much -but definitely not all- harm happens within or is worsened by oppressive and authoritarian power dynamics (patriarchy, white supremacy, etc,) capitalism is a hellscape, authoritarianism is never a good thing, and violence* should be reserved for defense or when other options don't work. Many people who rape are cis men, men who are raped are usually raped by other men, people who use sexual and domestic violence often do so repeatedly to multiple victims. The state often ignores, belittles, abuses, retraumatizes, or is violent to survivors especially of marginalized groups and is especially hard on people of marginalized groups who do harm (especially towards the dominant group such as a Black man accused of harming a white woman.) The vast majority of the time, courts and the police do not solve the problem and/or make things worse. Some people are so horrifically manipulative, devoid of empathy, purposefully predatory, and may never be ready for or interested in accountability. Some people unfortunately need their asses kicked, faces spread around, and to be kicked out for the safety of communities. Some even are killed in self defense by survivors of their violence or their community. But, these outcomes (I will argue usually) are not the case. What I am saying is that my discussion in this post of the messy nuances around violence and accountability is not meant to undermine these central realities.

*What constitutes appropriate and effective violence (or violence at all) is a whole other essay and this is already long, but you catch my drift.

I generally had a very complicated and traumatic life before I found sobriety and then organizing. I've had chronic physical and mental illnesses since childhood, a slew of really screwed up experiences and violent traumas, drug addiction from a young age that wrecked my life, all on top of being what my current psychologist calls a "hypersensor-" meaning I am generally a mess inside my head and easily overstimulated even in normal, everyday scenarios. About 15-20 years ago, I got really involved in various forms of anti-authoritarian organizing and LGBTQ communities, the former of which I ceased most participation in around 4 years ago due to my health worsening. I saw and learned a lot in that time- including how to fail at accountability and transformative justice both in my own life and watching the efforts (or lack thereof) of others. Despite our strong desires for an abolitionist society, we're all products of this world and we bring that and all of our trauma and internalized oppression with us. Despite our willingness to fight together in the streets, sometimes we struggle to call in our friends when we see abuse happening right in front of us. That is why this book brought up so much for me. It covers real life, not simply (sometimes imaginary) binaries.

Humans in general (in my limited USAmerican experience) really like to point the finger at others. We love hating rapists, abusers, and fuckups of all sorts. We love thinking of them as one dimensional monsters- completely different species from ourselves. We love calling out that Karen's racist joke on twitter or shaming the ignorant in order to prove to ourselves that we're not like them (anymore.) Get a big enough group together and those dynamics can make canceling someone incredibly intoxicating and feel like "community." Sometimes, even often, the person being canceled doesn't deserve it at the far reaching levels that canceling extends to.

We are often hypersensitive from our own traumas and experiences with oppression. We truly want to see a better world and society. The ideas that people who do harm might actually still be complex and human, that situations of violence are often very complicated, that sometimes people who make accusations can be wrong, that entire communities can be responsible for abuse (not just the person who directly did harm,) and that we can't just solve abuse and violence by tossing out the trash... well... suck. We all do harm. We all cause conflict. Sometimes we do harm because we grew up learning it was normal. Sometimes we are more vulnerable to harm because we grew up learning it was normal. 

In small communities especially, social capital can sometimes outweigh everything else.

In my own mental health struggles, I have perceived and declared things that were minor issues as being bigger forms of abuse. Sarah Schulman discusses "overstating harm" like this in Conflict is not Abuse. I have weaponized callout culture in ways that- in hindsight- I realize made the situation worse. I once completely cut off a dear friend when I found out she had been abusive to multiple women. I later realized it would have been far more helpful to do things the hard way and try to help her acknowledge the harm and do better. During a mental health crisis, a generally nonabusive partner of similar demographics was scary and violent towards me, had far more social capital, then tried to paint me as at fault/abusive to escape responsibility. I had a close friend who once helped me leave an abusive relationship, then started a partnership with the abuser 2 weeks later, never denying what he did and ghosting me. He abused her for years after that. He was celebrated as a pinnacle of trans community when he died. I have met multiple men who have done harm and agreed to "accountability processes" that were not processes at all. Some of their actions were minor and done once- even according to the survivor- but other folks took out their past trauma on them while offering them no way to do better (and they were actually willing.) It was a mess that didn't heal anyone. I have had friends deal with an extremely violent and unstable housemate who weaponized oppression lingo and community leaders to make said friends (who were also marginalized in more ways) out to be "unsafe," even while he was the one literally holding the axe. I have one parent who was an extremely neglectful and sometimes abusive alcoholic and died by suicide. I have another parent existing in a state of active paranoid psychosis, who refuses treatment, and constantly accuses people of poisoning, attacking, gang stalking, assaulting, etc her- including me at times. Regardless of reality- they are completely real experiences for her.

This book covers all of that shit. It doesn't go into the kind of detail I have here, which is why this post is more personal than a review, but it actually leaves room for real conflict resolution, discussion, and problem solving. Creative Interventions acknowledge that things can sometimes be clear cut (a man serially assaulting women and hopping from community to community) or more confusing (partners accusing one another of abuse at the same time.) They acknowledge that things can be messy (the survivor may be a straight up unlikable asshole, the person doing harm may be well loved.) They acknowledge that most if not all of us tend to feel and/or act defensive when confronted with the idea that we have done harm- especially if it was unintentional or out of ignorance. They acknowledge that some mental and intellectual disabilities may prevent someone from being able to be accountable in ways someone without said disabilities could be without ignoring the harm done and the need to do something about it. With all of these acknowledgements and many more, they offer real, concrete solutions. Neither I nor the authors have any illusions of perfection. I am sure mistakes can still be made. But, they're far less likely with these methods and far more likely to be mended in this sort of system.

Some of the stuff that was most enlightening for me were the sections on "the person doing harm" and their role in things. I have seen a lot of the survivor, community, and ally transformative justice tactics that they explain. I have rarely seen texts that go deep into what we can do when we're the one who has done harm. The section is thorough and covers a wide range of stages that a person doing harm may exist in. These range from those in a state of pure, unempathetic lack of remorse to those whose defensiveness is protection from their own shame to those who are ready, willing, and enthusiastic about doing better and healing the harm they have caused. It was freeing to read and be reminded that there will always be ways to do better, rather than wallow in shame and guilt (that can motivate, but can also take up massive space, and center the person doing harm.) Fearing and running from accountability can sometimes take more time and effort than the scary process of facing it head on. The skills in this book would apply across the board to all harm and conflict in my opinion- not just violence. I can see myself using things I learned in every day interactions with people in everything from very minor, one time mistakes to chronic, deeply entrenched problematic beliefs and behaviors. The authors acknowledge the reality that accountability does not mean a community will feel comfortable or that relationships will remain intact. It does not mean the person who was harmed will forgive everything and we'll all run off into the sunset alongside unicorns. It does mean, however, that the future is full of promise and the ability to do better and live better, regardless of how extreme the harm(s) someone has caused.

One thing on violence: Creative Interventions states that they are generally against violence used to shame or seek revenge on the person doing harm which, I admit, made me bristle for a second. I've seen some pretty awful predators do some really horrific things (including discovering I narrowly escaped a skillful grooming by a serial assailant that was committing horror movie style sexual violence against people throughout the community.) The idea of them being hurt feels perfectly justified to me. CI's explanations gave me a new outlook on how violent retribution can actually be giving the person doing harm what they want. In one of the personal stories (which are all extremely helpful and enriching to the text,) there is a description of a man who sexually assaults someone and submits himself in front of the group that confronts him, begging for forgiveness and not to receive the consequences the accountability team had planned. While some of them wished violence had happened, some said that it is exactly what he wanted in those moments- to get his ass kicked and therefore claim he had repented and to walk away from it all. If a man rapes a community member, we all go kick his ass, and tell him he's not welcome (which as I said, is occasionally all that's left to be done,) is that better than taking away his ability to access more victims, to get him to interrogate his issues, to support him in doing so, etc? It depends on the situation, but sometimes violence is the less effective way out. And, if you're a sensitive person like me, violence towards someone even if they "deserve it" can fuck you up. Sometimes the kindness of providing a process of redemption for someone who has done something despicable is really worth it.

If you made it this far, thank you for giving me your time and attention. This was actually even longer and I cut a lot out, but hopefully still made my points and intentions clear. I find that real conversations around this stuff, however difficult, can be immensely enriching and healing. If I've said some shit here you hate or just disagree with, and you want to have a real conversation about it, hit me up. Go get this book. If able, and you know someone who can't access this book due to language barriers, disability, etc, consider finding ways to help them access it. CI is also clear about that- they want everyone to be able to use these tools to prevent and heal harm in their relationships and communities. I hope to become a better human with the stuff I have learned in this book and I think others can, too.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Antiracism in Animal Advocacy

Image: The cover of the book is on a white background and centers the profile of a person from the top of the shoulder to the middle of their head. They have short cropped hair and dark brown skin barely showing through the image contained within. Inside the borders of the partial profile is a landscape of a green hillside with a group of humans of various racial backgrounds, 3 brown and white cows, and two pink pigs shown from the side walking up and down the hill. Across the top in small uppercase dark grey letters is "The Encompass Essays" with "encompass" in green. Below that in larger grey letters is "Antiracism in animal advocacy." Below that in small green letters is, "igniting cultural transformation." In the lower right corner of the cover in alternating grey and green text lines is, "Jasmin Singer, Editor. Foreword by Aryenish Birdie. Afterword by Michelle Rojas-Soto."

 Antiracism in Animal Advocacy, released in September from Lantern Press, is a tough book to review. This is not because it's a horrible book or anything, but it goes in a lot of directions that made me wonder who the best audience was for it. It is a collection of essays tackling racism and white supremacy all too present in white dominated sectors of animal rights activism. I admit I initially missed the text at the top telling the reader these are "The Encompass Essays," so I did not realize until I began reading that all of the essays would be from people involved with the organization Encompass. I am generally out of touch with all of the nonprofits out there as there are so many, but Encompass' goals seem very important and noble to try to achieve. Not everyone in this text is included on the website, but judging from the entries, all of them are or were involved in helping Encompass achieve goals of better racial inclusion in animal advocacy movements. 

Around half of the essays in the book are by self identified Black, Indigenous, & People of the Global Majority (BIPGM,) which is one of the things that makes it difficult to categorize. Because the burden of tackling white supremacy should rest on the shoulders of white people, and mainstream animal advocacy movements with the most funding are dominated by white people, sharing essays by white animal advocates discussing their antiracist journeys and practices make sense. And it is true that the representation of BIPGM in this book is much better than in animal rights organizations in the west at large. But, I wouldn't recommend essays by white folks to people who already experience racism and know what it is unless they are interested in knowing which white folks are at least working at it. At the same time, the contributions by BIPGM are stellar and I believe most if not all people of various backgrounds could benefit from their wisdom, if only for the sense of comradery. Perhaps I should just let go of my love of boxes and let this book exist outside of one. If you're white, especially if you are new to committing to truly fight racism and white supremacy within and outside of yourself, you should read this book. If you're BIPGM, you may want to stick with the half of the book written by BIPGM and even then, they may be sharing things you already know from personal experience.

 I've done a bit of the never ending work of learning about and fighting racism both within myself and systemically. (I have much more to do.) Thus, I found the dominance of white voices in this to be a little disappointing. However, if I think of myself around 15-20 years ago- embarrassingly ignorant of so many of these issues and how entrenched they are in my life and the world at large- I can see myself benefiting from these essays immensely back then. With all of this in mind, I'd say the people that need to read this book the most are the white folx who are still in the early phases of their awakening. In the promotional quotes for the book listed in the beginning, Omowale Adewale calls this collection, "an excellent springboard for white people and their entities to do antiracist work while strengthening the infrastructure of the animal advocacy community." That sums it up quite well.

I do have some criticisms of how some of the entries by white people come off as shallow in terms of their goals, particularly one essay by Rachel Huff-Wagenborg that is basically a list about how she'll think about and challenge her white privilege as the action points she's taking. That's less than the bare minimum. Michelle Graham rightfully acknowledges the racism in the "effective altruism" movement, but does not criticize EA itself for being notoriously ineffective in their research and implementation, funneling large amounts of money into already wealthy (often white) organizations (who of course are more "effective" than small ones because they are rich.) I admit it has been some time since I looked into how they operate, so perhaps they are better at this than they were years ago. Other white authors like Cailen LaBarge do a better job of discussing both personal and systemic issues and how to tackle them both. 

I especially appreciated authors of multiple racial backgrounds bringing up the shameful issue of organizations going after farm workers and not the farm owners and operators, often doing Purdue and Hormel's PR work for them by allowing the blame to fall on "bad apples" whose behaviors they "don't condone" despite literally inventing them. To add fuel to the systemic fire, they end up laying misdemeanor or felony charges at the feet of people already so down and out that they're doing some of the most traumatic, dangerous, and dirty work in the world. Overall I would have liked to see less talk about personal privilege from middle to owning class white people (whose experiences also don't translate often to many poorer or multiply marginalized white people) and more discussion overall of systemic issues and how to fight them.

The best essays in the collection are that of Malina Tran, Dana McPhall, Christopher Eubanks, and Michelle Rojas-Soto. My book is littered with page flags here and I will not include long quotes so as to hopefully entice you to go out and grab a copy of the book and read the full essays. All of their entries bring great depths of understanding as well as giving the gift of vulnerability in sharing their personal experiences with these issues as well. These, and other BIPGM in the book are people that not only have been fantastically active animal advocates, but they have done so while navigating the immense barriers placed before them by racism in white dominant animal rights groups and movements. Readers- especially white ones- should read these entries and realize not only how incredibly horrific and unjust it is that our movements for all animals often exclude the most marginalized of humans, but also realize just how much we are all missing out on by excluding them. Everyone benefits from dismantling white supremacy. Yes, everyone. 

I acknowledge the hypocrisy in devoting much of this review to critiquing white essays while complaining that too much time is spent on white people in this book. This is all very messy and I don't have easy solutions. Like many authors state, there is no perfect way to do this and there is no way to do this without failing at times. Being uncomfortable is a good thing as a white person fighting racism. Don't run from it.

I think Jasmin Singer did a decent job editing the collection overall. While I have criticisms of the demographics, I don't have an easy solution. 2 books divided into BIPGM and white accomplices? That would come with its own set of issues. Perhaps this book is right where it should be- a bit of something for everyone. Anthologies often are that way. The editors and authors of this book never claim to have all of the answers. I think this book is a valuable contribution to these ongoing conversations and the actions that hopefully grow from them. I wonder what my activism would have looked like had I been handed a book like this 20 years ago. 

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: The Blade Between

 

Image: The cover of the book shows a dark ocean portrait of a whale viewed from below. The sea surrounding her is pitch black and her body is a mix of bright teals, black, and white. Over top of the image is the cover of the book in large white capital letters, covering the top half of the cover. There is white liquid dripping from the bottom corners of the "E" in the, "B" in blade, and the second "E" in between. Below that, in grey capital letters is Sam J Miller's name. Coming down from the middle of the right edge in smaller red letters is "a novel." Across the bottom in smaller white and red letters is "author of blackfish city."

While waiting for my ARC of Sam J Miller's newest novel- The Blade Between- to arrive, I noticed that my library had procured the audio version and I decided to grab that to get started while I was waiting. I ended up finishing it quickly. The audio version has great narration and voice acting that fit the tone of the book. This book, like some of Miller's other work, straddles genres. In some ways, I found myself thinking that you could take the fantastical or paranormal elements away from it, and still have a great story about a ton of complex characters interacting in another gay boy returns to working class homophobic home town type of story. As a result, this sometimes left the paranormal elements feeling unfinished. They occasionally felt like refrigerator magnets that were part of the big picture, but not the heart of the story until we reach the end.

Nonetheless, this book explores quite well the various ways in which real life people with real life struggles find themselves in conflict and cooperation with one another. How does one fight with the white working class against encroaching gentrification and destruction of their jobs when said working class has more violently homophobic and racist members than the gentrified areas have? How do you find solidarity in groups who hate their own members like that? How do we understand concepts of sexuality? Is it only how we identify, who we love, the actions we take, what we like, or all of the above and more? Can one be proud of where they come from when it also includes immense amounts of pain? What can we do to work together and make things easier for youth that come after us? I think the paranormal parts added an interesting twist to these things, even if I wish they were more fleshed out.

To avoid spoiling this story, I will end this review here. I really have enjoyed everything I've read by this author and look forward to his next release.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Anarchism and the Black Revolution - The Definitive Edition

 

Image: The cover of the book is an illustrated version of a black background with a gray paper on top of it. The paper has rips in it revealing every alternative letter as a different color. So, the title of the book and the author's name cover the entire cover in large capital letters. "Anarchism and the black revolutions"'s letters alternate between white and black and "lorenzo kom'boa ervin"'s letters alternate between red and black.

I actually began slowly meandering through a previous edition of this book many months ago. I had an ebook on my phone that I would dig into when I was out and about and didn't have another book handy. I wasn't far in when Anarchism and the Black Revolution: The Definitive Edition was released, so I grabbed a copy and switched over to that. The newest edition includes some extras: "...an interview with writer and activist William C. Anderson, as well as new essays, and a contextualizing biography of the author's inspiring life," making it worth revisiting even if you have read another version in the past.

As one can tell from the title and the blurb, this book merges together anarchism and Black liberation. It should go without saying that they shouldn't need to be merged because they are part of the same thing. Unfortunately, though, the reality that occurs as a result of a large majority of white people organizing: there is a critical need to carve out a space for Black people that is created and filled by Black people. Ervin is not just critical of white supremacy when it governs the actions of white people, including anarchists, though. He also has strong criticism of organizations like The New "Black Panthers," whose hierarchical structures make them unfit to use the name. He also discusses the unfortunate results of oppression such as when the oppressed turn their pain on one another through violence and other harms and offers solutions to deal with such phenomena.

What struck me most about this book while reading both the previous version and the new one is just how relevant everything in it remains. I am aware of the whole, "oppression doesn't disappear, it only changes shape," adage (though I always forget who a similar quote should be attributed to.) So, I won't say I am surprised necessarily that everything still applies. Yet, it is still striking to read Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin's assessments, and especially his predictions, and realize that they all were true and/or came true.

Another thing that makes this book standout aside from the subject matter itself is just how detailed Ervin's suggestions and guidelines are for creating a better world. They are also wonderfully ambitious. Many anarchist texts that end up being "how-to's" of sorts regarding the larger implementation of living in an anarchist world tend to focus more on smaller community structures. Ervin definitely does this. But, he also calls for international solidarity- an anarchist planet full of cultures and societies that organize among themselves as well as together across the globe. The idea is so daunting, but it makes sense. When one is left asking how it would even be possible, Ervin maps out various strategies and the importance of the methods in detail.

There are some things with room for improvement- I think that Ervin focuses a lot on the general ideas of race and class for good reason. I think he could have gone more into misogynoir, sexuality, disability, etc. There are also some parts that show Ervin's hubris. This is especially evident in the interview at the end of the book, but in a couple of other places as well. Ervin states that no one likely would have known about Black anarchism had he not written this book and that he was the only Black anarchist during the civil rights era. Aside from the fact that any claim that someone is the only one of something or the only source of information should be met with suspicion, Ervin himself  credited Martin Sostre for introducing him to anarchism and claimed he still didn't become one until the 70s. Some people also mention Lucy Parsons coming long before any of them, but it can be argued that her avoidance of the topics around racial justice does not make her a good comparison. I am not sure what prompted him to change his story in these ways, or if there is a misunderstanding on my part, but it was a strange move while calling for an anti-authoritarian worldwide movement of cooperation and solidarity.

Nonetheless, this book was and remains a critical part of any reading list for those interested in justice and liberation. I especially encourage those who are involved in racial justice, but who do not identify as anarchists or who see anarchism as a white movement, to give this book a shot. I think that when you give yourself an essay or two, you won't be able to put it down.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: The Disordered Cosmos

 

Image: The cover of the book is a cream colored background with the profile of a dark skinned person looking downward, shown facing to the right from the neck up. The photo itself is greyscale that is mostly transparent and replaced with an image of the milky way shown in a clear night sky. There are countless stars of varying brightness and the strip of the milky way stretching down through the center, composed of oranges, whites, purples, and blues. In large white letters is the title of the book and in the lower right corner outside of the profile, is the author's name.

As a layperson interested in astrophysics and cosmology, I generally get interested in any newer books coming out that cater at least somewhat to my demographic. But, just like the fields themselves, the pool of writers tends to be fairly one-dimensional in terms of gender and usually race. I also often wish scientists would expand their discussions of the specifics of their field to how social aspects fit into it and their personal experiences. As a result, I was anticipating the release of Chanda Prescod-Weinstein's "The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred" as soon as I found out about it. It took me a minute to get to, but I am glad I finally did. The author breaks many molds with this book and I think the field is better for it.

I will admit that I expected a bit more of the specifics of astrophysics and Prescod-Weinstein's focus and work in this book. It was a little disappointing that that only made up a smaller section in the beginning, and a large section of that was based on overview. I left knowing more about the author's life and views on social justice (which I also enjoyed) than I did her work in astrophysics and cosmology. So, I consider this to be more of a scientist's memoir with a science writing bend than I do a strictly pop-science book. Nonetheless, I think it is a valuable contribution to all of those genres. I actually think it could be good that the title "tricks" some readers into a book that spans all of these genres because Prescod-Weinstein touches on so many issues that have plagued the sciences for centuries.

The author captures well what it is like to straddle multiple positions and identities within and outside her profession. She is the first Black woman to receive positions and acknowledgement for many things and that is a shame. I recall that before this book existed, I searched for texts by Black women and struggled to find them. As Prescod-Weinstein shows though, that is not because they didn't exist. She takes us far back to Harriet Tubman using the North Star as a guide during her liberations of/with enslaved Africans. She discusses all of the things that go into making science happen outside of just the experiments themselves. We not only rely on principal investigators and statisticians, but also on those who take out the trash and maintain the buildings in which sciences take place. Covid-19 did wake many people up to the reality of how "essential workers" are "heroes" that hold things together. But, those people have been holding things together outside of the pandemic for as long as they've existed. What would the world look like without people working grocery stores, sanitation, etc? In places where garbage collectors have gone on strike, we can see how quickly streets can turn into a toxic wasteland without them. Furthermore, there is literal science methods and math involved in many of these professions. So, the author talking about all of these people "doing science" is a welcome addition to the long history of highlighting only a select few with the most privilege and publications.

Prescod-Weinstein talks about her childhood love of cosmology and how hard her mother worked in order to make sure she had access to learning materials and opportunities- things many people who are interested in similar topics never get to have. She discusses how even folks who make it to university can still struggle to break though any ceilings if their university is less wealthy and does not give them access to journals and materials to excel. She talks about how efforts towards "diversity and inclusion" focus far too much on adding a little color to their photos rather than actually support and understanding marginalized scientists. She discusses hardships and abuses she has dealt with more personally throughout the book in classic style of memoir. These include experiences of assault and harassment by people she chooses not to name publicly for fear of backlash and of what would happen to those she would be outing.  

The only thing that made me bristle was her discussion of transgender issues, including her own gender labels. I know that we all need to be careful with "gatekeeping" as people are often questioning and trying to figure things out. I know that any questioning of anyone will always lead to some people being pissed off about it, and I am fine with that being fired in my direction. Many of us who now ID as trans and have transitioned in many or all ways possible went through this phases of experimentation and shifting labels for ourselves- this is generally a good thing. All people- including cis people- playing with gender norms will likely result in a better world. My issue is how she is speaking as an authority with a very wide reach while coming from a place where she doesn't seem to understand what terms mean or what her personal relationship to gender is. I won't dissect every bit, but I will say that her description of herself is the definition of being a cisgender woman. Talking about being agender and marginally transgender is adding to the increasing phenomenon of LGBTQ+ terms ceasing to have any meaning whatsoever. I think that she- and she is certainly not the first- should spend more time exploring and understanding themselves before writing book sections on these topics. When questions of gender nonconformity and being trans become dominated by gender conforming, comfortable with everything associated with their AGAB/ASAB, cis/heteronormatively presenting, etc people, we get to the point where pronouns are given more space than violence, healthcare access, etc, which is precisely what Prescod-Weinstein does (though she does touch on some of the latter.) I will stop there for now because this is already dominating to much of this review as I worry failure to explain myself is going to be used as ammo against her or me- which I do not want.

Overall, this book is a great memoir and essay collection that creates many bridges with science writing. It starts many valuable conversations that I hope people will be brave enough to explore in their own lives and laboratories. I think that Chanda Prescod-Weinstein took many big risks in putting this book out there and in her public discussion of struggles with oppression in STEM fields. For that she should be commended. The book is also well written and interesting in general, so I can't recommend it enough.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Ornitherapy

Image: The cover of the book has the background of an orange and red sunset. The landscape in black is silhouetted close to the bottom with the sky taking up the rest of the page. A large sun sits close to the bottom, cut through with clouds. In the foreground are illustrated/copy-pasted silhouettes of a flying hummingbird, a flying swallow, and a perched kingfisher on a small twig cutting through the center. On the left side is a large lighthouse silhouette with the title of the book sideways in large white letters. Below that in small white letters is "changing your heart mind soul." In the bottom right corner are the names of the authors.
 

Ornitherapy is a creative and interesting text with the goal of combining self-help style psychology, meditation, and birding into practice. Holly Merker, who is the author of most of the book, briefly discusses at the end of the text how being a breast cancer survivor led her to seeing birding as medicine. She even used her hair lost in treatment as donated nesting material for birds- a really cool way to turn a struggle into a form of participation with nature and other species.

The book is hardcover with high quality, thick paper. The first half is the book, practices, and images on high gloss and the second half is for the reader's participation and journaling on appropriate matte paper. Thus, it works as both an informative book and a workbook.

Something that stands out with this book is the great appreciation for "common" birds and a strong desire to make the practices in the book accessible to people regardless of whether or not they can afford expensive equipment and fancy vacations. She teaches the reader how to meditate on birds one may find in their yard if they have one or walking down a city street. I have page flags on quite a few practices I plan to implement next time I am out birding. The journaling section also has examples at the top of the authors contributions which I found very interesting and had not seen before. I think that's a great idea to help the reader get the ball rolling.

Some species of birds are featured specifically, most all of them common birds the reader is more likely to encounter. My absolute favorite section was on scavenger birds such as vultures. Anyone who knows me knows that scavenger animals hold a very special place in my heart (and tattooed on my arm.) Merker refers to them as the "MVPs" of the bird world, appreciating how critical they are for the ecosystem and pathogen control. She also discusses the importance and beauty in the "ugly" features of vultures like their bald heads. It's not often that I see appreciation for vultures and pigeons in these ways. I really appreciated that.

There was some language I could do without such as regularly referring to birds as "it." This is very common in discussions of birding unfortunately. But, in the case of this book where the reader is encouraged to connect in such intimate ways with birds, I wish they were referred to with different pronouns than one would use with a toaster. The reader is also asked what bird is their "spirit animal" which is also a very common thing for people to say in the sphere of appreciating animals, but has been criticized for how its use has harmed indigenous people. This only happens once, so please don't take this paragraph to mean that this book is full of harmful language. 

The only thing I really did not like about this book was how most of the images were tampered with. I am sure the designer meant well, and perhaps it's a taste issue for me, but it really downgraded the book. I don't know what inspired the design choices, but the photoshopping was not only distracting, it went counter to everything taught in the texts and meditations of the book. I thought that while reading the book, the images would be sort of a meditation in and of themselves. But, all that most of them did was frustrate and irritate me. There would be a beautiful landscape sunset with a flock of birds and the designer would then copy/paste some other birds crammed together that don't fit the image or the setting. There are many instances where the way the images were designed are ways in which one would never see birds in the wild. Meditations on viewing birds in the sky are accompanied by images of 20+ birds copy/pasted into a 3 foot section of the sky that would never be there in those numbers. An image of a single common house sparrow in flight would have been more engaging. Sometimes the same bird is copy/pasted right next to another copy. I noticed a marked difference when I was reading a page with a gorgeous close up image of bird feathers or a gorgeous landscape with a single bird in their natural habitat. There were even images that already included a ton of birds, and still, more birds from another image were pasted on top of them. I was constantly wondering what the original images looked like as they all looked gorgeous underneath it all. The poor design choices made me think of why harmful and exploitative facilities like zoos and animal circuses exist- humans want to see everyone packed together for entertainment, not in their natural habitats. The text in this book is the absolute opposite of that- teaching us how to appreciate every moment in nature. So, there's just a huge clash here.

Even though I was distracted by the graphic design sometimes, this book was still very enjoyable and informative. Birding has truly changed my life and I definitely consider it to be medicine and a critical part of my healthcare. I love the idea of combining an appreciation for birds with exercises outside of merely trying to identify or "collect" as many sightings as we can (though that can be fun, too!) I will be implementing these skills for sure and anticipate much richer and more mindful experiences to come. I recommend this book to pretty much anyone who could use a break from many of our tech heavy lives as well as anyone generally interested in birding- new and veteran alike. This book opens the door for people who don't know where to start and encourages the experienced to stop and appreciate all of the birds who we have become accustomed to.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: The Nation on No Map

Image: The cover of the book is a low contrast image of people climbing a tall fence, printed with a filter that turns the colors to green and purple where purple is representing darker tones and green the lighter tones. There are 20-30 people in the image wearing a variety of colors of clothing, mostly with short sleeves and pants and mostly with dark skin. Over the image is the title of the book in large transparent capital letters letting the image show though. Across the top is the name of the author- William C. Anderson- in small letters of the same style. Across the bottom is, "Black anarchism and abolition" and "Foreword by Saidiya Hartman / Afterword by Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin."

 

I thoroughly enjoyed William C. Anderson's work in As Black as Resistance, with his coauthor Zoé Samudzi, so I was very excited to see a new title coming out with his name on it. ABAR is one of my favorite anarchist texts that I have read and thus, I had high hopes for his new book: The Nation on No Map. He did not disappoint, making this book an excellent edition to the anarchist milieu and required reading for anyone interested in anarchism and/or Black radical politics. 

What struck me first off in reading this is how humble the author is. He clearly wishes for this book to be presented as a prompt for organization and discussion, rather than a Bible of how to think. This does not mean that Anderson is devoid of passion. On the contrary. He balances the intensity surrounding the topics at hand with the humility of knowing one does not have all of the answers and that times and minds change. Anderson wants to share what he has learned over time rather than indoctrinate the reader into a strict set of views.

The book tackles more wide ranging anarchist thought as well as niche specifics that many on the left struggle to parse out such as the celebration of elite and celebrity Black folks, Black nationalism movements, authoritarianism among leftists (even in anti-authoritarian movements,) and the spectre of history revisionism that many people feel drawn to in order to make their voices heard and causes attended to. Anderson shows that the truth is plenty and playing into systems of oppression in order to get ahead will never work in the long run, and usually doesn't in the short either.

While I did find the book to be repetitive in some sections, this is far outweighed by Anderson's way with words. He balances style with information in ways that make heavy texts flow more easily for the reader. The foreword and afterword by big names in the anti-authoritarian game also add to the draw of the book with Lorenzo Kom'boa Ervin providing an excellent summary to wrap things up. The graphic design of the print version is extraordinary. I don't know who is on AK Press' design team, but I have adored the experience of so many titles on their list both for the text and the visual and tactile elements. Anderson's words are poetic and passionate while simultaneously being grounded in reality. This is a short read with a ton of information that I would most definitely recommend.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: A Country of Ghosts

Image: The cover of the book is a stormy illustrated landscape of a fantastical city nestled on the edge of a cliff ending in a massive waterfall. Most of the foreground is of the waterfall and the trees surrounding its edges. The background is a mountain of buildings, stacked over every bit of space all the way up to its peak. The sky is a mixture of grey stormclouds which color the area in muted colors and shadow. Cross the top in white lettering is the author- Margaret Killjoy. Beneath that, in larger black letters is the book title. Across the bottom in small white letters is a quote from Laurie Penny that is too small to read. In the bottom right corner is the logo of a circle A anarchist symbol with another smaller circle whose bottom cuts through the center of the A. In white letters it states "Black Dawn Series."

Margaret Killjoy is a Jane of all trades including but not limited to podcasting, multiple music projects, leftist prepping how-tos, and writing fiction and nonfiction. I was "first" introduced to her work through finding my way to some of these ventures separately and then discovering the same person was involved. Needless to say, I am a fan. The first thing I read of hers was urban fantasy/horror book, "The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion," that originally landed itself in a long to-read list of mine after tor.com released as part of a free pride LGBT novella pack. I enjoyed it a ton and the next in the series has been sitting almost read in that same thousands-long to-read list of mine. Some day! Until then, I got a chance to read the new edition of "A Country of Ghosts," which was originally written by Killjoy in 2014 and is being republished by AK Press as part of their exciting Black Dawn series. In the afterword for this edition, she goes into detail about all of the reasons this book is more personal for her including the state of her life and health when it was originally written and how the content applies to her worldviews.

One thing she mentions is how it can be more challenging to put out a story that is utopian rather than dystopian in the realm of fiction, particularly in fantasy or science fiction. It's easier to orchestrate a collapse than it is to imagine a functioning non-hierarchical society in all of its guts and glory. "A Country of Ghosts" is about a journalist from a very hierarchical state who becomes embedded within an anarchist refugee community- Hron. The members help him understand why and how they are the way they are. As one can imagine, he begins this venture full of disbelief, having come from somewhere quite different. But, as the story moves forward, he and many other characters grow and learn from one another. This allows the novel to become what I only half jokingly referred to as, "An Anarchist FAQ, only actually entertaining." As Killjoy herself states, this is not the only way to imagine a functioning anarchist society, but it is a way she could imagine it in a fantastical era around 150 years ago.

I'm not a huge classic fantasy person, so for me to enjoy it, it has to really hit home with something very personal the way this did. The fact that most mainstream fantasy is xyz kingdoms at war from hundreds of years ago only with dragons, but no Black and/or LGBTQ people because that's "unrealistic," is what often keeps me away. But, I love science fiction and plenty of mainstream scifi falls into the same trap only you replace dragons with aliens or whatever. ACoG does not fall into most of those tropes, which is part of the draw. Perhaps I just like looking into the future. This book felt like it was looking into the future even though it existed in a fictional past. 

My favorite elements were the juxtaposition of freedom vs freedom + responsibility, redemption and moving past rigidity in times of crisis, assimilation of cultures rather than colonization and/or appropriation, how very non-utopian the utopia was (meaning people were still messy as ever and allowed to be,) and the ways that Hron dealt with conflict and extremes without giving up their commitment to anarchism and cooperation. This book is immersed in war, but does not result in an action packed bloodbath. We get to see more of what happens when people are talking and taking care of one another. That said, I would have liked to see the book drawn out a bit more. I think that there are certain areas that feel rushed, but perhaps that is on purpose so that the focus remains on the margins. 

I would love to see Margaret Killjoy write a utopian futuristic science fiction novel. It would be interesting to see how she could craft a society and how-to in a world with unavoidable advanced technology and industrialization or how to have a cooperative society composed of multiple species- local and alien. I know that 150 years in the past, a great many people were hunting as part of survival and nonhuman animals did not have a part much in ACoG. In the future, could other animals be introduced in ways aside from as products of sustenance? I am confident that a vegan writer could make that happen. There are so many avenues of creativity that I have seen Killjoy excel at and I look forward to what comes from her future- including the possibility of a prequel to ACoG mentioned in her afterword.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Representing Radicals

 

Image: The cover of the book shows a black and white photo that has been photoshopped to give it more contrast and less sharpness. It depicts a cop in a riot helmet on the left staring down into the face of a protestor on the right. The protestor has lighter skin, dark clothing, and bangs coming down to a cm or so above their eyebrows. In the background is a black and grey silhouette of someone moving past from right to left. The image is cut off about 2/3 of the way from the left side by a diagonal solid red panel. At the bottom of the cover, across the chests of both people in the photo is the title of the book in red and the authors in white.

Representing Radicals: A Guide for Lawyers and Movements, assembled by Tilted Scales Collective, is a nice little book that is valuable for organizers and should be required reading for attorneys. I am not a lawyer or legal scholar and thus cannot speak much to the accuracy or effectiveness of the broad range of legal topics and strategies contained in this guide. As a result, this review will be a bit shorter than usual. I have however been involved in legal support, have dealt with my own drama, have had many radical prisoner penpals, have organized a lot in the past, and have seen the results of the organizing of many others. With that background and what it has taught me, this guide seems pretty on point.

Representing Radicals is accessibly written such that lawyers and non-lawyers can read it. I read it cover to cover, but it is well organized such that a reader could skip around to the sections that are most relevant. Any references to already covered material refer to the section of the book in which it can be found. Tilted Scales Collective describe themselves on their website as, "a small collective of dedicated anarchist legal support workers who have spent years supporting and fighting for political prisoners, prisoner of war, and politicized prisoners in the so-called united states." These politics definitely shine through in the text which is unapologetically leftist, but it still remains appropriate for an audience outside of the far left.

The guide offers a breakdown of why specific and sometimes unique legal strategies are necessary when working with radical defendants. TSC covers the wide variety of ways to tackle cases of leftists with an emphasis on cooperation between legal counsel and defendants as well as the importance of non-cooperation with the state. (Meaning not snitching or otherwise endangering one's comrades.) They offer a lot of anecdotes which show their recommendations in practice which is an indispensable part of the book (though the font on these sections is VERY small and tough to read.) They also cover how to work with legal support organizers and the variety of ways media considerations are critical in defenses of radical activists. 

I got a lot out of this book, even though I was not the target audience. It's a quick read and definitely worth one's time, especially if they are involved in organizing in any way. For lawyers, I can't think of an excuse for not reading this book, except perhaps the public defenders who are sitting on 350 cases and haven't slept in 3 days. If you work in legal defense, this should be on your bookshelf with lots of bookmarks and highlights.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Saving Animals

 

Image: The cover of the book is a photo from an animal sanctuary. Depicted is a pic shown from their shoulders forward. They are pink with spots of dirt and plant debris. They are relaxed, their eyes are closed, and their expression of contentment resembles a smile. There are small orange pumpkins cut in half on the ground around them. In the distance to the right, a fence with what looks like people stands. Behind the fence is a bare tree. Across the bottom left is a whited out section with the authorr's name- Elan Abrell- in orange letters. Below that in larger stencil style black letters is "Saving Animals." Below that in smaller grey letters is, "Multispecies ecologies of rescue and care."

I was introduced to Elan Abrell's "Saving Animals: Multispecies Ecologies of Rescue and Care" through my participation in VINE Sanctuary's monthly book club. I knew it was an academic book, but was not sure exactly what to expect having not read this author before. I found the writing style to be more accessible than average for this type of text. The design of the book with fantastic photography peppered throughout is engaging. Most informative for me were the topics discussed therein.

 I have known for a long time that rescue of any kind is very hard work. Some people imagine rescue and related work is this odd fantasy where all you do all day is cuddle animals and that space for new ones is unlimited. The reality is that animal rescue of any sort is full of physically and mentally draining work, very tough decisions, meticulous management of resources, and a variety of techniques and theories as to how things should work. My personal experience in the past is with "companion" animals (cats, dogs, rats,) and wildlife, (mostly birds, sometimes others like groundhogs.) Due to health issues, I am not very active anymore. 

There was one very large rescue I was part of (I am not in that article for the record, also warning for some graphic images.) I was doing media for the organization I was with at the time, was working full time, and spending my weekends volunteering with the rescued cats that had survived, often trudging my way through a place whose smells I will never forget. We saw an incomprehensible level of suffering and neglect that affected all of us deeply- human and feline alike. What I can say is that the web of corruption and destruction was so far reaching- across multiple states, other rescues, and so on, and being one of the faces of it (not even a big or ever present one) made me a target for attacks by the people defending the unstable and highly histrionic owner and her abuses of other animals. I met so many individuals there that I will never forget who fought against, and sometimes even survived unimaginable horrors. Many were adopted out and the ones who could not be live(d) out their lives in a separate location. I mention this anecdote, not to make it about me, but because it affects how I read a text like this. If someone writing about rescue and sanctuary is feeding me rainbows and sunshine alone, I am going to call bullshit. Overall, I found the text to be in line with the kind of struggles that can be involved in rescue and sanctuary, along with the beauty that people often imagine- which also very much exists.

What I found unique about this ethnography was that Abrell didn't just investigate and perform interviews at sanctuaries. He actively volunteered and took part in the tough work involved in daily maintenance. He volunteered at well organized and managed sanctuaries as well as one that was overwhelmed by their inability to say "no" and the surrounding community taking advantage of that. This gave him more well rounded insight that observation of others, interviews, and statistics alone could not. Despite his personal involvement in these systems and sanctuaries, I still found him pretty objective in ways that would allow someone who wasn't fully on board with the importance of rescue to read this book and gain from it.

There are a lot of topics covered quite well. Abrell uses the term bestia sacer to discuss the ways that other animals as property are not allowed to have worth and function outside of what is taken from them to create products of consumption, be it for food or companionship- causing them to be in the realm of those who can be legally and culturally sacrified. In some sanctuary narratives, nonhuman animals are still absent, as the focus is often on the humans-as-saviors narrative. Abrell captures the reality of how other animals also make contributions to sanctuary life and design- when allowed to- instead of framing them as a catalogue of beings secondary to the humans involved in rescue. His observations at VINE were indicative of this in particular. But, he and the workers at the sanctuaries featured all seemed to agree that sanctuary is nowhere near being 100% liberation. It still involves confinement and control and various sanctuaries have different ways the manage the level of control they use. VINE allows some chickens to rewild themselves in forests while some other sanctuaries disagree with this due to possible exposure to dangers. Some sanctuaries allow themselves to come dangerously close to a vegan petting zoo, while others have very strict boundaries kept between humans and the animals living there. One thing is for sure though, nothing was 100% anywhere. That is to say, you can only control so much of the lives of others and the surrounding environment.

Abrell includes a long, somewhat dry section on budgeting and fund raising. (Maybe if you're into economics, it would not be dry for you.) Either way, it's a critically important topic. Some people expect anyone working for a cause to work for free, to give everything they have, to never say no, and to never make mistakes. Through his research, Abrell shows how these are all recipes for disaster. Management of funds, proper treatment of staff, well organized volunteers, and a hell of a lot of use of the word, "no," is how the longest running sanctuaries stay afloat.

One of the more interesting and simultaneously more uncomfortable and painful sections to read was that of necro-care which Abrell describes as, "a form of selective biopolitical intervention that relies on categories of difference similar to those from which they hoped to liberate animals." For example, like humans, other animals differ greatly between species and as individuals within species. Some want to cuddle with you, others want nothing to do with you, some may attack their fellow sanctuary residents, others may provide critical assistance to a disabled resident of a completely different species. 

Another dilemma is when sanctuaries must balance the rescue of obligate carnivores and predators that cannot subsist on vegan diets. Or, on a more common level, how we who share our homes with cats manage to feed them while being against killing the animals in their feed. In some ways, since my cat is on a prescription food that has slaughterhouse leftovers in it, I can quell my cognitive dissonance by telling myself animals aren't killed primarily for her food (a stretch,) or I can accept that she is in my care in an imperfect world and I am responsible for that and hopefully in the utopian vegan world of never never land, both problems will work themselves out. For sanctuaries that choose to raise and kill mice for birds of prey or reptiles to eat, it can be much more difficult to accept and manage. However, the people Abrell interviewed seemed to have been well chosen for the tasks of ethical ambiguity and killing of one animal to support another. This whole area leaves me with a queasy feeling. I am an idealist who also loves to put things, that cannot be boxed in, into tiny containers that I can easily grasp and analyze. That's not the reality of rescue or of life in general, and different sanctuaries deal with this in different ways. I came away from this section thinking a lot, not having any answers, and trying to be ok with not having any answers.

To wrap the book up, Abrell summarizes his findings in as well organized a fashion as the rest of the book. He acknowledges all of the challenges and gray areas, yet still conveys a message of the critical importance of sanctuaries both for the individual animals therein and for the wider struggle against capitalist oppression. I am looking forward to listening to his and others' thoughts at tomorrow's book club.  If you are interested in signing up last minute, join us here. Even if you didn't read the book, you can always come and listen or ask questions.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Intersectional Class Struggle

Image: The cover of the book is a muted orange color. Across the top, in large red letters is "Intersectional class struggle." Below that in slightly smaller green letters is, "theory and practice." Below that in smalller black thin letters is the author's name- Michael Beyea Reagan. There are 4 line drawings of people on the front shown from different perspectives and drawn in different sizes. In the center in green is a woman with a hijab, to the right in black is a person with a mask on and short hair. To the center left is a person with short hair bent slightly forward. On the left, mostly cut off, is a person facing right and downward, focusing on a knife or similar object they are using to perform a task.

Michael Beyea Reagan's Intersectional Class Struggle: Theory and Practice seems to me to be a thesis modified to become book form. The structure, length, and writing style suggests this but I could be mistaken. Also, I am not sure if they are typos from the original, but there are many "we" statements in expressions of goals and outlines for the text even though there is only one author on the cover. Reagan's book is an academic text that sets out to explore and expand the understandings of intersectionality and class. This book is difficult for me to review because it seems to be a matter of personal taste and previous knowledge that affects my opinion of it. I found the text a bit dry and boring at times, but that doesn't mean it is objectively dry or boring. I have read a lot about these topics over time and thus, I was not introduced to much new information. That said, I think this book could be a great introductory text for anyone who is purposefully or accidentally class reductionist in their worldview. It diverges from the common trend- in discussions of class struggle found in the words of more mainstream politicians like Bernie Sanders and further left thinkers and activists- that labels any mention of race, gender, etc as divisive and distracting from "class." I use quotes there because race, gender, ability, etc and completely intertwined in class as Reagan explains in this text. 

I found the book to be sort of split into (unlabeled) thirds in terms of content where the first and third fit in well with the title and goals of the book and the middle section seems out of place. The introductory sections and end piece focusing on intersectionality are a decent overview of how class and intersectionality are inseparable. But, I felt a bit confused by the center. Reagan devotes the middle of the book to a drawn out description and analysis of a bunch of (ironically) mostly white male anarchist, communist, and socialist thinkers. I believe the intention was to pull together the theories therein with wider intersectionality and its precursors as a whole, but I didn't see many intersections aside from stray sentences here and there until Stuart Hall is discussed at the very end. It runs the counterproductive risk of portraying these men as the original people discussing class and Black liberation, anti-racist, intersectional feminist, lgbtq etc as far newer entities birthed by the civil rights movement, neither of which is true. Reagan also suggests (more than once) that thinkers like Kimberle Crenshaw lacked a class analysis which left me scratching my head. From what I recall, class was always a big part of her analysis. What didn't work for me, but what also can make this a good introductory text, is what a reductive view we got of certain schools of thought and movements outside the center section. A disproportionate amount of time was spent discussing theorists who did not focus on intersectional politics vs the small cameos many others received. I believe that the latter is likely because Reagan wanted to include as many people as possible, but why not write a longer book so they get the amount of attention that would match the stated goals of the text.

The last section was most informative for me because it introduced me to some people I had not previously known about. It also becomes clear in these highlights how class, race, gender, and sometimes sexuality were all connected according to the people discussed. I found how little LGBTQ issues were mentioned to be disappointing and the lack of discussion of disability while talking about the value of labor labor labor work work work was a missed opportunity. There is a small section on climate change, but this could have been more thorough as well and expanded to include other animals. I would have preferred if the author explored these specifics more instead of giving a drawn out analysis of Marxist materialism for instance. 

All of that said, I do see what the author was trying to accomplish: A general (and perhaps unintentionally introductory) knitting together different schools of thought by highlighting the works of key figures in history who clearly state and show that class is indivisible from race and gender. While this book was not really for me, I can envision a number of people it would be good for. I also found the book to be very well organized which allows for a wider audience because the reader can skip around if they choose and still be able to grasp Reagan's thesis.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Four Hundred Souls

 

Image: The cover of the book is an abstract painting of a slightly overhead and far away view of a long parade of people moving up or down the scene. The background of the painting is mixed big brush strokes of beige, cream, oranges, and blues. The large number of people walking are depicted through scattered brush strokes and line work. Their heads and bodies are black and what looks to be their clothing is mostly shades of blue with a stray bit of red or pink here and there. In large white capital letters, the center of the book says "four hundred souls." Across the top in smaller letters is, "a community history of African America, 1619-2019." Across the bottom is, "edited by Ibram X. Kenid (author of how to be antiracist,) Keisha N. Blain (author of set the world on fire.)"

Prior to reading Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019, edited by Keisha N. Blain and Ibram X. Kendi, I can't recall reading a history book written in anthology form. I have definitely read plenty of anthologies that tackled history, but never in a focused sort of form like this. I think this worked extremely well, creating an interesting and engaging historical account while also covering a wide range of voices. There are some things in this book that I already knew about, and many others I did not. The execution of each essay is quite good which if often not the case in the world of mixed bags that make of anthologies. 

One of the things that stuck out to me in particular while reading this was how listening to these histories made me feel in reference to the time period depicted. In the USA's abysmal system of grade school education, we basically learn there's this horrible thing called slavery that is now over. If we're lucky, we also learn about Jim Crow. We tend to be told that things are constantly progressing and many people draw from this the conclusion that we live in some mythical post racial society. However, as the writings in this moved forward in time, I often found myself more horrified rather than less. The reader will likely find themselves drawing parallels between these histories and the present day state of affairs. It lends more support for the idea that oppression doesn't disappear, it just changes shape, and the struggle continues.

It's pretty difficult to think of things worse that existing as an enslaved person. So, what I am saying here is not that after slavery people were worse off. However, I think the mixture of the expectation that things should get better with the fact that they only changed shape is what is really disturbing. At every step of the way, people fought, often losing their lives and freedom, for the most basic of rights and needs. But, because those in power generally did not want to give in, the way these successes were executed often placed new hardships and burdens on people. It is not that I did not already know this. I think that the way all of this was executed created a clearer picture and experience of these histories to the point that it is quite disturbing.

This is not to say that the book is purely a history of suffering. There are a great many stories of triumph and creativity. Some of the entries give us glimpses into well known peoples lives that I had not heard before. Others highlight movements such as Black anti-fascist organizing that are often forgotten in the current day misrepresentation of anti-fascism being a white-invented and white-dominated fight. There was also inclusion of LGBTQ struggles and disabled figures in history. Disability is often neglected despite the fact that a massive number of enslaved people were given disabilities by those who abused them- including well known figures like Harriet Tubman.

I think the editors did a great job putting this book together. If you are the type of person who wants to learn history, but lacks the attention span for long books about it, this kind of format might better suit you. The introduction of each new voice with each entry creates an excellent and engaging experience using complex voices to speak on complex topics.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Hummingbird Salamander

Image: The cover of the book is a stylized realistic illustration or edited photo (I cannot tell) or a hummingbird in flight. The background is a blurry mix of teal, pink, and white. In the foreground, there is a profile of a hummingbird in the center, wings extended perpendicular to her body, tail spread out and pointed downward. She has a body that is a mix of blues and teal with pinkish purple wings and tail. There are also water droplets scattered throughout the air in the foreground making it look almost like the scene is underwater. Across the top, in outlined block letters is the title, and across the bottom, the author's name. To the left of the bird in small letters is, "A novel by the New York Times Bestselling author of Annihilation."

Jeff Vandermeer is one of my all time favorite fiction authors. He has a way of combining things I love such as weird horror and science fiction while also using them to explore environmentalism, ecology, technology, humanity, animality, and many other factors of existence. His new eco-thriller Hummingbird Salamander is a bit different from his other books I have read. It brings the story down a bit from the fantastical world of mutated creatures surviving dystopia or alien colonization to a story that situates itself well into current times.

The story focuses on a security consultant ("Jane") who becomes immersed in worlds quite opposite her own in order to follow the trail left for her by an "eco-terrorist," (Silvina.) One thing that never becomes clear to me in this book is why the word eco-terrorist was used so freely. There is a great deal of story that occurs that forces the reader to grapple with the reasoning for why someone may or may not commit crimes in the name of eco-defense or animal liberation. This I appreciated. Yet, at the same time, I still found the t-word to be overused. Perhaps I am more sensitive to it as a person who has lived through some of the worst manifestations of The Green Scare. I do like how Vandermeer wrote his character and her journey to a better understanding.

This book has a lot of the markers of a thriller complete with tension, mystery, action, and plenty of twists and turns. The protagonist is quite and interesting character as a woman who does not fit into many conventional boundaries set for her. This serves her well in her journey. The way Vandermeer writes this character is careful and with skill. Even though I find her choices to leave everything behind including her family to be a bit unlikely, I like that we have a flawed female character who explores the story despite the harm she causes to others in the process. Her journey seems to begin as a purely selfish pursuit, but later becomes more about finding some sort of justice or at least solving the mystery for the sake of Silvina.

This was an enjoyable read, but not my favorite from Vandermeer. The style explored in the Area X and Borne series is still my preferred and favorite medium for Vandermeer's work. But, if he put out another eco-thriller, I still be excited to read it. I will always appreciate how he brings issues of environmentalism and animal liberation into a palatable mainstream understanding through bizarre and creative means.

This was also posted to my goodreads.

Book Review: Let the Record Show

 

Image: The cover of the book shows a black and white photo of a group of ACT UP activists protesting in mid chant, many holding signs or with their fist in the air. Over top of it is a  red section designed like a poster or sticker that was scraped off in many sections to reveal the image underneath. Across the top of the section in smaller black uppercase letters is, "A POLITICAL HISTORY OF ACT UP NEW YORK, 1987-1993." Below that in very large black letters is, "LET THE RECORD SHOW." Below that in smaller black letters is the author's name: Sarah Schulman.

 I feel so grateful to have read Sarah Schulman's "Let the Record Show" for a wide variety of personal and communal reasons. Buckle up, this is a long review of a long book that could never be long enough to capture my appreciation but I will try.

I consider myself to be very interested in radical and LGBTQ history. It is frustrating how the tellings of history often get so muddled and distorted over time, sometimes intentionally, but often just by accident and well intentioned ignorance. For instance, have you heard that Stonewall was mainly trans women of color throwing rocks at cops? Usually people will name drop Sylvia Rivera or Marsha P Johnson when they state this. However, if you watch, read, and/or listen to the vastly available interviews by both of them, they will tell you this is not true. In this interview, Sylvia states:

"The Stonewall wasn’t a bar for drag queens.  Everybody keeps saying it was.  So this is where I get into arguments with people.  They say, “Oh, no, it’s always a drag queen bar and it was a black bar.  No, Washington Square Bar was the drag queen bar.  Okay, you could get into the Stonewall if they knew you and there were only a certain amount of drag queens that were allowed into the Stonewall at that time. 

We had just come back in from, um, from Washington, my first lover and I.  We were passing forged checks and what not.  But we were making good money.  And so, well, let’s go to the Stonewall.  Let’s do our thing.  Let’s go there, you know.  Actually it was the first time that I had even been to friggin’ Stonewall."

Someone behind Sylvia threw the first bottle. So, she becomes merely a token in some of today's newer narratives who are happy to invoke her name in an argument but aren't willing to listen to her voice. Do you know about the Compton's Cafeteria Uprising? That fits the narrative of trans women of color fighting back against cops and injustice, but it's not as well known precisely because it was actually trans women of color making up a large majority of people there and the people with the least power rarely get to write history.

Discovering these things in my search for knowledge of the past has always left me eager to look things up when people- particularly those of a generation who were not alive when certain events happened,  make sweeping or reductive statements about history. I have sought out multiple books and documentaries about or including ACT UP and none of them came even close to Schulman's book. In fact, while reading it, I often felt like I had been lied to for so long. Schulman addresses certain histories in the book in more detailed ways. But, in short, if you've learned that ACT UP was "run" by a gay man who was the "leader," that the group belonged to one of these said men who near single handedly started it, or that women were not/barely involved aside from in caregiving, that was false. If you didn't realize how IV drug users were a huge part of the death toll, who had far less access to community and resources, and who also joined the movement, the truth was omitted. If you have been told that a few white gay men lifted up as celebrities were what ACT UP was, that was a lie. If you know little of the vast diversity of very effective tactics used by ACT UP and the organization that went into them, it's a shame, and so was I. Have you ever heard that AIDS was first discovered in the early 1900s, long before it was called a "gay disease?" Did you know that Haitian prisoners with AIDS were kept in Guantanamo Bay? Me neither. Did you know that even while people were dying in horrific ways around and inside ACT UP, people still managed to have fun, find joy, find love, and live the best lives they could in the circumstances? Probably not because we rarely talk about that part of history. Even the limited or misleading histories still offered so much importance and knowledge, don't get me wrong. I don't mean to say they're useless. But, Schulman wrote this book to share what really happened and to lift up voices and organizing efforts that most of us who weren't there never knew existed- even if we've sought the history out. The labor of the huge amount of interviews alone that went into creating this is difficult to even imagine. The task of whittling this book down to over 700 pages is an immense one.

I found this book to be an experience from cover to cover. The whole design of this heavy weight of knowledge was excellent. I recommend getting your hands on the physical book, even if you're usually an ebook or audiobook person (which are both also available if physical books are not accessible to you.) The cover art and images from a time before the digital age all add so much to the book. I like that Schulman didn't try to make it a linear story. It would have been impossible to do so. Even without being linear, the book is still fantastically organized. I could always tell whose interview I was reading, what general time period it was in and what else may have been going on, and so on. 

One of the things I learned in the biggest way was how a group of people made up of highly diverse backgrounds and identities managed to be so successful. When we discussed this in VINE Book Club, many of us mentioned trying to figure out how to mobilize people the way ACT UP did on other issues such as climate change. AIDS and climate change were/are causing endless unjustified and avoidable suffering and death, but climate change is such an abstract thing to many people in a way that AIDS was not. The level of detail this book goes into about what it was like to have people in and outside the organization dying horrific deaths captures something we don't usually discuss in histories of illness and disability. But, these details are critical to truly seeing the picture of what things were like during the time period covered in this book. There was also the reality that ACT UP allowed people to be messy, flawed, to have big disagreement, and room for illness and care giving by using affinity group models and parallel organizing structures. I asked Sarah Schulman at our book club if she had any advice on how to deal with big conflicts within movements of today. I will likely butcher this and not include all of what she said. But, it was something to the tune of taking things piece by piece, rather than focusing on abstract rules or flattening an organization or movement to only doing things one way. When I mentioned that some white single issue animal rights people have mentioned allowing plant based fash (yes, unfortunately this is a thing however small) into movements and how to deal with that question of knowing where to draw the line. Her answer was basically that if you don't want to organize with someone, don't. And don't use valuable time fighting the abstract. Is a fascist trying to organize with you on a project right now? The answer is no, I have only seen this phenomena on the internet. And these answers were so simple and helped me realize how much valuable time I may have squandered on enforcing these sort of rules and hypotheticals inside my head. Schulman shared a lot more with us as well, but I have a horrible memory and may have already quoted things wrong so I won't attempt to detail them all here. I was very grateful she was able to join the humble book club when she's probably massively busy.

Another theme in the histories detailed in this book is that of growth and transformation. Would you ever work with a gentrifier? ACT UP turned a gentrifier into a lifelong housing activist. Do you think of gay cis men when you think of reproductive justice? Many gay men in ACT UP worked with women in ACT UP and joined the pro choice actions and movements during that time as well. There were youth caucuses, drug user advocacy, and people doing work with prisoners of all stripes. There were so many young people brand new to activism learning the ropes and doing profound work. There is also a lot of interesting discussion of how privilege was a double edged sword in ACT UP. White gay men with privilege and connections were able to get ACT UP access to people and agencies that women and/or people of color never could have. But, at the same time, this risked assimilation politics and white male agendas dominating the actions taken after those connections were made. 

There is also a lot of information on how Anthony Fauci fit into this history and it was interesting to read how problematic he was around AIDS work given how he is valorized by so many today. I was left wondering how much the AIDS crisis affected him over time and how it affected his approach to COVID-19. It would be great to have him read this book and respond, but I doubt he will make time for that (understandable during a global pandemic.)

Last, I want to say that I am alive because of the people in ACT UP featured in this book. They made the world safer and more accessible for me as a Queer and Trans person- because ACT UP was about much more than AIDS. But, there is another aspect this book helped me internalize that I initially did not, even though I should have from talking to friends who were there. I was an IV drug user over 16 years ago and was an addict for many years. Without the clean needle programs that ACT UP members put their lives on the line for- which were thankfully legal by the time I needed them, I would very likely have ended up with Hepatitis C and/or HIV as well as the other issues such as abscesses and sometimes deadly and permanently disablling infections. I don't talk about my addiction history super publicly like this very much, but it's also not a secret. I am stating it here to stress that I am not being hyperbolic when I say that ACT UP not only saved and improved countless lives during the history of this book, but they have continued to do so for all future generations- some of whom joined the ACT UP chapters of today. 

I can't recommend this book enough. It is a gift to LGBTQ people- especially those who weren't present for ACT UP's organizing and activity. But, it is also critical reading for everyone else- especially organizers of all stripes. I don't know how else to put my gratitude into words.

This was also posted to my goodreads.