profiterole_reads (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
profiterole_reads) wrote2025-04-06 08:03 pm
profiterole_reads) wrote2025-04-06 08:03 pm
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba was very interesting. It's a practical guide for activists who want to learn more about organising. Its title comes from something Mariame Kaba often says: "Let this radicalize you rather than lead you to despair."
The strength of this book, widely recommended on Bluesky, comes from its numerous examples of past activism campaigns, covering many areas.
The theoretical parts, on the other hand, were nothing I hadn't already picked up from various social media posts (but I'm a fast learner, other people might benefit from having it all in book form). Here are the main ideas:
- Focus on hope and actions, not on doom and gloom
- Build relationships by asking people what they need
- Mobilise more people by accepting people whose views don't fully align with yours
- Ignore political hobbyists (people who criticise but don't actually do anything)
- Share the workload to avoid burnout
The book also has 2 informative appendixes:
- Navigating Police Use of Chemical Weapons (tear gas, pepper spray...), reprinted with permission from Vision Change Win's Get in Formation: A Community Safety Toolkit (pp. 9-11)
- An Attorney's Note, about what to do if the police come to your not-for-profit or organising space
The strength of this book, widely recommended on Bluesky, comes from its numerous examples of past activism campaigns, covering many areas.
The theoretical parts, on the other hand, were nothing I hadn't already picked up from various social media posts (but I'm a fast learner, other people might benefit from having it all in book form). Here are the main ideas:
- Focus on hope and actions, not on doom and gloom
- Build relationships by asking people what they need
- Mobilise more people by accepting people whose views don't fully align with yours
- Ignore political hobbyists (people who criticise but don't actually do anything)
- Share the workload to avoid burnout
The book also has 2 informative appendixes:
- Navigating Police Use of Chemical Weapons (tear gas, pepper spray...), reprinted with permission from Vision Change Win's Get in Formation: A Community Safety Toolkit (pp. 9-11)
- An Attorney's Note, about what to do if the police come to your not-for-profit or organising space