Read This When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis

by Kelly Hayes (Editor)

Overview

A bundle of letters to activists and organizers on the frontlines in catastrophic times from Let This Radicalize You co-author Kelly Hayes

 In social movements, some heartbreaks are all but inevitable. Campaigns will be lost. Mental health crises will occur. Social ills, like gender-based violence, will manifest themselves in movement spaces. People will experience profound personal losses. Grief, alienation, and despair can grind us under. Sometimes, we need accompaniment. Sometimes, we need to be met where we’re at by a caring voice of experience. Read This When Things Fall Apart is a care package for activists and organizers building power under fascistic, demoralizing conditions. It’s an outstretched hand, offering history lessons, personal anecdotes, and practical advice about how to navigate the woes of justice work. A survival guide for the heart, this is a book for activists to keep close, and to share with co-strugglers in need.

Personal, reflective, and hopeful, Read This When Things Fall Apart harnesses the writers' individual moments of despair into living, breathing wisdom that chips away at the supposed inevitability of fascist life. Restorative like a letter from a trusted friend and invigorating like a story from a mentor, the book is an indispensable companion for all of us navigating challenging times. Featuring letters from Mariame Kaba, Ashon Crawley, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Eman Abdelhadi, Brian Merchant, and more. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849355841
Publisher:	AK Press
Publication date:	09/02/2025
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Kelly Hayes is a Menominee Native author, photographer, organizer, and movement educator. They are the host of Truthout’s podcast, Movement Memos, and the co-author of Let This Radicalize You with Mariame Kaba. Kelly’s written work can also be found in a variety of publications and anthology collections. Kelly has trained thousands of people around the country in direct action and protest tactics.

Table of Contents

Letter Directory (TOC)

Read This...

If You Feel Like You’re Falling by Kelly Hayes (Introduction)

If You’re New and Trying to Find Your Way by Mariame Kaba

If You’re Witnessing the Unthinkable by Eman Abdelhadi

If You’re Losing and Discouraged by Micah Herskind

If You’ve Lost Someone to Suicide by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

If You Are Struggling with Your Mental Health by Aaron Goggans

If You Are Organizing Outside the Law by Brit “Red” Schulte

If You’ve Been Assaulted, I Believe You by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

If You're a Parent Feeling Isolated by Atena Danner

If You Are Panicking About Collapse by Chris Begley

If You Want to Defeat Fascism by Shane Burley

If You Are Overwhelmed by Attacks on Reproductive Autonomy by Renee Bracey Sherman

If Injustice Has Alienated You From Your Community by Maya Schenwar

If You Are a Discouraged Incarcerated Organizer by Stephen Wilson

If You Are Heartbroken by Ashon Crawley

If You Want to Fight Big Tech by Brian Merchant

If You’re Hurting and Want to Find Your People by Ash Williams

If You’re Disabled and Trying to Figure Things Out by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Jane Shi

If You Are Fighting Deportations and You’re Afraid or Discouraged by Aly Wane 

If You Are Struggling With Grief by Tanuja Devi Jagernauth

 If You’re Wounded and Want to Quit by Kelly Hayes (Conclusion)

"Relating to the Origin" by Atena Danner

Acknowledgements

Editorial Reviews

What a gift! We all need these letters, not just in times of crisis or defeat. It is the only book you’ll hold that will hold you, free you, permit you to fail, rest, retreat, grieve, live, laugh, fight, and heal—to be human. This book must never go out of print." —Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination
"Read this When Things Fall Apart is a balm of these dark times. This is the book I wish I'd had as a young organizer. It is a necessary text that sent me through the full kaleidoscope of emotions—spanning rage, laughter, and sadness—but more importantly, helped ground me in times of crisis and unrelenting brutality." —Robyn Maynard, co-author of Rehearsals for Living
“If you need an antidote to despair, this book is for you. It’s a repository of fortifying collective wisdom, a tonic for our troubled times. The letters Kelly Hayes has collected offer vital insights amid the darkness, shrewd strategic advice for aspiring change-makers, and a reminder none of us are in the fight alone.” —Astra Taylor, co-author of Solidarity: The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea
“For years I've had a saying: resist the pleasures of doom. It can feel perversely good to tell ourselves that the situation is so bad we simply can't do anything, to throw up our hands and give up. This book is an antidote to the pleasures of doom—it offers the deeper, more sustaining pleasure of solidarity, in beautiful specificity, from committed organizers in a variety of movements. They have felt despair, stared into the void of defeat, and they share concrete advice about the ways we can keep going when all feels hopeless. This book is a profound act of care.” —Sarah Jaffe, author of From the Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire
“Read this When Things Fall Apart: Letters to Activists in Crisis is a signpost for activists who feel unsettled about themselves and the future. The contributors offer their truths and wisdom with raw vulnerability. Read this When Things Fall Apart is a resource for anyone who believes hope will guide us through the darkest of times.” —Alice Wong, editor of Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire
"These letters are like seeds in a pomegranate—gorgeous gems full of nourishment, nestled together, shaped by one another, juicy, sweet and alive. The intimacy and urgency of these wise messages, written by people who have given so much to our movements and seen so much, is just what we need right now, in harrowing times, to help new people cross the threshold to collective action and to bolster the spirits of all who continue to press on, against difficult odds. I cannot wait to give this book to my students and the people I've been working with for decades. We all need what is in here." —Dean Spade, author of Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)
“These letters of love have emerged from Kelly’s wide community of friends, organizers and kindred spirits. They represent the best of our humanity, teaching us what we need to know, as we struggle to be healthy, happy and free.” —Lisa Fithian, author of Shut It Down: Stories from a Fierce, Loving Resistance
“A glorious and generous offering, right on time for new and seasoned organizers alike. I picked it up in a moment of flagging hope and put it down feeling profoundly fortified in the unshakeable truth that courage is collective—and creative—and that building and strengthening communities of care and resistance is our most critical assignment in this moment. A collection of poignant reminders that we can never give up on ourselves, each other, or the endless possibilities for liberatory futures that lie in uncertainty and beautiful struggle.” —Andrea J. Ritchie, author of Practicing New Worlds: Abolition and Emergent Strategies and co-author of No More Police: A Case for Abolition
“In this time of monsters burying us in grief and despair, this extraordinary collection is a steady hand with advice, analysis and affirmation. Each generous and generative letter centers our love for ourselves and our people as methodology. This book is a compelling reminder that we need each other as comrades and community, that we all have gifts to contribute to movements, and that—through uncertainty and one million experiments—we will win.” —Harsha Walia, author of Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism

From the Publisher