Publishers Weekly
08/16/2021
Cullors (When They Call You a Terrorist), a cofounder of the Black Lives Matter movement, delivers an accessible if diffuse guide to “abolitionist practice.” According to Cullors, abolition “centers on getting rid of prisons, jails, police, courts and surveillance,” but also includes the fight for improved water quality in cities and a more equal distribution of streaming revenue for musicians (“If there is any part of your life where you are trying to get free, it connects to abolitionist practice”). She draws on her personal life and activist experiences to offer advice on how to have “courageous conversations” about difficult subjects, and how to “imagin beyond the status quo” of “white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.” Elsewhere, she recounts the actions she took as a high school guidance counselor when a student alleged that a teacher was sexually abusing another student. In addition to notifying the authorities, Cullors informed the perpetrator of the accusation and offered to talk to him about it (she never heard back), and created discussion groups for faculty and students to learn about restorative justice. Though Cullors broadens the scope of “abolition” so far that the concept begins to lose some of its meaning, her guidance on how to achieve personal and social transformation is enlightening. Readers will be inspired to take action. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
Praise for An Abolitionist's Handbook
"If we’re serious about real change... we’re going to need a handbook. Patrisse Cullors, one of the original cofounders of the Black Lives Matter movement, teaches how to build an activism practice from a place of compassion and love." —Glamour
"Although An Abolitionist's Handbook contains instructions on how to enact Black liberation and the liberation of underserved communities; how to fight imperialism, white supremacy, and colonialism, and details on dismantling the prison industrial system and other harmful structures, it’s also imbued with stories from Cullors’s upbringing as a young Black woman in the United States, her experiences in the Black Lives Matter movement, and the lessons she’s learned along the way." —W Magazine
"In her new book, An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Changing Yourself and the World, Patrisse Cullors starts with courageous conversations... These conversations typically arise out of our lived experiences. They are conversations we have because we care. They are conversations that first start with us." —Yes! Magazine
"Advocating for a new world is draining work, yet can also be liberatory if the right tools are used. Fortunately, activist and co-founder of Black Lives Matter Patrisse Cullors has crafted the framework for activists to create an abolitionist future."—Black Girl Nerds
"Her guidance on how to achieve personal and social transformation is enlightening. Readers will be inspired to take action." —Publishers Weekly
"Recommended for all readers interested in social change activism, particularly prison reform and the defund-the-police movement." —Library Journal
"Cullors offers a wide range of strategies for activists who share her view that you can’t always fix a broken system." —Kirkus
Praise for Patrisse and When They Call You a Terrorist
"Strikingly beautiful… Patrisse Cullors' story is a moral example to the nation." —Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author of Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
“This book is a must-read for all of us.” —Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow
"This is a story of perseverance from a woman who found her voice in a world that often tried to shut her out. When They Call You a Terrorist is more than just a reflection on the American criminal justice system. It’s a call to action for readers to change a culture that allows for violence against people of color." —TIME Magazine, named one of the Best Memoirs of 2018 So Far
“Impassioned, direct, inspiring and unsparing.” —Entertainment Weekly
“This powerful book by Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors reminds us American racism is pervasive…the mission of Khan-Cullors and her fellow activists has never been more important – or more urgent.” —The Guardian
"[A] fierce, intimate memoir." —O Magazine
"A thoroughly modern, frequently poetic take on the black-freedom-struggle narrative." —Ms. Mag
"One of 2018’s most important nonfiction books." —The Root
Library Journal - Audio
06/01/2022
Black Lives Matter cofounder Cullors's guide encourages listeners to follow 12 clearly outlined steps filled with bold and innovative action in order to become everyday activists. The audiobook opens with a foreword written and read by writer and activist adrienne maree brown and an introduction read by the author. Each detailed step includes suggested courses of action and inspirational narrative examples, both intentional and spontaneous, of activists from the past. To reach the ultimate goal of abolition requires measures such as turning actions away from reaction and toward response, making justice joyful, and organizing governments to work toward abolition at all levels. Guiding questions are included at the end of each chapter. The audio closes with a conversation featuring the author and brown. Narrator Ariel Blake brings a fresh, youthful voice and tone to this powerful audiobook, reading with authority, dignity, care, and respect, and making excellent use of pacing and pauses, word emphasis, and volume. This is an impassioned reading, more like a lecture or speech before an engaged crowd. VERDICT Listeners will want to stop and listen to this again and again in order to internalize the content.—Stephanie Bange
Library Journal
09/01/2021
In this latest work, Cullors (co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement; author of the best-selling When They Call You a Terrorist) sets out 12 principles for activists in the movement to abolish policing and mass incarceration. Cullors is adamant that current American police establishments cannot be reformed and must be built anew. Here she proposes that accomplishing abolition will require activists to engage in courageous conversation, active forgiveness and accountability, community-building, and thinking creatively about reform. For each precept, she writes an analysis illustrated by examples from her experience and the experiences of other activists, tips for growth, and practical scenarios. Cullors uses her own experiences to illustrate her theories in a way that helps readers make connections. She aims to set out a space for developing healthy communication and reflection skills, which she argues are not taught or modeled effectively in the United States. Cullors invites readers to engage critically with the text, which is accessible to a wide audience; there are key questions at the end of each chapter to help direct readers' actions. VERDICT A useful and surprisingly personal handbook for activists. Recommended for all readers interested in social change activism, particularly prison reform and the defund-the-police movement.—Rebekah Kati, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
JANUARY 2022 - AudioFile
Ariel Blake uses a bold voice to narrate this thought-provoking audiobook. Black Lives Matter cofounder Patrisse Cullors provides a handbook for becoming a 21st-century abolitionist—someone who contributes to replacing the “the modern-day white-supremacist, capitalist, racist patriarchy” that currently exists in the U.S. with a caring and dignified society. Blake steadily recites activities and directions. Chapters include guidelines for responding to injustices in everyday life, a checklist for how to communicate with others, and lists of what to read. While this work is an ambitious resource and Blake slowly and fluidly enumerates each of the 12 steps, as a handbook, it would also be useful in print so that users can more easily refer to specific parts when needed. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-08-03
A co-founder of Black Lives Matter compiles a tool kit for activists hoping to abolish “oppressive systems, institutions, and practices” and to repair the harm they’ve caused.
Inspired partly by her father’s experiences in Alcoholics Anonymous, Cullors blends polemic and self-help in a 12-step program for getting rid of “prisons, jails, police, courts and surveillance” and otherwise “dismantling white supremacy.” As she sees it, abolition means more than demolishing institutions or practices and replacing them with more humane alternatives. It also involves taking personal and interpersonal steps to foster “healing and liberation,” such as having “courageous conversations” with friends, family, co-workers, and movement allies or colleagues about difficulties in relationships. Cullors begins each chapter by discussing one of her 12 steps, such as “Build Community” and “Forgive Actively Not Passively,” and ends each with practical tips on topics such as “What To Read/Watch/See/Hear” and “Guiding Questions” for reflection (listen to Beyoncé’s Lemonade to hear about “actively forgiving”). In the best sections, Cullors brings a unique perspective to BLM–related issues, such as why she favors abolishing the police instead of more narrowly focused strategies such as requiring the greater use of bodycams (the officer who killed George Floyd was wearing one, but the full horror of his death was captured not by his device but by bystanders with phones). The text is repetitious, and some of the author’s ideas will be too woolly for many readers (“Check out…CHANI, a comprehensive astrology app that can help deepen your courage practice”) or overfamiliar to consumers of self-help (frequent plugs for therapy, mindfulness, or keeping a journal). Still, Cullors offers a wide range of strategies for activists who share her view that you can’t always fix a broken system—sometimes you have to throw it out and start over.
A veteran activist’s call to dismantle America’s judicial, law enforcement, and other systems.
