When They Call You a Terrorist (Young Adult Edition): A Story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World

by Patrisse Cullors, asha bandele, Benee Knauer (Adapted by)

Overview

Patrisse Khan-Cullors' and asha bandele's instant New York Times bestseller, When They Call You a Terrorist is now adapted for the YA audience with photos and journal entries!

A movement that started with a hashtag—#BlackLivesMatter—on Twitter spread across the nation and then across the world.

From one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement comes a poetic memoir and reflection on humanity. Necessary and timely, Patrisse Khan-Cullors’ story asks us to remember that protest in the interest of the most vulnerable comes from love. Leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement have been called terrorists, a threat to America. But in truth, they are loving women whose life experiences have led them to seek justice for those victimized by the powerful.

In this meaningful, empowering account of survival, strength, and resilience, Cullors and asha bandele seek to change the culture that declares innocent black life expendable.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250194985
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/29/2020
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	526,924
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Patrisse Khan-Cullors is an artist, organizer, and freedom fighter from Los Angeles, CA. Cofounder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network and Founder of the Los Angeles-based grassroots organization Dignity and Power Now, she is also a performance artist, Fulbright scholar, popular public speaker, and a Sydney Peace Prize recipient. For 20 years, Patrisse has been on the frontlines of criminal justice reform and is currently leading Reform L.A. Jails, a ballot initiative that was won in March 2020. Patrisse is currently the Faculty Director of Arizona’s Prescott College new Social and Environmental Arts Practice MFA program, which she developed nesting a curriculum focused on the intersection of art, social justice and community organizing that is first of its kind in the nation.

asha bandele is an award-winning journalist and author.

Table of Contents

Foreword Angela Davis xiii

Dear Reader xvii

Part 1 All the Bones We Could Find

Introduction: We Are Stardust 1

1 Community, Interrupted 7

2 Twelve 19

3 Bloodlines 31

4 Magnitude and Bond 49

5 Witness 69

6 Out in the World 77

7 All the Bones We Could Find 89

Part 2 Black Lives Matter

8 Zero Dark Thirty: The Remix 111

9 No Ordinary Love 135

10 Dignity and Power. Now 149

11 Black Lives Matter 157

12 Raid 171

13 A Call, a Response 183

14 #sayhername 199

15 Black Futures 219

16 When They Call You a Terrorist 231

Recommended Reading and Viewing 241

Acknowledgments 243

Editorial Reviews

"A gripping, much-needed memoir about a Black woman, a movement, and people fighting for freedom denied." - Kirkus

"This memoir is a reflection on humanity, lauded as an empowering account of survival, strength, and resilience, and is the kind of call to action we need now more than ever." - Book Riot

"This book is more than the origin story of BLM and more than Khan-Cullors's revolutionary journey. She creates space for difficult thoughts and conversations to begin." - School Library Journal

Praise for When They Call You a Terrorist:

Entertainment Weekly’s “13 Books to Read in January,” Cassius’ “Black Books to Add to Your Reading List,” Vogue’s “The Most Anticipated Books of January 2018,” Paste’s “10 of the Best Books of January 2018,” Bitch Magazine’s “Bitch Reads: 13 Books Feminists Should Read in January,” ELLE’s “19 of the Best Books to Read This Winter.”

"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

"With great candor about her complex personal life, Khan-Cullors has created a memoir as compelling as a page-turning novel." - Booklist Starred Review

"This searing, timely look into a contemporary movement from one of its crucial leading voices belongs in all collections." - Library Journal Starred Review

An eye-opening and eloquent coming-of-age story from one of the leaders in the new generation of social activists.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

"An important account of coming of age within today's explosive racial dynamic.” - Kirkus Reviews

"When They Call You a Terrorist deals with the incarceration and disenfranchisement of black men like her father, but it also explores facets of Cullors’ personal identity — black womanhood and sexuality,
as well as spirituality."—TIME

"One of 2018’s most important nonfiction books." - The Root

"[A] meditative, meaningful work … Cullors beautifully expresses empathy, honesty and hope” —Shelf Awareness

"[Patrisse's] personal story and beautiful telling of her growing up and into the Black Lives Matter movement is why we must tell Black Stories." - Yara Shahidi, Blackish actress

"Responsible, awakening and powerful."– Nick Cannon

“It was when I read your book, ‘When They Call You A Terrorist’—when Trump was elected—that I realized that white supremacy is closer to the surface than I had ever realized, and I thought, ‘Man, I better understand this more.’” – Jane Fonda

“Patrisse Khan-Cullors is a leading visionary and activist, feminist, and civil rights leader who has literally changed the trajectory of politics and resistance in America.” —Eve Ensler, bestselling author

“This book tells why we all share the responsibility to move those three words from an aspiration into a new reality.” – American Book Award Winner Jeff Chang

"With grace and vulnerability, she recounts in When They Call You a Terrorist an upbringing plagued by interlocking oppressions and generational trauma, and illustrates the gut-wrenching power of her movement’s message: Black lives must be recognized as worthy in this world." - Teaching Tolerance Magazine

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2020

Gr 7 Up—In this title that is part memoir, part call to action, Black Lives Matter (BLM) cofounder Khan-Cullors describes growing up as a young Black girl in a multiracial community in Van Nuys, CA; her personal experiences with police; untreated mental illness in her own family; and the impact of white supremacy. The text is broken into two parts. The first seven chapters chronicle Khan-Cullors's family story and her childhood. The last seven chapters focus on the civil rights movement; she chronicles her brother Monte's experiences with police and prison brutality and the lack of access to mental health treatment resources. Each chapter features quotes from well-known authors, activists, and politicians as well as photos and reader questions. This book is more than the origin story of BLM and more than Khan-Cullors's revolutionary journey. She creates space for difficult thoughts and conversations to begin. The reader questions and recommended reading and viewing could serve as guideposts for teachers, students, caregivers, and parents. VERDICT An essential purchase for all high school libraries. Students will learn about BLM's beginnings and empathize with the pilgrimage of one individual discovering her true self.—Samantha Hull, Ephrata H.S., PA

School Library Journal

2020-07-28
In this young readers’ adaptation of the 2018 original, a Black Lives Matter co-founder recounts growing up in a society that sought to punish her mere existence.

Using journal entries, Khan-Cullors recalls with sometimes excruciating detail finding and developing aspects of herself that would cumulatively create her identity. From stories of her biological and chosen family to her wider community, the writing overflows with honesty, compassion, courage, and love. The many unjust interactions she and her community have had with law enforcement make for a heart-wrenching read. Still, the author and activist maintains a message of action-based hope, life-sustaining love, and community support. With assistance from co-author bandele, a noted writer and journalist, Khan-Cullors shares private and public challenges and victories. Readers will understand and connect the traumas experienced by Black people in America for centuries, from Jim Crow to the war on drugs to modern-day slavery in the form of the prison system. Most importantly, the authors share principles and beliefs that speak to what is needed to facilitate and achieve necessary changes to a blood-stained, toxic, fatal disease of American society. Part memoir, part call to action, the message is clear: Black Lives Matter despite systems and inhumane practices that say otherwise. Questions for readers at the end of each chapter will prompt discussion and awakening and even inspire action.

A gripping, much-needed memoir about a Black woman, a movement, and people fighting for freedom denied. (recommended reading and viewing) (Memoir. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews