Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
By Angela Davis
Publication Year: 2015
Type: Non-fiction
Genre: history, social justice
Read on 2020-07-10
View additional specs on this book in Muhan’s 2020 Reading Survey ➞
☆☆☆☆☆
No rating because I’m reading this to learn!
But I guess if I were to rate this based on how much I got out of it, this would be 5 stars. Listened to this on audiobook and had a grand time - it’s a series of essays, interviews, and speeches (mostly speeches) so it’s much more accessible and less academic. She repeats a lot of similar info in different speeches which is also great for listening.
Davis talks about mass movements, transnational solidarity, and intersectional, radically inclusive feminism. She answers questions like -
Why should American BLM activists care about Palestine?
What does feminism have to gain by including trans women, trans men, and non-binary people?
What can protestors in different places learn from one another?
Why did racism NOT end with the election of Barack Obama/why wasn’t he able to do more as president?
This is the first book by Angela Davis that I’ve read but certainly not the last. She uses very accessible language to make her points, and pointedly does not bog her arguments down in heavy theory/dense vocabulary. It was especially enlightening to read about how she views feminism and gender in light of the vitriolic debate on trans people vs. trans-exclusionary feminists on Twitter (triggered by J.K. Rowling). There is so much more to gain from solidarity between cis women, trans men and women, and gender-conforming people than through discord. For a radical, revolutionary feminism, it makes the most sense to embrace those who’s lived experience proves the harm caused by oppressive gendered regimes and the constructed nature of so many gendered roles in society.
