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How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
itsmeamethyst's review against another edition
5.0
"As Demita Frazier says, the point of talking about Combahee is not to be nostalgic; rather, we talk about it because Black women are still not free."
Listened to the audiobook and immediately wanted to re-read the physical book to be able to highlight and absorb the information in another way. First learned about the Combahee River Collective through [b:Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019|54998251|Four Hundred Souls A Community History of African America, 1619-2019|Ibram X. Kendi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600089396l/54998251._SY75_.jpg|85778194] and wish it was taught in schools. The collective was active from 1974 to 1980. In their statement (1977), they wrote, "Above all else, Our politics initially sprang from the shared belief that Black women are inherently valuable, that our liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's may because of our need as human persons for autonomy...We reject pedestals, queenhood, and walking ten paces behind. To be recognized as human, levelly human, is enough."
Grateful for Black feminism and how they have learned from global movements and inspired current and future activists.
Listened to the audiobook and immediately wanted to re-read the physical book to be able to highlight and absorb the information in another way. First learned about the Combahee River Collective through [b:Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019|54998251|Four Hundred Souls A Community History of African America, 1619-2019|Ibram X. Kendi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600089396l/54998251._SY75_.jpg|85778194] and wish it was taught in schools. The collective was active from 1974 to 1980. In their statement (1977), they wrote, "Above all else, Our politics initially sprang from the shared belief that Black women are inherently valuable, that our liberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's may because of our need as human persons for autonomy...We reject pedestals, queenhood, and walking ten paces behind. To be recognized as human, levelly human, is enough."
Grateful for Black feminism and how they have learned from global movements and inspired current and future activists.
serenabereading's review
5.0
Black Feminism with no fluff. Loved it and the history of the Combahee River Collective.
zmorris1923's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. My favorite interviews were with Barbara Smith, Demita Frazier, and Alicia Garza. Definitely something I will have to reread and annotate. I borrowed my copy from the public library, but I want this book in my personal library as well as the LGBTQ Iowa Archives and Library.
The interview with Barbara Smith highlighted the importance of intersectionality, identity politics (and the origin of the phrase!), and coalitions which seemed to be a theme throughout the series of interviews. Working together is essential to making each organizations' fights easier because one would have so many more people on one's side.
The perspective of pre-Roe v. Wade was also necessary because obviously we now live in a post Roe v. Wade country--the differences from now and then are minimalized and it accentuates the similarities. The fights that are still going on for bodily autonomy and reproductive freedoms, as well as fights against sterilization, genocide, and colonialism.
On the future of organizing and rebellion: We need to be able to not only organize, but show we can govern. Not gentle capitalism, nor neoliberalism. But something else. I say anarchism, some say socialism and communism or Marxism. Something needs to change and we need to be willing to be that change.
I found it incredibly inspiring reading this book. Activism is a job, it's work that needs to be continually done. It needs to be recognized and supported. I want to do this work for queer and trans people, but that work cannot ONLY be done for QT people, it also needs to recognize the intersection of oppression. Working alongside other organizations is how we can do that.
I think being too broad as an organization can potentially be detrimental. Many organizations, working as committees almost, who focus on their specific field and show up for each other is an ideal I think. I want to show up with all of LIAL for Black Lives Matter protests, for disability rights protests, for climate activism protests. And I want those people to come to our own events.
This book inspires me to be better and to keep fighting. Hearing their stories helps me write my own.
The interview with Barbara Smith highlighted the importance of intersectionality, identity politics (and the origin of the phrase!), and coalitions which seemed to be a theme throughout the series of interviews. Working together is essential to making each organizations' fights easier because one would have so many more people on one's side.
The perspective of pre-Roe v. Wade was also necessary because obviously we now live in a post Roe v. Wade country--the differences from now and then are minimalized and it accentuates the similarities. The fights that are still going on for bodily autonomy and reproductive freedoms, as well as fights against sterilization, genocide, and colonialism.
On the future of organizing and rebellion: We need to be able to not only organize, but show we can govern. Not gentle capitalism, nor neoliberalism. But something else. I say anarchism, some say socialism and communism or Marxism. Something needs to change and we need to be willing to be that change.
I found it incredibly inspiring reading this book. Activism is a job, it's work that needs to be continually done. It needs to be recognized and supported. I want to do this work for queer and trans people, but that work cannot ONLY be done for QT people, it also needs to recognize the intersection of oppression. Working alongside other organizations is how we can do that.
I think being too broad as an organization can potentially be detrimental. Many organizations, working as committees almost, who focus on their specific field and show up for each other is an ideal I think. I want to show up with all of LIAL for Black Lives Matter protests, for disability rights protests, for climate activism protests. And I want those people to come to our own events.
This book inspires me to be better and to keep fighting. Hearing their stories helps me write my own.
annasreadinglist's review against another edition
5.0
this book is clear, and so educational. the interview style allows for so much insight to be poured into one small package. the impact of the theory and work of the Combahee River Collective and what it means for modern feminist organizing is beautifully outlined. it is a very good read.
marcymurli's review against another edition
4.0
It was such a delight to revisit the Combahee River Collective's initial manifesto and to see Taylor frame it in the context of the present moment. The interviews with Barbara Smith, Beverly Smith, and Demita Frazier give the reader a sense of the environment that created this extraordinary collective. It's especially fascinating to see how well their vision holds up when most feminist manifestos from second-wave American feminism do not. The concluding interview with Black Lives Matter founder Alicia Garza demonstrates the longevity of Combahee's role in shaping activists today.
fireblend's review against another edition
4.0
First: With this and How We Go Home (an oral history book on indigenous north america) I think I've come to realize I'm really into oral history books. Maybe it's that they remind me of interview podcasts? Regardless, it's been a pleasant surprise.
Second: This book is great. The Combahee River Collective Statement, which opens this book, is an incredible document. Concise, easy to understand, unambiguously anti-racist and anti-patriarchal of course, but also anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, quotable in it's entirety and a must read. It is then followed by very enjoyable and insightful interviews with its authors and other relevant actors in black feminist activism.
Second: This book is great. The Combahee River Collective Statement, which opens this book, is an incredible document. Concise, easy to understand, unambiguously anti-racist and anti-patriarchal of course, but also anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, quotable in it's entirety and a must read. It is then followed by very enjoyable and insightful interviews with its authors and other relevant actors in black feminist activism.
alyssap430's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
hb_bookworm's review against another edition
4.0
sometimes reading theory can be difficult, but the CRC statement, especially when accompanied by interviews with those who wrote it and those who have been impacted by it, was not a struggle to grasp at all. i really enjoyed hearing the authors' perspectives, and seeing the development of Black feminism in the US from the 70s to now. I came away with a better understanding of the history of these ideas and how they are being enacted today, as well as an understanding of coalition-building among different activist and organizer groups. I definitely want to read more from these authors and the authors they cited as their influences.