Reviews

How We Get Free: Black Feminism and the Combahee River Collective by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor

marcymurli's review

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

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.

alyssap430's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

hb_bookworm's review

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.

bbqxaxiu's review

2.0

2.5

bananabreath's review

reflective medium-paced

3.5

gingerreadsnf's review

hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

airheadxt's review

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.0

smateer73's review against another edition

4.0

This book was so fantastic. It has the full text of the Combahee River Collective Statement and then discusses the ongoing impact of the three founders, as well as the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. It really emphasizes the importance of this intersectional, Black female specific view of liberation that also considers class and economic ideas. It’s very powerful.

jillmacintyre's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0