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ostrowk's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written, haunting memoir of a white lesbian in the south who confronts the legacy of her family as she organizes against the KKK. Super impressive intersectional politics.
kelroka's review against another edition
4.0
Sadly still so, so relevant. Worth a re-read for the new introduction & afterward.
outtoexist's review against another edition
4.0
This was beautifully written in flashes, and confusing for most of it. I was hoping she'd explore more of the intersection between her whiteness & her queerness and how that takes up space in the fight against racism (which is something I'm desperately trying to understand). Even though this wasn't that, it was an incredible telling of an often-hidden period of time. I was brought to tears multiple times by Joyce Sinclair's story and the very concept of her four year old daughter who would be so young today.
bexhobson's review against another edition
5.0
Invigorating.
"It is my belief that racism shapes all political movements in the United States, for better and for worse, but because white people so seldom talk about how we are affected by racism, we don't understand how to counter it."
"What I mean is a less lonely society, where we think collectively about resources for the common good, rather than struggling individually against each other for material and psychic health."
"If we could decide who could not come into our church, then it was just a building that belonged to us, not God."
"Leah affirmed my instincts to build not just coalitions, but movements grounded in relationships. .. The result was friendships that come among people who catalyze changes in each other. Our work carried a lot of risk, but the risk gave us occasions to develop substantial trust."
"Individuals project onto others the characteristics they cannot accept in themselves, then control, punish or eradicate the objects of those projections. Our identities, structured as they are on what we hate, resist or fear, are disturbingly unstable."
"There is a lot to be done, but how we go about it is also important. Because all we have ever had is each other."
"It is the failure to feel the communal bonds between humans, I think, and the punishment that undoubtedly came to those Europeans who did, that allowed the "community of the lie" to grow so genocidally in the soil of the "New World."
"White democracy, it seems, gets built on the backs of people of color, a fact that gives white people a very different subjective experience of U.S. democracy than many people of color."
"It is my belief that racism shapes all political movements in the United States, for better and for worse, but because white people so seldom talk about how we are affected by racism, we don't understand how to counter it."
"What I mean is a less lonely society, where we think collectively about resources for the common good, rather than struggling individually against each other for material and psychic health."
"If we could decide who could not come into our church, then it was just a building that belonged to us, not God."
"Leah affirmed my instincts to build not just coalitions, but movements grounded in relationships. .. The result was friendships that come among people who catalyze changes in each other. Our work carried a lot of risk, but the risk gave us occasions to develop substantial trust."
"Individuals project onto others the characteristics they cannot accept in themselves, then control, punish or eradicate the objects of those projections. Our identities, structured as they are on what we hate, resist or fear, are disturbingly unstable."
"There is a lot to be done, but how we go about it is also important. Because all we have ever had is each other."
"It is the failure to feel the communal bonds between humans, I think, and the punishment that undoubtedly came to those Europeans who did, that allowed the "community of the lie" to grow so genocidally in the soil of the "New World."
"White democracy, it seems, gets built on the backs of people of color, a fact that gives white people a very different subjective experience of U.S. democracy than many people of color."
mad_taylh's review against another edition
4.0
"'I don't see how you do the things you do,' she told me.
'What choice is there?' I wondered."
'What choice is there?' I wondered."
bbpettry's review against another edition
3.0
This book is written like a story that might be told on a porch to a friend whose dropped by to catch up. It's intimate, winding & harrowing, leafing out into emotional and intellectual tangents as Segrest recounts her years as an activist against white supremacist violence. She comes from a generation of queer people I am so different from, and it was interesting to compare. There are a few things that ring really loud and true in the book: It is the responsibility of anti racist white folks to put themselves between white supremacists and marginalized people. Activists absolutely must take care of themselves and each other.
After the memoir part of the book is a more academic piece that is, even at its age, worth the price of the book. Among other things, it makes the connection between white supremacy and capitalism.
After the memoir part of the book is a more academic piece that is, even at its age, worth the price of the book. Among other things, it makes the connection between white supremacy and capitalism.
meslivres's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
phoebe_phorreal's review against another edition
5.0
Thanks to The New Press for this free copy.
This was a good book, and although the criticisms of it do hold water in terms of how the narrating can jump around a little, ultimately, I feel that specific style is actually really helpful. I felt it gave me insight into how difficult it is to catalog the raw emotions and both the successes and disappointments, the squabbles and the unity, the hope amid the chaos on the ground. Also, what makes or breaks a memoir for me is self-reflection and Mab has that in spades. She acknowledges, for example that, due to the portrayal of sensitive events, the organizing chapters and the personal chapters (which alternate more or less throughout the book) may have a vast difference in tone.
That's not to say that there weren't occasions where I had to look up names when they were reintroduced, but that had a negligible impact on the reading for me. It did take me a while to get through, though I'm not sure whether that's because it is chock-full of dates and meticulously researched events or because I've had less time on my hands recently. Either way, if it is dense, it is still definitely worth reading.
If you've read Howard Zinn or Eduardo Galeano, the coda may seem a bit basic, as its intention is to be an introduction or reintroduction which places the memoir part in a wider American history of race. Still, even though at least the first part of said coda was familiar ground for me, it was a welcome reminder.
"A Bridge, Not A Wedge" and the new Introduction and Afterword seamlessly bring the story into the present, though the lessons of the main body hold up sadly all too well today, so it's worth a read whether you read the first edition or are just reading it for the first time.
Although this book resonated with me a fair deal due in part to my race, how I grew up, and the messy way in which I (and we all, I suppose) process identity and, at some times, family, I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wishes to get involved in antiracist organizing, along with other books on the subject.
This was a good book, and although the criticisms of it do hold water in terms of how the narrating can jump around a little, ultimately, I feel that specific style is actually really helpful. I felt it gave me insight into how difficult it is to catalog the raw emotions and both the successes and disappointments, the squabbles and the unity, the hope amid the chaos on the ground. Also, what makes or breaks a memoir for me is self-reflection and Mab has that in spades. She acknowledges, for example that, due to the portrayal of sensitive events, the organizing chapters and the personal chapters (which alternate more or less throughout the book) may have a vast difference in tone.
That's not to say that there weren't occasions where I had to look up names when they were reintroduced, but that had a negligible impact on the reading for me. It did take me a while to get through, though I'm not sure whether that's because it is chock-full of dates and meticulously researched events or because I've had less time on my hands recently. Either way, if it is dense, it is still definitely worth reading.
If you've read Howard Zinn or Eduardo Galeano, the coda may seem a bit basic, as its intention is to be an introduction or reintroduction which places the memoir part in a wider American history of race. Still, even though at least the first part of said coda was familiar ground for me, it was a welcome reminder.
"A Bridge, Not A Wedge" and the new Introduction and Afterword seamlessly bring the story into the present, though the lessons of the main body hold up sadly all too well today, so it's worth a read whether you read the first edition or are just reading it for the first time.
Although this book resonated with me a fair deal due in part to my race, how I grew up, and the messy way in which I (and we all, I suppose) process identity and, at some times, family, I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone who wishes to get involved in antiracist organizing, along with other books on the subject.