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A review by jourdanicus
Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist by Franchesca Ramsey
funny
informative
fast-paced
What I appreciated most about this book was Franchesca's willingness to be vulnerable by using her own past mistakes as examples for how we can all put in the work to try and become better activists and advocates. I listened to the audiobook; I always love a memoir narrated by the author.
This book came to me at a time when I'm currently burnt out on social media, so there were some parts that made me roll my eyes because my answer to the problem she was describing would be to just ignore, delete, log off, or don't log on in the first place. But I also recognize that when I do have the energy to engage on social media, using my privilege in that way can help show others that they're not alone in the online space with someone who is being bigoted. Sometimes it can even plant a seed to help the bigoted person change over time.
Finally, I also really appreciated the description of calling out vs calling in and the recommendation to do the latter. I do feel like call out culture has gotten fairly toxic and calling someone out can be unproductive and inflammatory, so thanks to Franchesca for explaining the process of "calling in" and encouraging that.
This book came to me at a time when I'm currently burnt out on social media, so there were some parts that made me roll my eyes because my answer to the problem she was describing would be to just ignore, delete, log off, or don't log on in the first place. But I also recognize that when I do have the energy to engage on social media, using my privilege in that way can help show others that they're not alone in the online space with someone who is being bigoted. Sometimes it can even plant a seed to help the bigoted person change over time.
Finally, I also really appreciated the description of calling out vs calling in and the recommendation to do the latter. I do feel like call out culture has gotten fairly toxic and calling someone out can be unproductive and inflammatory, so thanks to Franchesca for explaining the process of "calling in" and encouraging that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, and Transphobia