Freedom Is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis has been a tireless fighter against oppression for decades. Now, the iconic author of Women, Race, and Class offers her latest insights into the struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world.
Reflecting on the importance of black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles, from the Black Freedom Movement to the South African anti-Apartheid movement. She highlights connections and analyzes today’s struggles against state terror, from Ferguson to Palestine.
Facing a world of outrageous injustice, Davis challenges us to imagine and build a movement for human liberation. And in doing so, she reminds us that “freedom is a constant struggle.”
This edition of Freedom Is a Constant Struggle includes a foreword by Dr. Cornel West and an introduction by Frank Barat.
Reviews (129)
Polarized
I had to read this for one of my classes in college. I felt like it was very intense and only had one point of view. These issues are so important and being polarized while talking about them is not a good idea.
"What happens to a dream deferred?" Langston Hughes wondered and I wonder too...
If you remember Angela Davis from the seventies or ever wore one of her "Free Angela" buttons, you will delight in knowing that she is still out there reminding readers of the Black Panthers and their ideas for reforming communities to promote equity. The book is a compilation of several of her speeches given around the country and even internationally. You will find her words inspiring and will end up shaking your head that we are now being thrown back to a system where those that have control the fates of all others. Read the book and then get active!
Brilliant. A life
Brilliant. A life, a BIG life, well lived. We can, particularly at this time,of highly visible (blatant) and deeply historically embedded systems and institutions of grave violence, all heed powerful lessons of organizing, speaking and acting, with an unyielding commitment to the increasingly dire necessity of truth to power. I mean REALLY, if not now, when? If not us, who? Angela digs deep into the depths of the greatest ills that plague us and calls us forward through her immense capacity to articulate the needs of our times through the power of words, stories, examples of the lives of others and her own. Do not read unless you are willing to get uncomfortable and engage in the hard work of attempting to make this a better world.
READ THIS BOOK
Excellent work by Angela Y. Davis, one of my favorite authors! Love it and have given it as a gift to friends and family! Not for the timid, this book squarely faces racism, sexism, and politics of capitalist destruction. A must-read for those who care about racism in America, womens issues, and want to do something about these issues!
Fantastic Insights
This text is something every radical, activist, political enthusiast should read! She provides such a robust wealth of knowledge in such a coherent and logical flow in her insights. She expands on the parallels and intersectional relationships of institutions and movements in America and abroad as well as providing historical references that pose those institutions as abstractions of apartheid, slavery and racism. She deconstructs the "individual" as a destructive result of Capitalism and ultimately a dead end for social mobility. Not only does she point out the injustices but she also lays down what she believes needs to be done in this ongoing march to freedom. Remember that the personal is political and the struggle is intersectional so we must all unite for change. Loved it!
Lots of Valuable Information, A Quick Read
This is a great way to introduce yourself with systems of oppression and how they connect globally. It's a quick read, partially because of the interview/essay format. It will leave you with a dozen things to do your own research on and a refreshed desire to do something to make a difference both locally and globally.
Abolition at its finest
Dr. Angela Davis gives us new ways to reimagine abolition and freedom in the constant fight for justice. In the closing pages of the book, she proposing a thought that captures the essence of the entire work. She exposes what the neo-liberal project intends because of the fear of what abolition will actually perform. She completes this statement with: "But what I am saying is that we have to embrace projects that address sociohistorical conditions that enable these acts."
Get your highlighter ready
Davis continues to teach, this time in a collection of interviews and speeches from 2013-2015. What she does well as always, is explain concepts and how they are interrelated. She doesn't talk about Ferguson, prison abolition, or even Dr King in a vacuum but links them in a larger framework of struggle, across people's and continents. She also, maybe more importantly gets the reader to dig deeper, study more, and question more.
Short and dense text, but worth the read
A somewhat short but very dense text. Make sure you have a dictionary and encyclopedia (or just Google lol) while reading to look -up some of the fancy verbiage and the events and people Ms. Davis references. The format is email correspondence and series of speeches, given over the last few years , so there is some redundancy. Overall, I received some insight on past and more recent event / phenomena centered around global activism and intersectionality
Freedom is constant struggle was well put together!
This was such an well written and documented book! I love that Prof. Davis is able to show the connections between so many struggles. I love the example of Palestinian protests giving advice about dealing with tear gas to Ferguson protesters (stay close to the cops because they won't want to spray the gas from a close range because it can get on them). We are all fighting the good fight. This book give me the encouragement I need to keep standing up until I fall.
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