When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
When They Call You A
Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
We live
in a world where we need to tell people that Black Lives Matter. It’s not meant
to say other lives don’t matter, we simply need to address that Black lives do
in fact matter and their deaths, murders and killings should be addressed,
their lives should be whole and they shouldn’t be forced to live in fear. This
book isn’t a discussion on whether you should believe or even appreciate that
stance. This book is about the life of one of the women who started the
Black Lives Matter movement.
This book is split into two parts.
The first reveals Patrisse’s upbringing in a poor neighborhood in Los Angeles.
She describes how she witnessed her brothers being approached by the police for
doing nothing more than playing outside. She details her experiences going to
different schools outside of her community in affluent neighborhoods during
both middle school and high school and the affect that had on her upbringing.
Patrisse also talks about her parents: the mother who was ostracized from her
parents and her religion for having sex and becoming pregnant outside of
marriage and her father who struggled with addiction most of his adult life. Patrisse
also talks about being Queer, coming out and the family’s struggle with her brother’s
mental illness and stints in jail.
The second part of the book brings
with it many of the topics introduced in the first part but it delves deeper
into the organizer that Patrisse has become. Her personal experiences dealing
with law enforcement and the criminal justice system with her father and
brother’s cases helped drive her to make a change. She works with different
organizations working directly with youth, and eventually is called to even
more action after the killing of Trayvon Martin and the decision made to let
his killer go free. Patrisse, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi would eventually
begin the Black Lives Matter movement, an organization that would eventually
have over 40 chapters across the globe.
I was
automatically drawn to this book after reading the title. I was well aware of
the Black Lives Matter movement after the marches in Ferguson after Michael
Brown’s death, but I feel like there was a lot of confusion and no credit was
given to the original founders Patrisse, Alicia and Opal. It wasn’t until
recently that I learned their names and heard some of their actual story. I
couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read a memoir written by one of the
founders. It centers the narrative of someone who throughout her life has been
part of a world that was actively working against her and the people she had in
her life, because she was black and poor. Khan-Cullors has created with this
memoir a passionate, well written, documentation of the abuses she has
personally experience. It is heartbreaking and sobering and grounded in
reality. Not everyone will share these same experiences with her but that does
not take away how valid each of these experiences are and how they need to be
addressed.
This is
such a relevant book in this political climate. This is a book that will make
people stop and think before they try to center themselves and utter All Lives
Matter. This is a book that will force people to rethink the way the criminal
justice system in the U.S. really works. This is a book that will make you
question how people are taught to police and carry out their duties. This is a
book that will make you think about mental illnesses, how they are discussed
and treated throughout the U.S. And it will make you think about the roles of
women and what it means to be Queer or Trans in this continual fight for
change. Necessary, well thought out, emotional and direct. This is a book I
highly recommend. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.
Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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