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88 pages, Paperback
First published November 17, 2020
What can this lead to in an imperfect world full of sloppy, complex humans? Is it possible we will call each other out until there's no one left beside us?
often things are turned into public campaigns of shaming and humiliation before it is even clear if the thing is a misunderstanding, mistake, contradiction, conflict, harm, or abuse.
I have felt us losing our capacity to distinguish between comrade and opponent, losing our capacity to generate belonging.
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Right now, call outs are being used not just as a necessary consequence for those wielding power to cause harm or enact abuse, but to shame and humiliate people in the wake of misunderstandings, contradictions, conflicts, and mistakes.
‘If I can see the ways I am perpetuating systemic oppressions, if I can see where I learned the behavior and how hard it is to unlearn it, I start to have more humility as I see the messiness of the communities I am part of, the world I live in.’
‘I want people to see that even if you put someone on a pedestal, that person is still a student of how to be a good human, and is still trying to figure it out. I know I'm a person who can cause harm. If I accept that, if I harness that, if I turn and look at my shadows, that I can be someone who's like a fully integrated human being. Not a perfect human being, but I can be accountable for harm that I've caused because I accept that it's possible for me to cause harm.’
‘We end up putting more of our collective attention on punishing those accused of causing harm than supporting and centering the healing of survivors, and/or building pathways for those who are in cycles of causing harm to change’
The use of "we" ("we are afraid and we think it will assuage our fears," "we love obsessing over and punishing villains" -- we who?) leads to many projections and assumptions about the experiences and goals of survivors and others who have used callouts to organize for accountability. (Review by Leila)
The book contains no specific examples of situations that escalated to callouts and demonstrates no curiosity about the reasons why or the outcomes sought. (Review by Leila)
From a writing analysis standpoint, this little tome lacks the kind of specifics and examples that could really drive the points home. She speaks almost exclusively in broad generalizations, bordering on philosophy, while rarely giving a specific example and breaking it down. (Review by Carrie Poppy)
There are some very welcome framings of transformation in this text (...) A lot of this writing felt more like it was for adrienne than for the public(...). I was hoping for less generalizations about transformation work + the left, and more specifics about the mechanizations of practicing transformation in community. (Review by Luca Suede)
The basic premise of the book (...) is that if we are interested in building a better world we have to be better with each other. We have to understand that the world we want to change is a world whose abuses have infected us, and if we don't work through our shit and get more skilled at addressing interpersonal conflict, our visions won't become realities. If that sounds like "wow," then you'll probably enjoy the book. If that sounds like "yup, been thinking that for a while now" and you've already engaged with resources and in conversations on the topic, this might not have much new to offer you. (Review by Scout)
I want us to do better. I want to feel like we are responsible for each other’s transformation. Not the transformation from vibrant flawed humans to bits of ash, but rather the transformation from broken people and communities to whole ones. I believe transformative justice could yield deeper trust, resilience, and interdependence. All these mass and intimate punishments keep us small and fragile. And right now our movements and the people within them need to be massive and complex and strong.