I’ve been following somatics practitioner and political organizer Prentis Hemphill for a few years, and have What It Takes To Heal by Prentis Hemphill
I’ve been following somatics practitioner and political organizer Prentis Hemphill for a few years, and have found so much of their work inspiring. Their quote “boundaries are the distance at which I can love you and me simultaneously” has been on a post it note stuck to my computer monitor for a long time, as a way to remind me that boundaries are necessary and important for me to stay well.
I’ve been eagerly awaiting their book, and then once I got the ARC I found that I was not yet mentally and emotionally prepared to dive in. I’m glad I waiting to read it for when I was ready, because this moment in time really feels like the time to read this book.
Hemphill is a somatics practionner with a long history of involvement in social justice movements. Their work is really situated within intense and challenging movement spaces, while being focused on healing and embodiment.
It was really helpful and validating to read their words in this moment of immense political turmoil, and to be reminded that in order to do this type of work, it is absolutely essential to make time and space to emotionally ground yourself. Numbing your emotions, shutting them down, hiding them in a neat little box in the back of your mind is actually destructive. Feeling these emotions can be scary, but it is necessary.
This book is recommended reading for anyone who cares about social justice (and hopefully is already engaged in movement work), and who would like to read about the importance of emotions and healing, particularly in our current political landscape.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC...more
I’ve been following yung pueblo on Instagram for a while, and had previously read and enjoyed his book “Lighter”. This collection of poems and short eI’ve been following yung pueblo on Instagram for a while, and had previously read and enjoyed his book “Lighter”. This collection of poems and short essays was exactly what I needed in this moment. My paper copy is full of stickies and markings. There’s a lot to unpack here, and so much is connected to other recent readings and practices I have been developing. I will be revisiting several components of this book. ...more
This was an incredibly powerful book. It is a collection of letters, many of which are addressed to folks that have hurt the author in different ways.This was an incredibly powerful book. It is a collection of letters, many of which are addressed to folks that have hurt the author in different ways. All the letters are rooted in love and compassion, while not shying away from immense pain and grief. This book is a shining example of the ways in which trauma, anger, and fear can co-exist with love, compassion, empathy, and curiosity. It is a roadmap to forgiveness and healing in all its complexity. One of my greatest personal goals is to live up to this approach to life. Highly highly recommended....more
Kai Cheng Thom is quickly becoming one of my favourite writers and thinkers. So much to think about and unpack in this book. I will be revisiting elemKai Cheng Thom is quickly becoming one of my favourite writers and thinkers. So much to think about and unpack in this book. I will be revisiting elements of this one for sure....more
A friend of mine recommended Dan Harris’ podcast to me several months ago and he has had a major impact on me as I have started listening and followinA friend of mine recommended Dan Harris’ podcast to me several months ago and he has had a major impact on me as I have started listening and following him. I decided to read his book for its 10 year anniversary and recommend it! At this point I find his voice to be incredibly comforting, funny, and relatable, and I’m so glad I went with the audio which he reads.
Harris is a former news anchor for ABC and was a self-described jerk and skeptic. He discovered meditation and had a significant personal transformation when he committed to a regular practice. Since he wrote the book he quit his high powered career in broadcast journalism to work on his podcast and projects that popularize and make meditation accessible.
I feel like I’ve gotten to know Dan Harris via his more recent podcast episodes and online presence, and it was really interesting to travel back in time when reading this book and learn how it all started for him. It’s incredible to really grasp how much he has changed, and to better appreciate the immense courage it took for him to be vulnerable like this in his book and subsequent work.
I love the combination of his sharp humour and his honest self-reflections that reveal his faults and mistakes. There’s something so hopeful to me about someone who is able to sit with complexity and contradiction, reflect on errors and strive to do better without reaching perfection.
I loved the book, can’t wait for his new one. Love the podcast and ADORE the encouragement he shares at the end of each of his instagram videos: inner peace motherf*cker!...more
I’ve been using some of Neff’s guided meditations on the Insight Timer app for a while now, and her model of seThere is a lot to unpack in this book.
I’ve been using some of Neff’s guided meditations on the Insight Timer app for a while now, and her model of self-compassion is described frequently in Brene Brown’s work, so I’ve already benefitted from some of the lessons provided in this book.
The most helpful sections for me were early on, and especially the sections and exercises around tender and fierce self-compassion. I think this section makes the book worthwhile, and is the strongest part for me. I would recommend this section to pretty much everyone.
I have mixed feelings on some of the broader applications of these techniques to things like confronting sexual violence, or how to deploy techniques to shape how folks respond to women in the workplace, or confronting issues of injustice more broadly. I think these techniques are necessary to stay well when working on broader issues, but at the same time I would have liked to have a bit more acknowledgement of the systemic nature of these challenges, as well as the important role of community as a support in these systems. Self-compassion is necessary, but like… no person is an island.
This book is very well researched and cites a lot of primary work - maybe a bit too much even for a science and evidence nerd like me. The book is aimed at women, and is quite heteronormative in a lot of ways. Partially, I think this is a side product of the fact that the research itself, the study populations etc, are quite homogeneously white, cis, and heterosexual. This is a known problem in the field, and I would have liked this to be more meaningfully addressed.
In any case, I did enjoy the book a lot, which is why it gets 4 stars despite the critiques. I think everyone would benefit from developing a self-compassion practice, and her tools for doing so have been and continue to be helpful to me....more
This book was excellent, and it was a lot. I’ve been working on building better boundaries for a while, and it is a struggle. I picked up this book beThis book was excellent, and it was a lot. I’ve been working on building better boundaries for a while, and it is a struggle. I picked up this book because I was hoping it would help me improve my ability to communicate and maintain boundaries in different spheres of my life.
I definitely learned a lot, it felt a little bit like I was being coached while I read it, which was helpful. That being said, I found some of the advice anxiety-provoking when I tried to imagine myself implementing it! Another sign that I need to develop better boundaries. I will keep working on it!...more
I have had this book on my TBR for quite a while, and was waiting to feel ready to read it. Giridharadas’ previous book “Winners Take All” had a transI have had this book on my TBR for quite a while, and was waiting to feel ready to read it. Giridharadas’ previous book “Winners Take All” had a transformative impact on my life, and I wondered if this one would also make a strong impression. I’m glad I read it this summer, because it landed like a both a balm and a framework to understand this political moment.
The central premise of the book is that if progressive movements are going to be successful, we need to persuade others to come on board with our vision for society. You need to find ways to bring more people on board to fighting for the rights and dignity of undocumented folks, LGBTQ+ folks, black and brown folks, to fight for economic, climate and social justice. We can’t win if we don’t build the movement by persuading others. So how do we persuade folks, and who does that work?
The book essentially consists of in depth profiles of key “persuaders”: people who have successful worked to persuade others in different ways, and examines how they do it, what their challenges are, and ultimately presents some key lessons that should be used to inform folks in progressive movement spaces.
Among those profiled are Linda Sarsour and Alicia Garza, Bernie Sander and AOC. I found those sections deeply compelling. The most impactful chapter was the one that follows Anat Shenker-Osorio, a progressive organizer and political advisor. Turns out Shenker-Osorio has been one of Tim Walz’s advisors, and some of the wisdom this book contains is now being enacted live during the current US presidential campaign.
The book talks about the approach of organizer Ernesto Nieto, who tries to strike a balance between “being intransigent about what is right and where things must go”, while also “calling people gently into your visions (…) assuming enough of the humanity of those you want to win over”. He also advocates giving folks “the golden gate of retreat”, which is the idea of “giving people who might change their mind a face-saving way out”.
I really loved the deep dive into Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and in particular the ways that AOC uses both the inside and outside game. I’ve long been an admirer of hers, and I came away from that chapter with a much deeper appreciate for the ways she manages to do the very difficult work of straddling the line between social justice movement spaces and their expectations, and the world of Washington politics and the messiness of actually getting things done politically.
AOC understands that there are some things that can only be accomplished by grassroots organizing, and some things can only be done via legislative change, and you need both. She uses an analogy from her father’s work in home renovation: “it took many tools, and there was a time and place for each tool, and different people might use different tools. But in politics some of the metaphorical carpenters ‘think that if you’re painting the house, you’re a bad person or being counterproductive’”.
The most impactful part of this book follows Anat Shenker-Osorio. It argues that a winning strategy is must involve exciting your base and bringing on board the undecided without diluting your message to some imagined white working class person. This section of the book argues that moderates don’t really exist, what you’ve got are folks who are undecided and can be won over. They are persuadable.
We shouldn’t be leading with outrage and problems, but rather with shared values. “Don’t be wonky; don’t assume everyone is one of your activists; paint the beautiful tomorrow; sell the brownie, not the recipe”. Shenker-Osorio’s theory of change is “engage the base, persuade the base, alienate the opposition”
The book ends with an examination of deep canvassing, and the ways it is essential for at least some folks in the movement to truly listen to folks and engage with them in a way that creates an opening for a changed perspective.
This book was excellent and should be required reading for anyone engaged in social justice work.
Some of the key take home messages for me: - we need to be spending more energy bringing people on board than pushing them out - there are different tools and approaches that are necessary to progressive movement, and not everyone needs to use the same ones. One of the key approaches must be to meet people where they’re at, meet them with compassion and given them a path to change their mind with dignity. “Making space of the waking among the woke” - Alicia Garza - Expending energy trying to get folks who are 90% aligned with you to be 100% aligned is not the best use of time. Reaching out to folks who are less aligned will have more impact. - Stop trying to appeal to some imagined white working class voter by diluting our message. We must energize our base and work on persuading those who are undecided. - We shouldn’t be leading with outrage and problems, but rather with shared values. “Don’t be wonky; don’t assume everyone is one of your activists; paint the beautiful tomorrow; sell the brownie, not the recipe”. Shenker-Osorio’s theory of change is “engage the base, persuade the undecided, alienate the opposition”...more
This book is important and essential reading for folks seeking to understand wealth inequality and how wealth taxes and other forms of progressive taxThis book is important and essential reading for folks seeking to understand wealth inequality and how wealth taxes and other forms of progressive taxation are an essential and non-negotiable part of the solution.
I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while, and jumped on the chance to buddy read it with a friend. I was already quite familiar with several of their arguments and data, but I still learned tons.
The book answers several important questions about inequality and provides clear and data-driven analysis and recommendations to have a more just society. How bad is inequality and how did we get here? Do the rich really pay less taxes than everyone else (spoiler : YES)? What are the mechanisms by which wealthy individuals and multinational corporations avoid taxes, and has it always been this way? What are concrete actionable solutions to these problems (Spoiler: solutions include a wealth taxes, and changes to how corporations are taxed)?
Maintaining growing and extreme wealth inequality is a choice, and we can make different choices. Are you in favour of the status quo, which involves increasing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few? If not, the solutions proposed in this book are a way out of this mess....more
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