Welcome to Litsy!

My first essay book of this kind since perhaps grad school. I'm still itching for a plot as if it were a work of fiction.

How We Get Free is a series of interviews with the women who started the Combahee River Collective, a socialist, black feminist, and mostly lesbian, organization in the 1970s. It ends with an interview with Alicia Garza, connecting black feminist activism of past and present. This is more their philosophies than details of their activism. It‘s interesting but I think it would have benefited from a bit of editing for clarity in places.

“We are actively committed to struggling against racial, sexual, heterosexual, and class oppression, and see as our particular task the development of integrated analysis and practice based upon the fact that the major systems of oppression are interlocking. The synthesis of these oppressions creates the conditions of our lives.” Combahee River Collective Statement.

A definite must read for all feminist.

December reads! What books are you reading to end out 2018?

Great book containing amazing interviews by the founders of the Combahee River Collective and Alicia Garza (co-founder of Black Lives Matter). A great resource for activists and those interested in the lessons shared by these amazing black feminist socialist activists as well as a a riveting account of their personal narratives and rise to political consciousness. Highly recommend!

A quick look at the history and legacy of the Combahee River Collective, told through interviews with some of its members & modern activists.* Mainly interview transcripts, very conversational in tone, complete with asides & verbal tics. For the audio, the same narrator does each voice. She's talented, but I would have liked some distinction between the interviews.

*The interview with BLM cofounder Alicia Garza near the end was particularly good