Editor's Note: This review was originally published in
Manhattan Book Review.
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Cara Page
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Working toward political and spiritual liberation requires spiritual, mental, and emotional fortitude to persevere and avoid burnout. Long-time movement leaders Cara Page and Erica Woodland curate an anthology of essays about abolitionist approaches to leading change. The community-led practices described in each essay encompass progressive solutions from across the United States. The authors explained the evolution of healing justice movements and the enduring success of many organizations like the Kindred Collective and Tewa Women United. From overcoming generational trauma to critiquing the medical-industrial complex, movement builders emphasize the importance of imagining and working toward a liberatory future.
This volume is much-needed amid racial, reproductive, and environmental justice movements hindered by battle scars and fatigue. People who choose this work give their all to disrupting and transforming systemic inequities. Often, they do so while carrying generations of unprocessed grief and unresolved trauma. The authors discuss healing and renewal in the context of moving liberation forward.
In this offering, the authors created space for learning how to sustain oneself through community-led strategies to combat hateful, extractive, and violent systems. Learning about tools, methods, and practices for sustaining collective survival was helpful. Each essay is informative for developing strategy and restorative for anyone seeking the courage to accelerate the work.
