Every Monday from November 2024 until December 2024

How can we begin to make sense of what we're experiencing in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene? How do we hold the tension of beautiful solidarities, joyful cooperation, and mutual aid with the fear of human-caused climate chaos and the ugliness of systemic neglect, displacement, and exploitation? To untangle these contradictions, and envision an Appalachian future worth fighting for, we're inviting community members to join us in reading Rebecca Solnit's A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster. Co-facilitated by Firestorm staff and Lauren Miller.

Use promo code BEHOLDEN to save 10% on the book at checkout. Firestorm will make copies of the book available at no cost for participants who cannot afford to buy one.

"[Disasters] demonstrate that the citizens any paradise would need—the people who are brave enough, resourceful enough, and generous enough—already exist. The possibility of paradise hovers on the cusp of coming into being, so much so that it takes powerful forces to keep such a paradise at bay. If paradise now arises in hell, it's because in the suspension of the usual order and the failure of most systems, we are free to live and act another way."

Reading Schedule

We'll be dividing the reading into six sessions, corresponding to the sections of the text. Each will roughly stand on its own and you're welcome to join in whether or not you've attended previous sessions.

• Nov. 4th – Prelude & Preface (pages 1-12)
• Nov. 11th – The San Francisco Earthquake, 1906 (pages 13-72)
• Nov. 18th – The Halifax Explosion, 1917 (pages 73-134)
• Nov. 25th – Mexico City's Earthquake, 1985 (pages 135-182)
• Dec. 2nd – September 11th, 2001 (pages 183-230)
• Dec. 9th – Hurricane Katrina, 2005 & Epilogue (pages 231-320)