How the Fuck Did We Get Here
Starting to question the way things are? Here are some readings which reveal the larger forces propping up the current system and those in power—and what we can do about it!
"Solnit's chronicle and analysis of how people respond after disasters gave me better eyes to look at my experience of Hurricane Helene. While truly acknowledging the tragedy and grief that disasters bring, Solnit also recognizes how our human nature of communal help awakens in that moment, bringing joy of helping others and being helped. Contrary to our propagandized popular belief that humans are helpless in disasters and need authority to control us, Solnit's historical examples show how ordinary people were autonomously capable of organizing themselves into helping each other. This book takes a deep, philosophical look into our human nature that I enjoyed exploring along."—Koko, Firestorm Collective member
“Zinn has written a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited politically and economically and whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories. Extending its coverage . . . the book is an excellent antidote to establishment history. Seldom have quotations been so effectively used; the stories of blacks, women, Indians, and poor laborers of all nationalities are told in their own words. While the book is precise enough to please specialists, it should satisfy any adult reader.”—Library Journal
"I read Angels With Dirty Faces in one sitting, mesmerized by what Walidah Imarisha has accomplished. It is a daring dive into the real deal about why prisons don't work...written in such lyrical, fierce poetry it takes your breath away."—Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, editor of The Revolution Starts at Home
The story of the fight against fascism across the African diaspora, revealing that Black antifascism has always been vital to global freedom struggles. At once a history for understanding fascism and a handbook for organizing against, The Black Antifascist Tradition is an essential book for understanding our present moment and the challenges ahead. In shining a light on fascism and anti-Blackness, Hope and Mullen argue, the writers and organizers featured in this book have also developed urgent tools and strategies for overcoming it.
"On the basic (but utterly neglected by many) foundation that "No human being is illegal," Walia offers an expansive exploration of what the ‘border’ is and what it does. Full of research not just from the US but around the world, I learned a lot about how white-supermacist empires intentionally built and use the border to divide, racialize, and exploit people; and how causes for migrations are actually created by the same empires that vehemently criminalize those that are pushed out from their home. Walia is clear that these effects of border control are not only made possible by right-wing policies but are also executed by liberal politics."—Koko, Firestorm Collective member
"Alec Karakatsanis exposes our criminal injustice system for what it is: a bureaucracy of punishment, propped up by a biased media machine that feeds mass incarceration. After Copaganda, you’ll never read the news the same way again." —Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow
Writing for those new to activism as well as those who have been in social movements for a long time, Dean Spade draws on years of organizing to offer a radical vision of community mobilization, social transformation, compassionate activism, and solidarity.
"A combination of scholarly research, cultural criticism, and political commentary, this book reads like An Indigenous Peoples' History in reverse. Chapters are devoted to the successive waves of migrants and arrivants who complicate the narrative of a liberal multiculturalism that emerged in response to the Civil Rights Movement. Dunbar-Ortiz offers sharp criticism of those on the Left who have promoted a "friendly" nationalism that wallpapers over the genocidal settler colonialism at the core of Americanism."—Libertie, Firestorm Collective member
"An engaging and poetic primer in liberation, with enormous value to the new and seasoned alike. The book is split into four sections, beginning in Palestine, traveling on for a crash course in global history, through to Chiapas, Black liberation, and our impossible task ahead. As I read, I felt so many things click satisfyingly into place alongside QuiQui's big picture analysis, while her references offer a thousand worthwhile threads to follow."—Beck, Firestorm Collective member
Ending violence and creating peace begins with ourselves and our interpersonal encounters in our daily lives. With impeccable wisdom and graceful simplicity, Peace by Peace offers 99 points to provoke thought and discussion and transform our relationships and lives.
"A brilliant exploration of 'alternatives' to policing and incarceration! It's a meticulously researched exploration of popular reforms that centers the stories of real people to craft a highly readable but utterly devastating critique. Importantly, it also offers transformative, community-based solutions."—Libertie, Firestorm Collective member
Taking Sides is a critical response to divisive debates within current movements against police violence and white supremacy, especially since Michael Brown's murder. These sharp interventions ask activists to avoid easy—and safe—answers and take on the hard work of building real grassroots solidarity across racial lines.