german and english review

Netgalley ebook

warning: this review is written in my angry voice

Inhalt: Wie viel ein schwarzes Leben zählt. Black Lives Matter ist die neue große Bürgerrechtsbewegung in Amerika. Als im Sommer 2013 der Feuerwehrmann George Zimmerman freigesprochen wurde, der den 17-jährigen schwarzen Schüler Trayvon Martin erschossen hatte, entstand unter dem Hashtag #BlackLivesMatter die neue Bürgerrechtsbewegung. Jetzt erzählt die Mitbegründerin ihre Geschichte.

In diesem Buch erzählt Patrisse Khan-Cullors von einer Kindheit in Angst und Armut. Und sie schildert auf bewegende Weise, wie sie sich dank Literatur und Kunst aus der Hoffnungslosigkeit befreien konnte und welche Verpflichtungen zu einem Engagement für Freiheit und Gerechtigkeit daraus erwachsen sind – in einem Amerika, dessen Minderheiten immer stärker unter Druck geraten.

Je lauter diese neue Bürgerrechtsbewegung ihre Rechte einfordert, desto kritischer wird sie betrachtet. Im Jahr 2016 bezeichnen Politiker und konservative Medien die Mitglieder von Black Lives Matter erstmals als Terroristen. Genauso wie Angela Davis vor 50 Jahren von Präsident Nixon genannt wurde. Aber sie sind keine Terroristen, sie sind Überlebende, wie die Künstlerin und Aktivistin Patrisse Khan-Cullors in ihrem Buch schreibt.

Wie viele Schwarze in den USA blickt sie auf eine Familiengeschichte zurück, die von Demütigungen und Ausweglosigkeit geprägt ist. Sie wächst während der Reagan-Jahre in einem Getto von Los Angeles auf – immer wieder stürmen Polizisten die Wohnung und suchen nach Drogen und Verdächtigen, während sie und ihre Geschwister stocksteif vor Angst auf dem Sofa sitzen. Im Alter von zwölf Jahren wird sie zum ersten Mal festgenommen und ins Gefängnis gebracht.

Meine Bewertung: Das Buch MUSS man einfach lesen!!!

Ich finde, dass ist eins der Bücher, die man gelesen haben sollte. Als jemand der wirklich hinter der #BlackLivesMatter Bewegung steht und wirklich versucht um sie auf unterschiedliche Arten zu unterstützen ist es nur noch eine weitere Erinnerung, warum die Bewegung so verdammt wichtig ist und warum sie so viel Unterstützung von uns bekommen sollte.

Das Buch empfehle ich auch denen, die den #BlackLivesMatter Hashtag mit #AllLivesMatter kontern, weil ja alle Menschen gleich sind und blah blah blah...lest dieses Buch und sagt mir, dass ihr findet, dass es wirklich Gerecht in der Welt zu geht. In diesem Buch werden Situationen beschrieben, in denen wir uns als Weiße NIEMALS sehen werden, in die wir uns nie reinversetzen können weil sie für uns keine Gefahr darstellen. Diese Erfahrungen müssen wir uns anhören oder durchlesen, ohne am Ende mit einem "Aber" zu kontern. Einfach Klappe halten, zu hören, darüber nachdenken und helfen die Welt ein bisschen besser zu machen.

Das Buch hat in mir alle möglichen Gefühle geweckt, da war Freude, da war Leid, Herzschmerz, Frust...und einfach so viel Wut, weil wir in einer Welt leben in der so viele solcher Dinge passieren und es immer noch Leute gibt, die behaupten es wäre alles besser geworden und inzwischen werden alle gleichbehandelt und jeder hat die gleichen Möglichkeiten. SHUT UP, ich wünschte so würde die wirkliche Welt funktionieren, aber das tut sie nicht!!!

***

Summary: A poetic and powerful memoir about what it means to be a Black woman in America—and the co-founding of a movement that demands justice for all in the land of the free.

Raised by a single mother in an impoverished neighborhood in Los Angeles, Patrisse Khan-Cullors experienced firsthand the prejudice and persecution Black Americans endure at the hands of law enforcement. For Patrisse, the most vulnerable people in the country are Black people. Deliberately and ruthlessly targeted by a criminal justice system serving a white privilege agenda, Black people are subjected to unjustifiable racial profiling and police brutality. In 2013, when Trayvon Martin’s killer went free, Patrisse’s outrage led her to co-found Black Lives Matter with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi.

Condemned as terrorists and as a threat to America, these loving women founded a hashtag that birthed the movement to demand accountability from the authorities who continually turn a blind eye to the injustices inflicted upon people of Black and Brown skin.

Championing human rights in the face of violent racism, Patrisse is a survivor. She transformed her personal pain into political power, giving voice to a people suffering in equality and a movement fueled by her strength and love to tell the country—and the world—that Black Lives Matter.

When They Call You a Terrorist is Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele’s reflection on humanity. It is an empowering account of survival, strength and resilience and a call to action to change the culture that declares innocent Black life expendable.

My review: This book is a must read!!!

I truly think that this is one of those books that you just have to read. As someone who supports the #BlackLivesMatter movement and looks for all the ways to support them, this book is just such a reminder why this movement is so damn important and why it needs all the support.

This book is also something that people should read that just can't help themselve to answer the #BlackLivesMatter Hastag with #AllLivesMatter, since everyone is equal and blah blah blah...read this book and tell me that you truly think that the world is fair. There are situations described in this book that we as white people NEVER gonna experience, that we can never relate to cause they aren't a threat to us. Those experiences we have to listen to or read about, without retorting with a "but". Just shut up, listen, think about it, and find ways to help change the way the world works for the better.

This book gave me all the feels, there was joy, there was pain, heartbreak, frustration...and just so much anger cause we live in a world where all this shit is happening and people still talking about how much things have changed and how every person is equal and that everyone has the same opportunities. SHUT UP, I wish this was how the real world works, but it doesn't!!!

Above on sale for kindle this month - in US at least.   Also Martin's Wild Card series has a few volumes on sale. Coretta Scott King's Memoir, House of  Cards books, Hair Story, Native Guard (poetry, really good poetry), Chronicles of Kazam, Conversation with Mandela (with Obama) are also on sale.

There are several YA and children's Afro-American history titles as well.

Comixology sale on Transformers, Lumberjanes, Goldie Vance, Star Wars, and Dr. Strange

Book:  If you can find a copy, read Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet.  Or read any book about a leader of a movement, nation, religion or large group, OR read a book with a green cover OR with a half moon on the cover.

When They Call You a Terrorist is a memoir by one of the founders of Black Lives Matter, so I'm using to to claim this door.

Patrisse Khan-Cullors' life story is not an easy one. Living in Los Angeles with her family, including a brother who we will learn suffers from schizoaffective disorder and a mother who works from sun up to well after dark to keep her children together, sheltered and fed is not easy, but it is what she knew as a child. There are far too many examples of things that should not happen in this book. Sadly, none of it is surprising, despite the shock that these things happen - repeatedly.

I found the story of her brother, a gentle man with a misunderstood illness which was criminalized, most upsetting. Through the years I have desperately tried to get some of the larger mental health organizations to understand that police should be the very last people involved in mental health checks or emergencies. I have often been met with complete agreement and little, if any, follow-through. So I gritted my teeth as I heard yet another story of a person penalized for being ill and the trauma brought on the entire family because of the stupidity and arrogance of those involved in this system.

While reading this book it's easy to see how many ways this system is broken. It's easy to feel almost beaten down and deflated. But what makes Patrisse Khan-Cullors and her fellow BLM founders, as well as others who have organized and planned behind the scenes to push for change to happen is the hope she clearly still has. She would not be working so hard if she didn't believe that things could change, and that's how I left this book. Her final words are uplifting, spirited, nurturing, gentle and kind - even as they continue to push us toward what often feels like insurmountable change. Knowing that women like this exist in the world is one more thing that gets me to the meeting after work when I'm tired and would rather veg out.

This is one woman's story. Hers is both typical and entirely unique. Her story tells us much about our current political and structural systems in the US, and how much needs to change. I hope she is a harbinger of the generations to come. I think she is.