book review: rest is resistance by tricia hersey
19 Nov 2022
Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
What are the main ideas?
- grind culture is the child of white supremacy and capitalism.
- rest as resistance is the antidote to grind culture.
- just like all things, fucked up values can taint rest (capitalism and white supremacy can turn radical rest as resistance into a commodity or a brand just like they can turn other good things sour). we must be aware of these patterns and resist them.
- collective rest and individual rest are both critical.
- resting gives us access to our true selves.
- you don’t have to do anything to earn or deserve rest. by existing, rest is your birthright.
- dreaming and dreamspace are accessible in rest and when rested.
- we cannot dream or imagine beyond what we currently see and experience if we are not rested.
- rest as resistance is for everyone and it is rooted in black liberation theology, womanist theology, black feminism, afrofuturism, maroons, art, and intergenerational ancestral wisdom.
If I implemented one idea from this book right now, which one would it be?
do not wait to rest. if my body is telling me i need rest, rest now.
How would I describe the book to a friend? in the best possible way, this book shattered some timespace barriers that i didn’t even know i needed broken. the subject matter is revolutionary (in the revolutions are not one time things kind of way) and the delivery is astounding. somehow, tricia hersey has captured the power and energetics of the black sermon in writing and through a single channel, her. of course, she isn’t in the work alone and she regularly brings in all of her inspirations, ancestors, and more. but so much of my experience of black sermons are about the interaction: the pastor’s voice interacting with the organ and the choir interacting with the bodies of listeners and worshippers interacting with Spirit. the book somehow really reads like all of that energy is present. the small swells lead to bigger swells, the refrains deepening and deepening. phew. the craft is just next level. be ready to be transformed or don’t pick this up.
reminder: book review structure
words / writing / post-processing
377w / 14min / 4min