book review: we will not cancel us by adrienne maree brown
01 Mar 2021
We Will Not Cancel Us: And Other Dreams of Transformative Justice by Adrienne Maree Brown
What are the main ideas?
- restorative justice (RJ) is aimed at restoring conditions (sometimes even as those conditions are unequal or inequitable). transformative justice (TJ) is aimed at transforming contexts by rooting at the roots of harm.
- when working with folks in processes about harm, having shared definitions of key terms is REALLY important. the words amb prioritizes in the book are: abuse, conflict, and harm. secondary but still important words are: critique, contradiction, misunderstanding, and mistake.
- capitalism clouds our vision and makes it hard to see if you/we are moving towards liberation or towards destruction in our attempts to bring about justice.
- accountability must be irresistible if it is going to overtake our current punitive system.
- we must prioritize learning as we do this (because most of our societies/communities donāt know how to)
- at least in the frame of āamericaā we are at the beginning of this learning journey.
If I implemented one idea from this book right now, which one would it be?
adrienneās last sentence in the book: āeach of us is precious. we, together, must break every cycle that makes us forget this.ā live like this is true.
How would I describe the book to a friend?
super brief collection of adrienneās most recent thinking on transformative justice. as always, she directs attention and brings in words of many others who she is learning, from/with, both historical and contemporary folks (and of course, never forgetting mother nature as a teacher). there is an underlying sense of hope that is powerful and foundationalā¦ and there is a tone that is intentional to bring into focus practices and ways of thinking that seem to be out of alignment with the most liberatory destinations.
reminder: book review structure