When They Call You a Terrorist is a memoir that gives more context to the Black Lives Matter movement as the author, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, is one of the movement's founders. Though the book is a few years old now in 2020, it's still timely as we see protests across the nation following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and others. I am reminded, reading this, that "I can't breathe" have been the dying words of several -- too many -- in recent years.

The book is written as a series of essays with one part discussing the racism that Khan-Cullors and her family experienced and how that led to her activism, and one part covering how that past and history of activism shaped itself into the Black Lives Matter movement. It clearly discusses BLM's goals and what it stands for, and I wish more people would read it and try to understand before they call it a terrorist organization or a radical far-left movement.

It's a short book and a compelling read, especially if you are interested in learning more about the movement and inform your understanding of our current cultural climate. I came away from it feeling motivated to help make a change in the world. I hope others will read it and feel the same. My only criticism is that a few of the essays jumped around in time a little bit, so people or ideas were presented as if for the first time when we'd read about them previously. It's a very minor structural thing, though, and shouldn't be a reason to not read this book.

I know that sociological overviews and, for lack of a better term, how-to books for eliminating racism are all the rage right now, but I love a good memoir that doesn't just tell me what people experience but shows it to me through their stories. For me, this helps me to better understand what they have been through and how they felt. It is important and necessary and right to listen and hear these stories.