The major challenge of this period is to infuse a consciousness of the structural character of state violence into the moments that spontaneously arise.

I couldn't say anything here that Davis hasn't already said in far better fashion, but I love the central theme of connection and community that links the various interviews, talks, etc., in this book together. Davis makes sure each and every person who reads her book (or attends the talks from which some excerpts of the book were taken) understands the importance of the collective consciousness in the fight against oppression.

But you can’t simply invite people to join you and be immediately on board, particularly when they were not necessarily represented during the earlier organizing processes. You have to develop organizing strategies so that people identify with the particular issue as their issue. This is why I was suggesting in response to the question about Michelle Alexander that these connections need to be made in the contest of the struggles themselves. So, as you are organizing against police crimes, against police racism, you always raise parallels and similarities in other parts of the world.

My experience has been that many people assume that in order to be involved with Palestine, you have to be an expert [...] but too often people feel that they are not sufficiently informed to consider themselves an advocate of justice in Palestine. The question is how to create windows and doors for people who believe in justice to enter and join the Palestine solidarity movement.

This passage punched me in the gut when I heard it for the first time. Davis effortlessly and non-judgementally outlines the problem, then goes on to present accessible countermeasures that reaffirm the importance of each individual's role in a movement. It definitely makes me reconsider my own actions and encourages me to do better as both an advocate and a human being existing within a community.