The writings of black women, such as Assata Shakur, Michelle Alexander and now Angela Davis, have been instrumental in helping me cultivate a more “radical” way of thinking. These women have taught me more about the (true) history of America than any history class in HS ever did. Davis discusses the danger of individualistic thinking, intersectionality in struggle, the power of community and much more. 

I put radical in quotations marks because I ponder why must it be labeled radical for those of us that see AND want to change the norm of people being oppressed socially, economically, racially, etc? I digress. Davis made me consider how individualistic thinking is harmful to movements for struggle. When we hyper-focus on the work(s) of specific individuals, we have a tendency to forget that it takes the work of an organized group of people to make a movement successful. Similarly, this way of thinking interferes with us being able to see the parallels of struggle in other communities/countries besides our own. 

Despite many of us not having a drop of Palestinian blood in our bodies, we have seen across the world how the struggle for Palestine’s liberation, shared oppressive pain has (again) brought us together. In the midst of the horrors we are witnessing Palestinians in Gaza experience, it continues to prove how powerful community is when we come together. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is a helpful precursor to understanding Freedom is a Constant Struggle, which is the perfect stepping stone to grasping comprehensive work such as Palestine: A Socialist introduction.  

“It is in collectives that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism.”