When They Call You a Terrorist
A Black Lives Matter Memoir
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3.7 • 178 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.
New York Times Editor’s Pick.
Library Journal Best Books of 2019.
TIME Magazine's "Best Memoirs of 2018 So Far."
O, Oprah’s Magazine’s “10 Titles to Pick Up Now.”
Politics & Current Events 2018 O.W.L. Book Awards Winner
The Root Best of 2018
"This remarkable book reveals what inspired Patrisse's visionary and courageous activism and forces us to face the consequence of the choices our nation made when we criminalized a generation. This book is a must-read for all of us." - Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow
A poetic and powerful memoir about what it means to be a Black woman in America—and the co-founding of a movement that demands justice for all in the land of the free.
Raised by a single mother in an impoverished neighborhood in Los Angeles, Patrisse Khan-Cullors experienced firsthand the prejudice and persecution Black Americans endure at the hands of law enforcement. For Patrisse, the most vulnerable people in the country are Black people. Deliberately and ruthlessly targeted by a criminal justice system serving a white privilege agenda, Black people are subjected to unjustifiable racial profiling and police brutality. In 2013, when Trayvon Martin’s killer went free, Patrisse’s outrage led her to co-found Black Lives Matter with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi.
Condemned as terrorists and as a threat to America, these loving women founded a hashtag that birthed the movement to demand accountability from the authorities who continually turn a blind eye to the injustices inflicted upon people of Black and Brown skin.
Championing human rights in the face of violent racism, Patrisse is a survivor. She transformed her personal pain into political power, giving voice to a people suffering inequality and a movement fueled by her strength and love to tell the country—and the world—that Black Lives Matter.
When They Call You a Terrorist is Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele’s reflection on humanity. It is an empowering account of survival, strength and resilience and a call to action to change the culture that declares innocent Black life expendable.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The Black Lives Matter movement has become a touchstone for people worldwide. In this captivating book, we learn how small and personal its beginnings were. BLM co-founder Patrisse Khan-Cullors grew up in poverty in Van Nuys, California, with her single mother working multiple jobs to support the family. Khan-Cullors describes the systemic racism that she and her friends, family, and neighbors experienced at the hands of police from as early as she can remember with a matter-of-factness that lands like a gut punch. But her memoir is an empowering one, charting how her struggles led her to organize and fight back, eventually teaming with Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi to found BLM in response to the ever-increasing dangers of what she calls “breathing while Black.” Khan-Cullors’ no-holds-barred storytelling ensures that nobody will come away from this book without a clear idea of what racism feels like. She doesn’t just speak truth to power—she spreads the word as widely as possible.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Black Lives Matter cofounder Kahn-Cullors brings an earnest and heartfelt tone, if not always a consistent delivery style, to the audio production of her memoir. Over the course of the book she describes how her early experiences growing up in public housing in Los Angeles led to her political activism. She reads in a conversational manner that in no way belies the emotional weight of the hardships her family endured. The most memorable portions of the narrative are about her mentally ill older brother Monte, who was in and out of prison for years. Kahn-Cullors provides a more wistful tone in describing her immediate and extended families and their devotion to work and self-improvement in the midst of worsening economic and social conditions. In the second half of the book, the narrative addresses the motivations for and tactics of the Black Lives Matter movement. Kahn-Cullors's pacing here is choppy and harder to follow. Still, the audiobook is well worth it for the first half in which listeners are privy to hearing Kahn-Cullors's personal experiences as a black person in America read in her own voice. A St. Martin's hardcover.
Customer Reviews
The true Terrorists are not labeled as such
The fact of the matter is, no matter how BLM began, despite wether it was started on a lie or not, a movement highlighting the racial disparities within the US is necessary. A movement standing against these American institutions, which are so ingrained with racism that even when there’s video proof people still want to ignore it to protect their own fragile ideas of themselves and how they individually fit into a society built upon dehumanizing several groups of people, was bound to happen when the blatant disregard for our own history and the direct effects our nation’s actions have had on marginalized people continues. The true terrorists are within a tyrannical government that lets a violent group abuse its power and then label their malevolence as “Law and Order”.
Learning to be anti-racist
As a white woman, in my late 50’s, I’ve challenged myself to learn about the BLM movement, to understand its mission and beginnings.
I am so glad that part of that was choosing to read Patrisse’s book. Heartbreakingly vulnerable, she opens my eyes to the privilege I hold and take for granted on a day to day basis.
She and her comrades have done the hard work of not only surviving, but fighting back against our country’s laws that were specifically designed to keep them down.
There is much work to be done to bring equality, for all, to America. While I know that I can never speak for the Black, Latinx, and LGTBQ communities, I will use my voice and privilege, wherever and whenever, to amplify their cause.
Hey Luna!!
Hi babe! How are you?! I can’t tell you how amazing it is to see you, even though we have different views!! Love, the BLM rioters are fighting for something much bigger than anything you will ever believe in, and I’m white. My father, however, is black, and I’m proud of that part of me. They are fighting for the right to be treated as human beings, not as an enemy. I love you so much, and I know you will do such fantastic amazing things, once you stop being racist! Also, are you homophobic? Because I’m happy to argue with you about that too! Whatever makes you happy, because love, you are worth the world. You are truly amazing, but please work on your views of people of color!