Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy

by Chris Crass

Organized into four sections, this collection of essays is geared toward activists engaging with the dynamic questions of how to create and support effective movements for visionary systemic change. These essays and interviews present powerful lessons for transformative organizing. It offers a firsthand look at the challenges and the opportunities of antiracist work in white communities, feminist work with men, and bringing women of color feminism into the heart of social movements. Drawing on two decades of personal activist experience and case studies within these areas, Crass’s essays insightfully explore ways of transforming divisions of race, class, and gender into catalysts for powerful vision, strategy, and building movements in the United States today. This collection will inspire and empower anyone who is interested in implementing change through organizing.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, Activism, Social Justice, Race, Politics, Justice

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Chris Crass is a longtime organizer, educator, and writer working to build powerful working class-based, feminist, multiracial movements for collective liberation. Throughout the 1990s he was an organizer with Food Not Bombs, an economic justice anti-poverty group and network; with them he helped build up the direct action-based anti-capitalist Left internationally.

Building on the successes and challenges of the mass direct action convergences of the global justice movement, most notably in Seattle against the WTO in 1999, he helped launch the Catalyst Project. Catalyst Project combines political education and organizing to develop and support anti-racist politics, leadership, and organizing in white communities and builds dynamic multiracial alliances locally and nationally. Through Catalyst Project, where he was the co-coordinator for more then a decade, he worked with tens of thousands of activists working on a wide range of issues in their communities and on their campuses. Through workshops on anti-racism, feminism for men, developing collective leadership and lessons from past movements, Crass has supported hundreds of organizations and leaders around the country.

In 2000 he was a co-founder of the Colours of Resistance network, which served as a think tank and clearinghouse of anti-racist feminist analysis and tools for activists in the U.S. and Canada. After Sept. 11th, 2001, he helped to found the Heads Up Collective which brought together a cadre of white anti-racist organizers to build up the multiracial Left in the San Francisco, Bay Area through alliances between the majority white anti-war movement and locally-based economic and racial justice struggles in communities of color. He was also a member of the Against Patriarchy Men's Group that supported men in developing their feminist analysis and their feminist leadership.

He has written widely about anti-racist and anarchist organizing, lessons from women of color feminism, and strategies to build visionary movements. His essays have been translated into half a dozen languages, taught in hundreds of classrooms, and included in over a dozen anthologies including Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World, On the Road to Healing: An Anthology for Men Ending Sexism, and We Have Not Been Moved: Resisting Racism and Militarism in 21st Century America.

He graduated from San Francisco State University in Race, Class, Gender and Power Studies. Originally from California, he currently lives in Knoxville, Tennessee with his partner Jardana Peacock and their son, River. He is a member of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and was worked with dozens of faith-based communities to help build up the spiritual Left.

Reviews

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

To put it succinctly: this book is invaluable, and you should read it.

Chris Crass has been involved in anti-authoritarian activism and organizing work for something on the order of two decades, and his experiences are brought to bear with startling clarity and context in this book. The book begins with a history of anarchist & anti-authoritarian organizing--when I interviewed Chris I asked him why he chose to open such a modern book with a history lesson. He pointed out that knowing the successes and failures of those who have come before us is crucial in developing our movements beyond the mistakes of the past.

The book continues with a lengthy section on coming of age with San Fransisco Food Not Bombs in the 1990s. It's full of terrific stories *and* useful advice on participating in and helping to lead a non-hierarchical organization facing state repression. He critically examines the processes FNB used to deal with problems of sexism and racism, and provides pointers on how to avoid the pitfalls FNB fell victim to from time to time. There's also a great discussion of the importance of men's involvement in anti-sexist work, and the necessity of white organizers & activists to make anti-racist practice part of the core of their work. The book closes with a series of interviews with organizations actively engaged in building a better world, and Chris presses these leaders from around the world to find out how they won, dealt with setbacks, or navigated the waters of nonhierarchical teamwork and positive leadership.

If you do organizing or activist work, you ought to read this. It's that simple. Chris has done us all a service by bringing his critical mind to the history of his own work, and what emerges is a book anyone can learn from.

[Bree Ervin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a hard time rating this book - I'd like to give it a 4 because I think that the information in it is really powerful, but in the end I had to give it a 3 because for me, accessing the information was more arduous than I had space for.

We can start with little things like the font size - this might be the only book I ever recommend someone get as an ebook if only so that you can zoom in and make the font a readable size.
There is also the density of the information - there is a lot going on in this book which made it sometimes feel like a slog to get to the pieces that were really useful/pertinent.
There is a TON of name dropping in this book which is a personal pet peeve of mine - on one hand, I get it, it's a book about creating an anti-racist, feminist world written by a straight white guy, so to get around the "Man mansplains radical activism to radical activists" label he takes the time to establish his credibility in this space, to acknowledge the many women and POC who educated him and helped him not be That Guy - all the same, what that really made me want was to read THEIR books.

I think that this book had some really powerful history, and ideas and lessons in it, but I felt like they all got a bit jumbled up.

If I read (skimmed) the intros and prologues correctly this book is more a collection of essays that sort of build on each other rather than a cohesive book that lays out a true plan of action.

If I had a magic wand, I would go back in time and offer to edit these essays to make them into a single, solid book. I think a lot of the repetition could have been cut and the book could have been shaped so that each chapter really built off the previous one and really helped a lay-person understand radical activism and perhaps even find their own space within that framework.

As it was, I felt like I was sitting down to a college dissertation and I admit there were times that I struggled to stay engaged. I wanted to jump ahead and get to the point already.

This book reminded me of a few other books I have read about non-profit work and activism that got rather bogged down in the minutia and lost the forest for the trees.

I look forward to a condensed, Cliffs Notes type version of this book being released - I think it would have better luck reaching a fresh, open minded audience if it were tightened up a bit.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please read this book!

A few quotes that mattered to me:
- ...she helped me begin to locate myself within a complex power analysis of society in which I had material and psychological privilege as a man. I recognized this as a profoundly important moment in my growth. And it still felt like shit.
- doing anti-racist work as a white person doesn't mean not making mistakes, but rather that we are committed to doing this work, even though we will make mistakes.
- remember that social change is a process, and that our individual transformation and individual liberation are intimately interconnected with social transformation and social liberation.
- "organizers had to be morale boosters, teachers, welfare agents, transportation coordinators, canvassers, public speakers, negotiators, lawyers, all while communicating with people who range from illiterate sharecroppers to well-off professionals and while enduring harassment from agents of the law and listening with one ear for threats of violence. Exciting days and major victories are rare."
- many of us, myself included, want to be the "perfect" ally, a good white person. What we have to understand is that being the best ally that you can be usually means working with other white folks.
- so we are faced with a choice. Do we write these folks off? Do we challenge them in a self-righteous way that blames them for not getting it - and then more often than not means that they are going to get defensive and not get it? Or is there a way that we can challenge and support them at the same time to see their issues as connected?
- we can tap into the ways that people within the broad category of "white" experience marginalization, and understand that addressing those experiences of marginalization don't have to be a distraction from addressing racism and other forms of privilege, but can be a way of identifying and acting from our collective stake in liberation.
- having compassion and love for yourself is an important part of becoming a leader and organizer for liberation.
- "don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are an organizer, especially if you are a dude, you should read this. Creating spaces where women and people of color can feel comfortable and empowered to step up requires work. It doesn't just happen on its own.

[Stacy Kono · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you hugged an anarchist today?

After reading Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-Racist Organizing, Feminist Praxis, and Movement Building Strategy, by Chris Crass, I’m inclined to seek out my anarchist friends to acknowledge them for their courage and principled commitment to, and the long history of their tradition’s, organizing for people’s power and freedom.

The book’s first essay, “A New World in Our Hearts: Anarchism and the Need for Dynamic and Visionary Left Politics” clarifies the core of anarchism – rooted in the “principles of mutual aid, grassroots democracy, and equality” (23); underscoring how the political tradition has been vilified by the ruling class which emphasizes the call for revolution as violent and destructive. The oversimplification of anarchism as “creating chaos” serves to erase the history of radical organizing and the deeper values of cooperation and peace.

Chris highlights leaders like Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, who worked in the US in the 1880s for reproductive freedom, against the draft during WWI, and for worker organizing. Both were sent to prison and deported. During that same period, the International Workers of the World (IWW) were vocal opponents of the Chinese Exclusion Act – a sole voice within the left and labor movements.

Anarcho-pacifists of the 1940s and 1950s organized workers, spoke out against the incarceration of Japanese Americans families, like mine, the holocaust, and protested the atomic bombing of Japan.

In the more recent history, the collection lifts up the important role anarchists have played in the environmental movement, WTO protests in Seattle and globally, and the Occupy movement. Chris shares his personal story of work with San Francisco Food Not Bombs and interviews with anti-racist, feminist organizers across the country, highlights the radical contributions of the Groundwork Collective, the Rural Organizing Project and Catalyst Project, of which Chris was a founding member.

Through the stories, interviews and history, Chris invites radical activists and organizers, to engage in liberation praxis. “We can be radical, relevant, strategic and visionary as we participate in the reality of everyday life to build the new world in the shell of the old.” (34-35) Whether we identify as anarchists or not, we need to be willing to be flexible and open given the complex and contradictory conditions we are organizing in. In reflecting on his own experiences as well as including interviews with other white anti-racist, feminist organizers he lifts up the ways radical organizing is changing our communities.

As a woman of color, who has experienced working with white activists who are struggling to figure out their role as an ally, I was struck by Chris’ sharing of his personal praxis, his willingness to describe the challenges he faced and continues to engage with in his own development as an organizer to be aware of and understand his privilege as a white man. This is something that many other white activists have a hard time acknowledging out of shame or fear – as if admitting the challenge will somehow delegitimize their commitment. Chris’ vulnerability and honesty models how our commitment to social justice movement building can and needs to be drawn from an “ethic of love.”

Towards Collective Liberation is a thoughtful and generous invitation to organizers to build off the history of radical movement building with creativity, authenticity, and love.

[T.Kay Browning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almost thou convinces me to be an anarchist. Actually there seemed to an assumption of the logic of anarchy, and this book spent most of its time on working through how anarchists can best organize in order to combat sexism, racism and classism. Really interesting stuff. Prejudice remains so firmly entrenched in society that having a bunch of people personally committed to equality won't be enough to get it done. Also, what he had to say about what role very privileged people can play in social movements really struck me. For me, it was the first thorough and convincing structure for what I can do as a white, educated, probable middle class, male. Learn all you can, accept criticism and organize your fellow privileged, pretty much, resisting the urge to spend all your time trying to be the "good white guy" in minority organizations. It's a book I would come back to again.

[Kal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book painted a beautiful and inspiring picture of activism across movements, of an activist Left based not on maintaining distinctions between strict dogmas, but on holding our differences with kindness while lifting up the voices and leadership of those most oppressed in our society. Despite this lofty goal, the book wasn't overly "idealistic" - Chris Crass offered practical experience and solutions for organizing in a way that reflects the kind of society we want to live in. In particular, he made an important distinction between organizations that have horizontal leadership structures, and organizations that have no formal leadership structures at all, which, while a common goal for many leftist groups, can result in unconsciously upholding structures of oppression and privilege that exclude people of color and women from leadership roles. I really appreciated Chris Crass's honesty and vulnerability dealing with his own development as an anti-racist, feminist white man. In fact, I wish every man I know could read his essays on the harms of patriarchy for men and boys, and the responsibility of gender-privileged people to stand against gender oppression (as an institution and in the ways it plays out in interpersonal and organizational activist relationships) while treating their own complicity and privilege with love instead of guilt or shame - a lesson anyone with a privileged identity can learn from.

[Alissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure I'll come back to this one -- my complaints are similar to other readers: that tiny fucking typeface! the dry dry dry language! and not to be reductive, but I don't feel a great pressing need to read a book about social justice by a straight white dude, however well-intentioned and connected. I gave up while reading the granular history of Food Not Bombs and tired of Crass' overuse of the word "analysis". I feel like this was ultimately the kind of inaccessible writing (and printing!) that turns people off of movement work.

[Brittany Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so useful to me as an activist and grad student. I see so many of the barriers to collective liberation that Chrass identifies in the organizations he has known replicated in the organizations I am involved in myself. I appreciate the wealth of strategies that he explains, with concrete examples. I would recommend to any of my fellow anti-racist, social justice activists.

[Rob McB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Towards Collective Liberation is a book of many parts. These pieces of history, memoir, interviews, and lessons can be read separately, but they all gain from being read up against each other. Some have been published previously and can be found on chriscrass.org, along with additional essays and interviews that extend the book.

Chris Crass explains that he set out to share his understanding "that people with privilege [need] to go through a process of developing identity politics based on their privileged identities. The goal of this would be to develop analysis for people with privilege to understand themselves in relationship to both historical systems of oppression and systemic social change. These politics would be rooted in a commitment to collective action for revolutionary change." He does this based on a life of activism from his high school discovery of anarchism (in Orange County in the late 1980s) through numerous other collectives and campaigns, including struggles for Ethnic Studies, Food Not Bombs, the Battle of Seattle, Challenging White Supremacy, Catalyst Project and others.

Anarchism is a consistent thread throughout the book. The detailed narrative of the anarchist movement in the contemporary U.S. laid out by Chris Dixon in the introduction and by the author in his chapter on Food Not Bombs will be very helpful to those not already immersed in those politics, as it has been to me. And for those who have traveled through that history, Crass provides a probing reexamination.

Crass' version is a generous, warm-spirited, eclectic anarchism that is non-sectarian - or rather, anti-sectarian. This was a revelation to this old New Lefty, so completely different from the bitter ideological struggles of the 60s and 70s. Since I was drawn to the book from bumping up against Chris and comrades in street actions, political education, and solidarity work, it was not surprising to find such an embracing view.

As he spells it out in the first chapter: "I believe that ideas, insights, and leadership from different Left traditions, such as anarchism, Marxism, feminism, revolutionary nationalism, queer liberation, and revolutionary non-violence are needed as we create a political movement that draws the best from the past and opens space for new visions, ideas, and strategies." This is quite a mash-up, but most of the time it is fertile compost. Certainly better than our New Left practice of never letting the boiled peas touch the white bread or the mystery meat on our plates.

Some readers may wonder who the book is written for. In his opening chapter, Crass explains: "throughout the process of writing and conducting interviews, I thought often of my teenage activist self and so many others going through similar journeys of becoming activists. I share my own experiences and lessons, as well as those of some of the most outstanding white anti-racist organizers in the country, with the hope that they help you in your own process of developing as an effective, healthy, and visionary long-haul activist, organizer, and leader." Some passages have a more specific audience. Crass writes in his history of San Francisco Food Not Bombs that this is "an essay for other people raised male who identify as men and who, like me, are Left/anarchist organizers with privilege struggling to build movements for collective liberation. It is written for men in the movement who have been challenged on their sexism and male privilege and are looking for support."

That is, of course, not the only audience. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz points to a wider readership in her foreword, emphasizing the connections across generations and movements that Crass advocates. Indeed, reading her own memoirs (Red Dirt, Outlaw Woman, Blood on the Border) juxtaposed to that of Crass (and others) makes for a much deeper grasp of left history than any social science tome. Again, an important contrast to the experience of my generation, when we returned the scorn heaped upon us by the Old Left with our slogan of never trusting anyone over thirty.

The last section of the book consists of interviews with Catalyst Project in the Bay Area, San Francisco's Heads Up Collective, the Rural Organizing Project in Oregon, Louisville's Fairness Campaign, and Groundwork in Madison. These interviews are valuable extensions of the white anarchist anti-racist politics laid out in the first chapters. However, Crass' earlier piece on Food Not Bombs is a better model of critical reflection, making the reader wish for sharper analyses of these efforts.

Some of the "lessons learned" may seem a bit didactic. However, many activists of Crass' generation have welcomed these and god knows we could have benefitted from something like this in 1968. And 1969. And 19.... Taken in context with personal stories and combined with a Freirean pedagogy (as in Catalyst Project's workshops) they can be quite useful.

Some key political issues are treated so lightly they are effectively submerged: there is little international perspective beyond acknowledgement of the example set by the Zapatistas. While "war" is mentioned throughout the book, it is as often in the phrase "war against the poor (or immigrants, or working class)" rather than the actuality of missiles, bombs and torture. Anti-war activism is mostly treated as a pacifist opposition to all war rather than work to end the here-and-now devastation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Mali, Chiapas and beyond.

Perhaps underlying this weakness is the avoidance of settler colonialism in U.S. society, with the one telling exception of Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's foreword. Anti-racist practice, no matter how passionate, is incomplete without it.

One part of the book that would be extremely helpful is missing: images. Photos, posters and other graphics would have added much. Similarly, reproductions of flyers, news articles, pamphlets and other pieces of material history would lend a deeper dimension to the story. It is high time that movement authors and publishers take advantage of present opportunities to do this - as modeled, for example, by Nancy Kurshan's history of the struggle against super-max prisons, Out of Control: A Fifteen-Year Battle Against Control Unit Prisons, which offers a rich web archive of PDFs, images, and video linked to the text. PM Press does provide an e-book version of Towards Collective Liberation as well as the paperback; beyond improving accessibility, this helps offset the lack of an index.

Overall, in its many parts, the book is a valuable tool for activists in a variety of social justice movements to reflect on recent history and current practice, moving on our various paths Towards Collective Liberation.

[kripsoo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Towards Collective Liberation is a book of many parts These pieces of history, memoir, interviews, and lessons can be read separately but they all gain from being read up against each other Some have been published previously and can be found on his website, chriscrass org, along with additional essays and interviews that extend the book and Chris Crass explains that he set out to share his understanding "that people with privilege need to go through a process of developing identity politics based on their privileged identities The goal of this would be to develop analysis for people with privilege to understand themselves in relationship to both historical systems of oppression and systemic social change These politics would be rooted in a commitment to collective action for revolutionary change He does this based on a life of activism from his high school discovery of anarchism (in Orange County in the late 1980s) through numerous other collectives and campaigns, including struggles for Ethnic Studies, Food Not Bombs, the Battle of Seattle, Challenging White Supremacy, Catalyst Project and others and Anarchism is a consistent thread throughout the book The detailed narrative of the anarchist movement in the contemporary U.S. laid out by Chris Dixon in the introduction and by the author in his chapter on Food Not Bombs will be very helpful to those not already immersed in those politics as it has been to me And for those who have traveled through that history Crass provides a probing reexamination and Crass version is a generous, warm-spirited, eclectic anarchism that is non-sectarian - or rather, anti-sectarian. This was a revelation to this old New Lefty so completely different from the bitter ideological struggles of the 60s and 70s Since I was drawn to the book from bumping up against Chris and comrades in street actions, political education and solidarity work, it was not surprising to find such an embracing view As he spells it out in the first chapter: I believe that ideas, insights and leadership from different Left traditions such as anarchism, Marxism, feminism, revolutionary nationalism, queer liberation and revolutionary non-violence are needed as we create a political movement that draws the best from the past and opens space for new visions, ideas and strategies This is quite a mash-up but most of the time it is fertile compost Certainly better than our New Left practice of never letting the boiled peas touch the white bread or the mystery meat on our plates and Some readers may wonder who the book is written for In his opening chapter, Crass explains: "throughout the process of writing and conducting interviews, I thought often of my teenage activist self and so many others going through similar journeys of becoming activists I share my own experiences and lessons as well as those of some of the most outstanding white anti-racist organizers in the country with the hope that they help you in your own process of developing as an effective, healthy and visionary long-haul activist, organizer and leader " Some passages have a more specific audience. Crass writes in his history of San Francisco Food Not Bombs that this is are Left/anarchist organizers with privilege struggling to build movements for collective liberation It is written for men in the movement who have been challenged on their sexism and male privilege and are looking for support and That is of course not the only audience. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz points to a wider readership in her foreword, emphasizing the connections across generations and movements that Crass advocates. Indeed, reading her own memoirs (Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie, Outlaw Woman: A Memoir of the War Years 1960-1975, Blood on the Border A Memoir of the Contra War) juxtaposed to that of Crass (and others) makes for a much deeper grasp of left history than any social science tome Again an important contrast to the experience of my generation when we returned the scorn heaped upon us by the Old Left with our slogan of never trusting anyone over thirty and The last section of the book consists of interviews with Catalyst Project in the Bay Area, San Francisco's Heads Up Collective, the Rural Organizing Project in Oregon, Louisville's Fairness Campaign, and Groundwork in Madison. These interviews are valuable extensions of the white anarchist anti-racist politics laid out in the first chapters However Crass earlier piece on Food Not Bombs is a better model of critical reflection making the reader wish for sharper analyses of these efforts and Some of the lessons learned may seem a bit didactic However many activists of Crass' generation have welcomed these and god knows we could have benefitted from something like this in 1968 And 1969 And 19 Taken in context with personal stories and combined with a Freirean pedagogy (as in Catalyst Project workshops)they can be quite useful and Some key political issues are treated so lightly they are effectively submerged: there is little international perspective beyond acknowledgement of the example set by the Zapatistas While war is mentioned throughout the book, it is as often in the phrase "war against the poor (or immigrants, or working class)" rather than the actuality of missiles, bombs and torture. Anti-war activism is mostly treated as a pacifist opposition to all war rather than work to end the here-and-now devastation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Mali, Chiapas and beyond and Perhaps underlying this weakness is the avoidance of settler colonialism in U.S. society with the one telling exception of Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz's foreword Anti-racist practice no matter how passionate, is incomplete without it and One part of the book that would be extremely helpful is missing: images Photos, posters and other graphics would have added much. Similarly, reproductions of flyers, news articles, pamphlets and other pieces of material history would lend a deeper dimension to the story It is high time that movement authors and publishers take advantage of present opportunities to do this - as modeled, for example, by Nancy Kurshan's history of the struggle against super-max prisons, Out of Control: A Fifteen-Year Battle Against Control Unit Prisons which offers a rich web archive of PDFs, images and video linked to the text PM Press does provide an e-book version of Towards Collective Liberation as well as the paperback; beyond improving accessibility this helps offset the lack of an index Overall in its many parts the book is a valuable tool for activists in a variety of social justice movements to reflect on recent history and current practice moving on our various paths Towards Collective Liberation

[Danyul · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first section of the book is basically an activist memoir that I am not sure contributes much to the reader trying to gain more traction in their activist endeavors. While I understand the value of talking about one's own growth in activism I am not sure it works very well here. It makes the book less of a guide to effective strategy and more about this person talking about themself. I would have rated it lower, however, the insights about leadership and it's role in effective organizing in anarchist/leftist groups is useful. The specific interviews done with activists in successful movements is helpful.

Overall, this book is less of a guide than I expected and how the book is sort of proclaimed to be. I don't think the long drawn out history of San Fransisco Food Not Bombs and this author's punk rock high school activism does much to create a viable path toward creating effective movement.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit repetitive at parts but probably due to author's desire to include everyone's voices. Written to white organizers engaged in anti-racist work and/or men engaged in anti-sexist work, it is both a practical and psychological support to engage in necessary work instead of withdrawing from guilt and shame.

[Tim Collingwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing piece of liberation literature. I learned so much, grew so much, and had so many questions about things. I think it's made me a better activist, but I won't know until the effect is measured.

[Tate Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost didn't make it through the lengthy Food Not Bombs history but I'm glad I did. The interviews in the last third or so are particularly loaded with great insights and the conclusion is strong as well.

[Mariana · Rating 3 out of 5]

En general no la mejor narrativa (un poco pesado y repetitivo), pero supongo que tampoco es la idea del libro. Sí aborda temas y conceptos sumamente importantes e interesantes, y algunos de los ensayos son magníficos.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found sections four and five, along with reading recommendations, particularly useful.

[Gabrielle]

Required class reading!

[Brendon Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Revolution!

[Marc Swan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I wish that I had been given to me as a young activist. Kind yet incisive words, expressed with passion and conviction. That said this is a book for all of us who are engaged in the struggle for positive social change toward to world that is sustainable, equitable and truly democratic.

As indicated by the title, the central thread guiding the book is the concept of “Collective Liberation”. This is the idea, inspired by the author bell hooks, that seeing the way forms of oppression are interconnected, and then acting to challenge oppression (and it’s flipside privilege) is the key to fundamental social transformation. Because if all forms of oppression are connected, my liberation is only possible when we are all free.

Rooted in this understanding, and grounded in years of on the ground organizing experience the book offers insights from the authors experience, observations form wider movement history, and conversations with other social movement actors. As a companion in struggle Crass moves seamlessly between feeling like a peer or fellow traveler, and a mentor who loves you enough to push you to go deeper into yourself, challenge your assumptions, privileges and ineffective patterns and offer strategies for building power with, not over.

Towards Collective Liberation outlines a brief history of anarchist politics in the US context, pulling out key moments that have had large scale influence not only in the revolutionary tradition, but more broadly in society. And through this historical lens extracts key principles and organizing methodologies that shape anarchist practice, and gaps in theory and strategy that have led to historical weaknesses. While clearly enumerating the strengths of the anarchist tradition, Crass takes on central issues that have challenged the practice of anarchist organizing, namely acknowledging leadership and developing systems of accountability; what does it mean to build power, and when is it necessary to implement more hierarchical structures and how do we do that?

Although clearly inspired and informed by the anarchist tradition Crass leverages the best practices and potential of other political traditions, particularly black feminism. Anti-authoritarian politics that center race, class and gender, and that are pro-organizing to build powerful movements are at the heart of this book. The chapter that draws on the work of civil rights leader Ella Baker and her approach – practicing direct action and developing shared power and leadership is particularly poignant. Baker was quoted as saying “I have always thought that what is needed is the development of people who are not interested in being leaders as much as developing the leadership of others”. She has been historically overlooked as a movement leader and the book passages that spoke of her strategic approach that built self determination without neglecting the demand for rights resonated with me deeply.

The book offers rich lessons for those committed to anti-racism and feminism in social movements. Many of us struggle with understanding what this looks like, and with much humility and vulnerability Crass explains his journey toward developing a theory and practice of anti-oppression work in the left, that reaches beyond workshops and training and into the lived, gritty, messy reality of doing work on the ground. He offers steps that he and his fellow travelers have developed in their political work, to step up as allies to those who experience interpersonal and institutional oppression in situations that those of us who work in our communities as activists and organizers will find all too familiar.While always pausing to introduce terminology unfamiliar to those not immersed in similar environments, some of the language may feel somewhat alien to the uninitiated.

In the closing chapter Crass outlines some key lessons for social movement actors, including set goals, focus on opportunities not problems, practice both and thinking, and embrace the joy and beauty in the world. Crass states emphatically “We can do this”, count me in.

[Jwebster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Activist and educator Chris Crass' book Towards Collective Liberation: Anti-racist organizing, Feminist Praxis and Movement Building Strategy is about how we build powerful working class-based, feminist, multiracial movements for collective liberation. Towards Collective Liberation is an educational tool for activists rooted in experience, practice and study. It captures many of the challenges involved in movement-building work, but also the opportunities available to transform divisions of race, class, and gender into catalysts for powerful vision and strategy.

To quote the front cover: "these are words from the heart, overflowing onto the streets."

As I immersed myself in this book, I've felt not only inspired by the possibilities offered for another world--a better world--, but for the series of moments illuminated in this book that provide great insight on that gray area between practice and theory that we all live and move in.

[Yutaka Dirks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Towards Collective Liberation is a powerful and honest book of essays that underscore the importance of confronting racism and sexism and nurturing the leadership skills of new organizers to reach their full potential as a force that can radically transform society. Of particular value for white organizers and/or those working in places (like Canada)with large rural and white populations. I wrote a longer review of the book for Briarpatch Magazine, which you can find here:

http://briarpatchmagazine.com/article...

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think book is so relevant to anyone working on any issue related to improving our society--whether it's climate change or public health or affordable housing or education--especially folks who identify as white and are working to bring a collective liberation approach to their work. I especially liked the interviews at the end with a wide range of people on the ground bringing the theoretical perspective into their day-to-day work. They are able to provide concrete examples of what anti-racist & feminist work looks like on the ground.

[Allee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a ton of good lessons and good thinking for those who want to incorporate practical and radical praxis into their organizing. It was a little long though. The book probably could have just been the last chapter, where he summed up his 8 or so guidelines for effective mass movement building.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

invaluable to people that speak the language of anti-racist feminist self-analysis in service of long haul social justice movement building. for others maybe not so relevant. really a series of separate essays published together looking at a handful of current projects.

[Sarah Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection of essays-very action oriented as opposed to ideology. Very refreshing and inspiring! Want to copy chapters and hand out to everyone I know.

[Scott Neigh]

Reviewed here

[Aleisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is dangerous! It's one of the most exciting things I've ever read.

[Samantha]

Didn't finish. Didn't like it.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. Great resource for anti-racist and feminist organizers!