Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining Freedom in the Twenty-First Century (American Studies Now: Critical Histories of the Present)

American Studies Now: Critical Histories of the Present

by Barbara Ransby

"A powerful — and personal — account of the movement and its players."— The   Washington Post

“This perceptive resource on radical black liberation movements in the 21st century can inform anyone wanting to better understand . . . how to make social change.”— Publishers Weekly

The breadth and impact of Black Lives Matter in the United States has been extraordinary. Between 2012 and 2016, thousands of people marched, rallied, held vigils, and engaged in direct actions to protest and draw attention to state and vigilante violence against Black people. What began as outrage over the 2012 murder of Trayvon Martin and the exoneration of his killer, and accelerated during the Ferguson uprising of 2014, has evolved into a resurgent Black Freedom Movement, which includes a network of more than fifty organizations working together under the rubric of the Movement for Black Lives coalition. Employing a range of creative tactics and embracing group-centered leadership models, these visionary young organizers, many of them women, and many of them queer, are not only calling for an end to police violence, but demanding racial justice, gender justice, and systemic change.

In Making All Black Lives Matter , award-winning historian and longtime activist Barbara Ransby outlines the scope and genealogy of this movement, documenting its roots in Black feminist politics and situating it squarely in a Black radical tradition, one that is anticapitalist, internationalist, and focused on some of the most marginalized members of the Black community. From the perspective of a participant-observer, Ransby maps the movement, profiles many of its lesser-known leaders, measures its impact, outlines its challenges, and looks toward its future. 

Genres: Race, Nonfiction, History, Social Justice, Politics, African American, Feminism

238 pages, Paperback

Published August 28, 2018

About the author

Barbara Ransby is an historian, writer and longtime activist. She is a Professor of African American Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, and History at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she directs both the campus-wide Social Justice Initiative and the Gender and Women’s Studies Program. She previously served as Interim Vice Provost for Planning and Programs (2011 -2012) at UIC. Prof. Ransby is author of the highly acclaimed biography, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision. The book received eight national awards and recognitions including: Lillian Smith Book Award, Southern Regional Council; Joan Kelly Memorial Prize, American Historical Association; Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Prize, Association of Black Women Historians; Liberty Legacy Foundation Award (co-winner), Organization of American Historians; James A. Rawley Prize, Organization of American Historians; Honorable Mention, 2004 Berkshire Conference First Book Prize, Berkshire Conference of Women Historians; Honor Book, Black Caucus of the American Library Association; Outstanding Book Award, Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America.

(from http://barbararansby.com/about-2/)

Reviews

[Joshunda Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is much to love about this book, mainly that, in the words of brilliant historian-activist Barbara Ransby, whose name I first saw in the works of Keeanga Yamahtta-Taylor (How We Get Free) & Charlene Carruthers (Unapologetic) she curates the narratives of Black queer feminist activists and leaders in a way that situates them along a Black protest continuum that includes not just present and recent past names that we are likely to hear because they are palatable, but also the names of women who should be lifted up because they do the work and have been doing it. I love that she says, explicitly, that she has not even told all that she knows about movement work as writers never do, because that is both truth and protective but also beautiful; that there is truth telling and aspiration and admiration here across generations, that there is heartbreak and tenderness, that there is celebration and struggle, there is freedom between these lines. Maybe not right now, and maybe during brief moments, but it is still there. Every act of resistance gets us a little freer than we were before -- her words, not my own -- and it is because of activists like her, and historians and storytellers like her, who insist on the whole story that the stories will continue and the movement will always live on. It was difficult to read and remember some of the deaths and incidents that led to organizing and mobilization on behalf of so many, but it was inspiring to see the names of activists, scholars, writers and public intellectuals I know and love in these pages. A reminder of the possibilities is never bad.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Love this book. Easy to read, really so fun to recognize the names of comrades and friends throughout the pages. I attended some of the events mentioned. I came into organizing right before Ferguson, so this was really kind of like? A nice reflection of sorts. I think people who are engaging with Black organizing right now should read this for a quick catch up on all that has happened. I wish it were longer though, because a lot of things were summed up rather quickly. I also noticed how harm was described, and found it to be slightly simplistic. We are making history right now, so I'm sure if Ransby were to write it today, things would be different.

[Jung · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4 stars] A timeline and discussion of the Black Lives Matter Movement / Movement for Black Lives and its development of a Black feminist lens. I am so appreciative that this archival history exists and names so many people who were central to movement building from the decades of activism that provided a political foundation to the organizing following the murders of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown to the development of the BLM Global Network organization and M4BL coalition and beyond. There is a lot here not covered elsewhere written in the style of Ransby’s talks and lectures.

I wish there had been a deeper NPIC analysis overlaid in the history, similar to the critique in INCITE’s The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, because I’m genuinely curious to know organizers’ thoughts on how foundation and major donor support has impacted the work; I can also see why those analyses weren’t included, as the movement is still being funded. I also felt there was something about the dynamics of gender, harassment, and harm that felt too “neat” in her descriptions (e.g. Dream Defenders being held up as an example of gender justice even though Black women I trust are still critical of Phillip Agnew’s misogynoir, the decision to name Malcolm London in the sections that share his leadership achievements but not the section that discusses his sexual violence). And as a personal bias, a friend who was central to BLMGN isn’t credited as such, even in a chapter that read as a listing of names; I don’t even know if she cares but I noticed the omission.

I think like any history it’s inevitably incomplete (especially since it’s about activism that is still happening) and influenced by who is telling it. Given my critiques, it’s still worth reading. I’d recommend it to those interested in detailed information about specific “watershed” moments in the evolution of M4BL and anyone wanting to know more about important Black-led organizing in Chicago.

Goodreads Challenge: 34/72
Reading Women Challenge: nonfiction by a woman historian
Popsugar Reading Challenge: a book with “twenty” in the title (bonus category!)
Femibooks Nonfiction Challenge: a book about feminism

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ransby is amazing, and does a splendid job of outlining recent history. Her contextualization of the movements and events over the last 6+ years helps us to better understand what we potentially only saw through discordant news.


"First of all, thank you. Thank you for your courage and your passion, for your savvy and your boldness. Thank you for facing the bloody reality--embedded in the historical fibers of this country and become all too routine--and saying "no." And in saying no you brazenly rejected the bourgeois trappings of respectability. In other words, you said "hell, no" to state violence in its crudest form, as well as to the slow death that racial capitalism and its neoliberal practices have caused over time." (p. 165)

[Camille Debreczeny · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an important and inspiring insider's account of the Black queer feminist roots of the BLM movement, but I found some parts of the book hard to follow, especially the first couple chapters, because they felt like laundry lists of the many individuals and organizations involved in the movement. I understand why she wanted to name and recognize all the amazing people who have been doing this work behind the scenes, but it didn't make for the most accessible/engaging read at some points.

[Mills College Library]

323.1196 R212 2018

[Michael Sasson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barabara Ransby is among the best social movement historians. Her biography of Ella Baker is a must-read. It is an incredible gift for her to take those skills and passions and share an analysis and narrative of present time and a movement in which she is deeply involved herself. Her ability to honor and not be disparaging of numerous different actors and perspectives is refreshing and super-useful.

[Upasna Barath · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fact-heavy book, but that characteristic is not unwarranted. Ransby carefully and deeply outlines the history of the BLM movement, specifically the individuals (notably black women) that helped shape the movement. It's informative but also thought-provoking.

[Geoffrey Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This slim and focused volume provides an excellent overview to the recent history of Black liberation politics and activism through the work of the Black Lives Matter movement. Ransby is an accomplished historian of Civil Rights activist Ella Baker, and her own activist work gives her historical analysis an even greater immediacy.

Further thoughts: The chapters on Trayvon Martin and Ferguson are perhaps her strongest in terms of analysis, along with a very insightful chapter that looks more at trends and issues and challenges within the movement that follow some of the more historical analysis. If anything, I wished for a bit more analysis, for at times, this account lapses into a bit of listing and describing some of the more significant but lesser known individuals and organizations involved in this movement. Not unimportant at all, but somehow I wanted to see Ransby go further in her own discussion. One of the most interesting parts of her analysis is her focus on showing the intersectional and queer Black feminist roots and influences of these activists and organizations, something that is there in some of the journalistic accounts of recent activism, but isn't as salient as Ransby shows it is.

[Karen Kohoutek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what the reviews of this said, that got my to pick it up, but it wasn't really what I expected. This is an overview of the founding of the Black Lives Matter movement, with its precursors, profiles of the founders, and the different organizations involved. Valuable historical info, so it's perfectly fine! For some reason, I thought it was going to be more analysis-oriented, aiming at where we go from here. That's on me. I have a bunch of new books to look for and organizations to look into supporting, though, so it's all good!

[Nina Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

"No one is free until we all are free, and that includes those who are employed, unemployed, those who are incarcerated or in gangs, or who are sex workers. What we are fighting for is a world where our full humanity is honored and protected and valued, and that includes all of who we are" (Ransby 157). All black lives matter.

[mc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ransby is literally generating archival knowledge by writing a history of the present, i cannot wait to see how her work is remembered by those who seek to remember our recent past and present in the near future

[Grace]

Intro, Ch. 7 (Chicago), Closing & Epilogue. Helpful introduction to grasp where the movement is now, how it came about, and how it seeks to intentionally distinguish itself from hierarchical movements and double-down into horizontal grassroots coalitions.

[Ella Louise Schalski]

Read for class

[naomi! · Rating 4 out of 5]

resistance is good !

[Axell · Rating 5 out of 5]

golden. must read

[Patricia Long · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too-long-drawn-out