Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements

by Charlene Carruthers

This twenty-first-century activist’s guide to upending mainstream ideas about race, class, and gender carves out a path to collective liberation. Drawing on Black intellectual and grassroots organizing traditions, including the Haitian Revolution, the US civil rights movement, and LGBTQ rights and feminist movements, Unapologetic challenges all of us engaged in the social justice struggle to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist. This book provides a vision for how social justice movements can become sharper and more effective through principled struggle, healing justice, and leadership development. It also offers a flexible model of what deeply effective organizing can be, anchored in the Chicago model of activism, which features long-term commitment, cultural sensitivity, creative strategizing, and multiple cross-group alliances. Unapologetic provides a clear framework for activists committed to building transformative power, encouraging young people to see themselves as visionaries and leaders.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Race, Social Justice, Queer, LGBT, Anti Racist

Audio CD

First published August 28, 2018

Reviews

[Joshunda Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because I read this very close to reading When They Call You A Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele, it was interesting to see the parallels and differences between two extensions of the Black queer feminist radical tradition as conveyed through testimony. Charlene Carruthers' book is part handbook, part memoir and will be more useful than other accounts of modern day movement work on the left for young leaders looking for a template and guide for how to center themselves, identify what they are passionate about and how to best move forward. There is a clarity, wisdom, humility and accountability here that is rare and beautiful.

[K · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I said on twitter, this book is right on time. Required reading for any organizer, macro social worker, or person who claims to want to create a better world. I love how Charlene doesn't center whiteness in this book one bit. This book is all about the possibilities that Black people create everyday through organizing. I have renewed faith in the power of Black people. This book is already loved (destroyed) with highlights and notes, and I predict it will be put to use over time.

[laurel [the suspected bibliophile] · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read that boils down to: we're not free until we're all free, and that means listening to everyone, slowing down, building real connections, pushing forward, and holding space for rest and recovery.

Obviously that's a lot of flattening to a work that holds so much nuance and experience, so read the book yourself.

[Deana Ayers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was somehow better on the second read? I really love and appreciate this book, and Carruthers is excellent at prompting self reflection on an individual's role in movement work and illustrating how important the building and sustaining of movements is to achieving liberation. I feel like there's so much to keep uncovering and relating to the longer I'm involved in organizing and movement spaces.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are parts of this book I find necessary reading for those in the community organizing, social work, and political movement arenas. The way the author describes and breaks down the meaning of transformative justice is valuable. My lower rating is for some of the blatant hypocrisy the author skims over. Carruthers goes into great detail about how important it is for those within a community to be the voice of a community and then completely dismisses any Jewish perspective domestically and abroad. She describes the horrors she witnessed while spending time in Palestinian land and paints this picture of Jews as white colonizers painting them all under one broad swath. Later in the book she describes her anger when others do the same thing with Black women and the assumption they are one large monolith. I wish the author took time to speak with Jewish people both in Israel and here in the US before casting us out from her movement ideals.

[Emmkay · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle describes this book as a mandate: it might also be described as a manifesto or an exhortation. I highlighted many lines as I read that gave me pause and made me think, and it was a bracing exposure to the perspective of radical thinkers and organizers who reject gently reformist, progressive, liberal POVs. I stopped to look up many of the events and persons Carruthers refers to, and have added a lot to my reading list. Because it’s an exhortation, and relatively brief, by its nature it lacked some of the kinds of details I would have appreciated - for example, when she discusses how her organization responded to sexual assault allegations against a man in a leadership position, or her advice about the importance of relationship-building, I wanted to know more.

[Shannon (That's So Poe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an informative book! I learned so much about the importance of taking an intersectional lens to social justice movements and promoting imagination in the way we conceive of solutions to systemic issues. I think organizers of social justice movements will get even more out of it than I was able to (I'm definitely not the target audience), but I'd recommend it to everyone else who has an interest in understanding why we ought to look at things from beyond just the progressive/liberal reformation approach focusing on single marginalizations (race, sex, etc.) as well.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars. I do not think that there will be a time when this book is not relevant, but I hope I am wrong. I cherish this book because it was not trying too hard to be "on the nose" and was instead connected to the past, present, and future. Charlene A. Carruthers made clear that the current movement for Black liberation does not exist in a vacuum and linked it to previous actions by Black people and other people of color. She really did a great job of clarifying the message and mandate of Black liberation and put it very simply: any movement for Black liberation must have a Black, queen, and feminist ethos. I couldn't agree with her more. ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER. The book had the right amount of examples and suggestions/plans/demands for moving forward. There was an awkward bit at the beginning of the book about a sexual assault allegation that felt a bit unsettling and confusing. I am not sure that anything was every "resolved" with that. Beyond that, I especially loved that this book did not center whiteness - and was not written to school white people on race. It was written for Black folks. I would highly recommend this book for a young activist and community organizer. Or just to any Black person wanting context for current Black liberation movements.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I highly anticipated the release of this book and bought it the same night I saw the author speak. It's a must read for people working for change and I think would be a great companion book to read after/with Emergent Strategy. This book made me feel hopeful and that real change is possible if people are willing to put in the work- and I love that she highlighted the SELF-work part of the work. Are we willing to really work on ourselves? Change our own behavior? Admit when we make mistakes? Work to do better? I also appreciated the focus on change being about having a vision, not just about pointing out/stopping what isn't working. In a lot of change work that I do people want to focus on everything going wrong, but this book reminds us that we need to also envision how we want it to be. An inspirational and motivating read, highly recommend.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting. In a short 140-page primer, Charlene Carruthe shows she's not only an honest thinker with great insights, but compassionate, kind and fully devoted to her causes. The few disagreements I had were small and didn't affect my appreciation. That feels good.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Anyone committed to collective liberation must acknowledge ignorance and take up the work of comprehensive political education."

Unapologetic was a real eye-opener. There are a lot of moments in our near history that are spoken about that I'd never heard about. What I love particularly about this book is that I didn't just have to read. I had to do. I had to conduct research, learn more about the history of black oppression, the history of different movements that exist today. I learned new names and new faces, learned more about what they did and how they impacted life for queer people globally, not just in America.

I took note of numerous quotes from this book which really resonated with me more now than they did maybe six months ago. I do hold a little shame that it took a tragedy for me to read this. The work continues.

"The work is only as strong as the people with whom we work. Lone wolves in movement work can move fast, but can only advance transformative change as far as they are connected with people."

[M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfect first read for 2022. This is a call to action, and a documentation of an activist black queer woman’s experience operating in a still colonized and oppressive America. It was short, and informative, and I really enjoyed the human elements throughout. I felt like the author was speaking directly to the reader. Really enjoyed this and I highly recommend it!

[alyssa]

This book is extremely good and practical. It is hopeful in a way as well even as it is clear the author is aware of the vastness of the work that needs to be done. It’s only about 140pgs but it’s FULL and I have a lot to think about. I’ll be revisiting this for sure.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for people invested in the Black Lives Matter movement. Charlene Carruthers shows how many of the tenets of organizing and protesting of today started with efforts in Chicago, including the origins of #SayHerName in 2012 after the murder of 18-year old Rekia Boyd by police in Chicago. Helpful to understand how this movement can be sustained over time.

[M. Ainomugisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive, instructive, all-encompassing Black queer feminist literature. I’m so satisfied and proud to know that Charlene A. Carruthers is an educator and movement builder of our time.

Quotes:
“Ultimately, using a Black queer feminist lens is a critical intervention, whether in conversations, organizing, and or in envisioning movement building toward Black liberation.”

“Queer” isn’t simply another word for being gay, lesbian, or bisexual. “Queer,” as I am defining it here, represents a continuum of possibilities outside of what are considered to be normal sexual or gender identities and behaviors. Affirmation of queerness creates possibility outside the norm.

“We deserve more than partial freedoms cloaked as pathways to liberation. Freedom is not real if everyone can’t exercise it. Liberation entails freedoms, but it is more than that. Liberation is a perpetual project of creating and maintaining right relationships between people and the land we inhabit. And our articulation of how we get there—how we liberate ourselves—matters.”

“Abolitionists assert that our time, energy, and resources would be better spent on building completely new alternatives instead of improving what has time and again been demonstrated to be ineffective and worse.”

“Capitalism with “Black” in front of it won’t liberate our people. Capitalism is by definition tied to the subjugation of African-descended people. Our collective liberation will not come from models that rely on individual or small group wealth-building.”

“The Black radical tradition exemplifies the struggle to break down the fictions and move toward dignity. Our tradition asserts that transformation is not only possible but also absolutely necessary for continued survival of all people and the planet. Our charge goes beyond the government. Our work today is about redefining humanity and transforming our relationships with each other and with the land.”

“Our collective imaginations must burst open in order to believe that liberation is possible.”

I cannot recommend Unapologetic enough!

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every single word and paragraph and page of this book. It is brimming with energy and power and struggle and love. And overwhelming scholarship and theory and learning and smarts. Lots of smarts. I loved the structure of this book. Carruthers interweaves her personal history - growing up in Chicago - with US and world history, explaining the larger issues facing Black Queer Feminists with aplomb. Her idea of the BQF Lens for analyzing issues of racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia is fully developed and rather amazing. Carruthers speaks of the groups that she works with - BYP100, Black Lives Matter being two of the more recognizable probably, but there are so many more in her sphere - but saves her strongest words for the amazing and capable and wonderful people in her life. I have no idea where Carruthers gets all her powers, but I am glad she is sharing them with us. This book is so energizing AND angering and revealing. I read the entire book in one sitting, it was not possible to put it down and break the mood. She covers so much ground, history, politics, social issues, the economy, policing, prisons, global concerns, the environment. There is a lot to digest and think about, and she presents it flawlessly. As she states several times, the book is a mechanism (my word) for changing the world, making it better for all. BQF is anti-capitalist, anti-prison, anti-racist, anti-hate. She breaks down in simple, but not simplistic, terms how the world is set against anyone not white, not male, not straight. I could go on an done about how fantastic this book is, but you should read it yourself, as I am likely not doing it enough justice. It is transformative, truly. Carruthers can take her rightful place among the great human rights crusaders. She is that spectacular. Everyone should read this book, it is that spectacular.

[EC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve had this on my shelf for a few months and this was the perfect time to read it; I just started a class on community organizing, and we’ve been discussing many of the themes Carruthers writes about. I first heard Carruthers speaking for a live panel on activism, policing, and prison abolition on the Intercepted podcast. This book describes her organizing and activism experience, lessons she’s learned, and some of the history of black radical movements whose work she’s continuing. She’s beautifully honest about mistakes that she’s made and areas of weakness that she has; however, she’s also confident about being a black, queer, radical feminist committed to advocating for justice and liberation. She talks about the importance of collective healing and self-care within movements, the “culture of purity” in progressive spaces that doesn’t leave space for mistakes or disagreements, and the importance of following the leadership of the people most impacted by the issues you’re organizing around. She also writes about the basics of the relational model of community organizing, such as building a committed base, the importance of understanding and utilizing self-interest, and noting that organizing models aren’t inherently liberating or justice-promoting; it’s the people within the movements that choose the goals they’re working to achieve. Unapologetic is inspiring, challenging, and practical, and I would definitely recommend it.

[Jalisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book had a number of gems that re-centered my commitment to my work and introduced me to organizers and organizations that are doing work that I hope to adopt and build on (such as the Trans Justice Funding Project and the Ruckus society). With that said, I'd give the book 3.5 stars. I was looking for the book to be a bit more actionable and really dive into the lessons learned and tactics that could be put into practice. There are many instances where Charlene could have dug deeper into her experience and more tangibly offered lessons that others could implement in her work (such as the discussion of sexual assault among one of the leaders of her organization). So many of these struggles occur across movement spaces and people need case studies and actionable tools to do the work differently. It often felt that she moved on before we could detail what the lesson was (or what she grappled with in detail). Lastly, I think the book was repetitive at a times and it was evident that the chapters were written as standalone pieces that were later meshed together. The editor could have done a better job of assisting with making it feel more like a cohesive book where the chapters built on one another to a clear framework.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

UNAPOLOGETIC is guide for those involved in radical movements with a black queer feminist lens. As someone who is not a community organizer, I learned a LOT from this book, mostly how little I actually do right now to work towards Black liberation. It was helpful for me to think about how I can adapt her guidelines into my day to day, or where I may need to be more involved. This book is more than a 101 - her language is straightforward and it required a lot of internal reflection. I particularly loved the story she told about survivor centered restorative justice - it IS possible to imagine a world beyond incarceration that respects and honors survivors of sexual assault.

Some of these concepts - centering Black queer feminism - seem straightforward and obvious why we should be centering those most marginalized in movements, but the reality is this hasn’t happened historically and it takes continuous effort and accountability. I also loved learning about the Chicago Model.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I don’t expect my work to end here, with these pages. Whether your work begins and continues after digesting this, my greatest hope is that of any good organizer. I hope it shakes you, agitated you, and leaves you uncomfortable enough to take revolutionary action for the sake of our collective liberation.”

In UNAPOLOGETIC the author provides a guide for collective liberation through the Black Queer Feminist Lens by centering the most marginalized voices and thus bringing intersectional oppression to the forefront of movements and their agenda. Her thoughts are a progression from Black liberation movements of the past and even though I found her account at times a bit unfocused and repetitive, I really appreciate her as an organizer sharing her story “for the sake of informing our work towards collective liberation.” I’m hoping this book will help me find ways to address these important issues in my life and in my relationships with others.

[Finny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this book and it gave me a better picture of what movement building should look like, but it also assumes a lot of prior knowledge. She prefaces the book with that fact and includes a short glossary in the beginning and also endnotes, but there were definitely things I just needed to know more about before reading this. I look forward to coming back to it at some point!

[Corvus · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brief, humble, yet confident call to action. Taught me more about Black Youth Project and some of their history as well. Narration by the author was a welcome companion.

[Kara]

I’ve decided I feel weird abt rating books that are more theoretical bc i think it would be sort of disingenuous of me idk! but still wanted to write a review. this was a really interesting read! I don’t know if I’ve ever read something that was so explicitly for an audience that was not me, a white woman who is not directly involved in activism and movement work, and think it was a good experience. I learned a lot about the work of movement building and organization on a technical level and on a historical level. The author is from Chicago and her descriptions of Chicago based anti-racist activism in the past and the present was really interesting as I don’t have a lot of knowledge in that area. I appreciated that the book opened w a glossary/explanation of terms that would be used. I thought that the discussion of how sexual assault was handled within the author’s organization was really great and felt I learned more about possibilities for different avenues for justice for sexual violence in that section than in the other books on the topic I’ve read that tend to leave things at “being fair to both sides is hard and things are really complicated!”. great to hear from someone who is committed to doing the work. a practical argument for the importance of collective action and taking cues from communities who have been doing the work for ages and who are most directly affected by injustice. took me a really long time to read bc this wasn’t at all a “fun read”, but I’m glad I picked this one up.

[Arlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like what she says about activists and striving for perfection. It's better to act imperfectly and adapt and learn from mistakes than to sit on the sidelines waiting until you have it completely right.

I also love what she says about being a good ancestor. I think about this every day.

Do you remeber 2016-2018 when it seemed like there was a new hashtag every week? This book unpacks what was going on at that time and creates a straightforward narrative for a time that (for me) felt chaotic and overwhelming.

It is a solid guide for community building and a nice example of learning as you go.

She said something too along the lines of... "If you'd told me back then what we would accomplish now, I wouldn't have believed it... Or I would have walked out the door."

You don't wake up and build a movement that day. It takes time and many many people coming together. Lots of small and big contributions. There is a place for everyone. This was a great read. I recommend it.

[Keelin Rita]

This was a solid read, and while I think I lessened its impact by having read more contemporary books on the topic, it still offered me insight and ideas that I found useful. I think something especially important I took from this is that work like this has a lot of components and a LOT of lessons to be learned. It's not so simple to fight systemic violence, and even if you have a group of likeminded individuals supporting you, someone's got to do the marketing campaign, did you even think about that? It's simple stuff like that, little lessons of "we weren't prepared for this" or "how do you handle a leader being accused of assault?" Something that I think would be very tricky to navigate (and it was). But it's something that I've never come across in my readings about this and I think that makes it all the more valuable! To show that there can and will be problems that arise within your organization, and that you will have to face those things head on. Very helpful stuff.

[Kelsey Brennan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"While it is possible for someone from outside of a community to tell its history, why not invest in people who come from a community and the people who have made the history to tell it?"

I'm not an activist or a community organizer, but Carruther's book still gave me a lot of tools to critically look at my role as a researcher and evaluator. In particular, I will be using the idea of identifying self-interest as a tool for understanding my own motivation and building partnerships as I do my work. Somewhat related was the idea of giving ownership of history and its telling back to the people who lived and are living those experiences.

I also loved the honesty Carruthers' embraced in terms of recognizing her mistakes and missteps, and using them as opportunities for growth, learning, and healing.

[natàlia · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Ahora es el momento de experimentar e implementar prácticas que coinciden con el tipo de mundo que queremos crear. No tenemos que esperar a que se vacíen todas las prisiones para lidiar con el conflicto y el daño sin recurrir al castigo”.

lo recomiendo desde el corazón, especialmente a las personas que nos organizamos o nos hemos organizado políticamente, porque al final es un libro donde se teoriza desde la práctica, y quizá por eso sea tan importante.

no es un libro extenso (200 páginas) y probablemente tampoco profundo, pero no deja de ser relevante, necesario y, sobre todo, inspirador.

la lucidez que la autora demuestra cuando aborda la justicia reparadora me parece simplemente maravillosa. he releído esas páginas unas cuantas veces ya y estoy segura de que volveré a ellas.

mención aparte a consonni por una edición tan cuidada.

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way I kept forgetting this book wasn't written today but every single issue is still prevalent. History is repeating itself and it'd be ignorant of me to say I wasn't aware of this. Black people are being killed, black trans people are being killed. They matter. We need to change the powers in place.

Like the author said: this is not all the work that is needed. It is a guide to centering yourself and knowing when and how to step back and support those directly involved. We must all have a stake in the movement to bring about transformative change. But we must first recognize how one group's oppression is all of our communities oppression. A must read.

[Gabrielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read this ages ago but forgot. Anyway I think at the time I was really in to it but my recollections now are more like 3 stars than four or five. Lots of detail about organising around social causes and even about managing through inappropriate behaviour from staff (see similarities: young labour camp). But I felt like it was more written for people who knew some backgrounds about the specific organisation (name I can’t remember cos it was months ago) than for someone who picked it out on a whim.

[SabCo T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short but very thorough and hefty read. I learned much more about how anti-racist movements need to be intersectional in order to be truly successful and not leave anyone behind. We need to all look at things with a Queer, Black/Brown, Feminist lens closely to be inclusive. This is definitely a mandate of what needs to happen to get organizations more streamlined and inclusive as well.

It was nice to see that even healers need to heal/be healed sometimes. Despite that this book came out a few years ago, it's more important than ever.