DC SAFE’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2022)

DC SAFE’s comments from the The DC SAFE Bookshelf group.

Our book pick for November is in! One of DC SAFE's Response Line Advocates is recommending "Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom" by Derecka Purnell. All insights and questions are welcomed and also, here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. How does your experience inform the way you approach the concept of police abolition?

2. Think about the harms that most worry or frighten you in your community. What might their root causes be, and what might be some ways to address them? Are there ways you already see your community addressing the sources of harm or harmful behaviors without the police?

3. How did you think about abolition when you began reading Becoming Abolitionists? How was that understanding changed, challenged, or reinforced? What are you taking away from this book?

Our book pick for Domestic Violence Awareness Month is here! DC SAFE's Executive Director & Co-founder, Natalia Otero, is recommending "No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us" by Rachel Louise Snyder. All insights and questions are welcomed and also, here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. Did the book change your mind or alter any preconceived notions you may have had about domestic violence? Which ones and how?

2. Snyder mentions that there is no law against “psychological abuse” in the United States. Do you believe such a law needs to exist? Why or why not?

3. Snyder examines how domestic violence is linked to other issues like poverty, education, health care, and others. Discuss how this correlation plays out in No Visible Bruises, as well as any personal experiences you may have had or observations you have made that illustrate how these issues are connected.

From Housing Up: "As part of the DC SAFE Bookshelf, we’re recommending Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond. The Pulitzer Prize-winning book follows eight families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as they struggle to maintain their housing over the course of a year. Evicted explores why eviction is such a destructive policy and how the practice is often the cause of poverty rather than the result. Desmond also discusses the ways women and domestic violence survivors can be disproportionately impacted by eviction processes. The book underscores that access to safe, stable housing is both a right and a necessity."

Our next book pick is here! This month, one of our community partners, Housing Up, is recommending "Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City" by Matthew Desmond. All insights and questions are welcomed and also, here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. Throughout Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, we learn how eviction traps poor people in a cycle of poverty, how it can lead to a loss of a job, how it makes securing future housing more difficult, and have other damaging effects on families. Author Matthew Desmond argues that eviction is “a cause and not just a condition of poverty”. What does he mean by this statement? When you think of causes of poverty, what comes to mind? Why are the poor disproportionately impacted by eviction?

2. Desmond talks about how eviction impacts women. Specifically, he describes the nuisance property ordinance which allows “police departments to penalize landlords for the behavior of their tenants.” In Milwaukee, WI, if 911 is called three or more times in 30 days, the property is designated a nuisance. One of the most common nuisance activities is domestic violence, and regardless of the reason for the call, landlords are encouraged to evict the tenant of a property designated a nuisance. What issue is the nuisance law trying to address and what is the impact of the law? How does the law impact the cycle of violence? How else are women impacted by eviction?

3. Considering the devasting impacts of eviction, what government, legal and/or community-based resources must be in place to prevent evictions? Given the links between domestic violence and eviction, how can we ensure survivors have access to safe, affordable housing?

Posting on behalf of The DC Abortion Fund: "Robin is the Operations Director for the West Alabama Women's Center and a leading abortion advocate. This book is the only guidebook of its kind: not only does it outline the state-by-state legal landscape, but it gives you direct actions you can take to support access to care. If you are looking for practical advice on how you can fight back, this is the book to read."

We are excited to announce our next book pick: "The New Handbook for a Post-Roe America: The Complete Guide to Abortion Legality, Access, and Practical Support" by Robin Marty. This recommendation comes from one of DC SAFE’s community partners, the DC Abortion Fund. All insights and questions are welcomed and also, here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. Is there anything you would do differently after reading this book?

2. What is the most important lesson or piece of information from this book that people need to know?

3. How will this change your advocacy?

We're excited to announce our next book pick: Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption by Rafia Zakaria. This recommendation comes from DC SAFE Board Member, Yeva Avakyan. All insights and questions are welcomed, and also, here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. What do you hope feminists will accomplish in the future?

2. After reading this book, have your feelings about feminism changed? How do you feel about feminism now?

3. What is this book calling for?

In honor of Pride Month, our book pick is "In the Dream House: A Memoir" by Carmen Maria Machado. This recommendation comes from DC SAFE's Development and Communications Director, Bridget Claborn. All insights and discussion questions are welcomed and also, here are a few guiding questions to get us started.

1. How does Machado's narrative differ from more traditional memoirs? Did you find her fragmented style effective in telling this story?

2. What purpose do the genre-themed chapter titles serve? Did you find any individual chapters or sections especially impactful? Why?

3. A major theme of this book is the lack of media coverage of abuse in queer relationships. Did any of Machado's points on this topic stand out to you?

We're happy to announce our next book pick: Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence by Anita Hill. This recommendation comes from one of DC SAFE’s community supporters, John Crownover. All insights and questions are welcomed, and also, here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. Are there any denials or myths that you previously held to be true that this book dispelled?

2. What does justice for gender violence survivors mean to you?

3. Believing is full of stories and legal cases about people with different identities and backgrounds—did any of these stand out to you in particular, and why?

Posting on behalf of NVRDC: "This book elevated the discussion about Crime Victims’ Rights and the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA) and describes a case that is pivotal to the work we do with survivors. In this book, Brown describes “the needle-in-a-haystack search for victims... as [she] tried to figure out how to connect with victims of sexual violence.” (NY Times). NVRDC believes this book is an important piece of investigative journalism and helps the reader to better understand the the environment in which survivors exist, the hurdles they have to navigate if they chose to speak out, how the lack of transparency and accountability in the criminal legal system unduly burdens victims who try to participate in it, and why Crime Victim’s Rights are so important in cases like these."

We are excited to announce our next book pick: Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story by Julie K. Brown. This recommendation comes from one of DC SAFE’s community partners, the Network for Victim Recovery DC. All insights and questions are welcomed, and also, here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. How did money and political connections allow Epstein to bend our legal and justice system to avoid accountability for his crimes?

2. How does the criminal legal system play a role in victims keeping silent rather than coming forth and what part did the "sweetheart deal" play in silencing the victims who were brave enough to come forward?

3. How might this case have turned out differently if the victim's rights had been respected and enforced throughout the multi-year criminal investigation?

We are excited to announce our second book pick: Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds by Adrienne Maree Brown. This recommendation comes from DC SAFE Board member, Niyati Shah. All insights and questions are welcomed, but here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. In what spaces can this work be used and how?

2. What was your biggest takeaway from the book? Explain.

3. If you could ask Adrienne Maree Brown one question, what would that it be? And why?

We are very excited to announce our very first book pick: The Macho Paradox by Jackson Katz. This recommendation comes from DC SAFE Training and Education Manager, Brandon Kemper Seeley. All insights and questions are welcomed, but here are some guiding discussion questions to get us started!

1. Does Katz’s observation that men and boys are responsible for the vast majority of violence in America imply that most men and boys are violent? Why or why not?

2. What’s the difference between Katz saying that violence is about violent masculinity rather than about violent males? Explain.

3. Why do you think people in news media so often use gender-neutral terms to talk about perpetrators? Do you think this is conscious? Do you think it’s simply too obvious to point out that men and boys are responsible for violent acts? If that’s the case, then why does media coverage of violence go on at such length about other variables that might matter, like whether perpetrators play video games or have access to guns?