This was what I have been looking for. A tangible look at what goals I can work on with my abolition mindset and educate to others around me. I always enjoy Patrisse's work, but this is actionable.

3,5 | Going into this book I was expecting a breakdown of actionable steps in working towards abolition of the current incarceration and policing systems here in the USA.

What I discovered was more of a handbook in how to be an effective activist and avoid burnout, which is a very important thing to learn and something I struggle with. I found the breakdown of how to building up emotional intelligence, how to listen without judgment and how to apologize and take accountability to be very valuable lessons for anyone to work on.

The title felt a bit misleading about the content, but that is partly because of how and what I associate with the word abolitionist. To me, a better word would have been activist because the content in the book felt more broad and targeted towards everyone in the social justice movement, rather than specifically abolition.

The book is a useful read for anyone practicing any type of activism, and I would recommend it to folx who are struggling with finding their place in the movement and balancing their life/work/activism.

***Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing me with the Audiobook for free via NetGalley for an unbiased review.

This book wasn't as impactful as I thought it would be to introduce someone to the abolition journey. Also, the author has been under a lot of speculation and criticism and this book was a perfect chance to address those claims, providing an example of accountability and reparation, two concepts essential to living a life within an abolitionist principles. I just think the book could have been stronger.

Such an important book, should be required reading for everyone. Really shines a light on the incredibly oppressive systems we are unwillingly a part of and such tangible ways to abolish said systems so that all can benefit!!! Must read!!

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* I had read several of the books mentioned in this book so for the most part i had already heard most of these ideas before but it was still a good read in of itself and has a lot of helpful resources!

I really, really enjoyed my experience of reading (listening to) this book, and I know that I'll come back to it again and again over time. Patrisse Khan-Cullors, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter organization and movement, lays out a framework for how anyone can (and should) become a modern-day abolitionist. Providing real-life examples from her own life and journey to become an abolitionist, she walks through the principles of abolition step-by-step, from how you visualize these concepts in your mind to how you can actually start acting on them. It's a really straightforward and effective way of turning a concept that seems far-off into something that is tangible, actionable, and valuable.

She walks through these twelve principles and steps:
- have courageous conversations
- move away from reaction and towards response
- take care of oneself while fighting for others
- turn inter-community conflict into a transformative action
- expand one’s imagination, think creatively, and find the courage to experiment
- make justice joyful
- practice active forgiveness
- make space for difficult feelings and honor mental health
- practice non-harm and cultivate compassion
- organize local and national governments to work towards abolition
- move away from cancel culture.

She vehemently disagrees with the idea that prison abolition is outdated, unrealistic, optimistic, impossible, or any of the demeaning adjectives people like to give the concept. Instead, she reminds us of the original abolitionists - those who fought to abolish slavery - and how the same words were thrown at them, and yet they succeeded to tear down something that seemed to be a permanent institution in American culture. Abolition is not fanciful, it's creative and courageous. It dares to imagine and work towards a better world.

But abolition is difficult. It's especially difficult when you are affected by crime or offenses, when you see your loved ones get hurt, or when you have an innate desire to see a perpetrator be punished. Abolition centers around the idea that all people should be treated with dignity, even those who perpetrate offenses against another, and that any harmful action is a reflection of the community in which it happened. Justice comes through a community-centered approach to care, healing, and respect, not through caging those who did wrong. Khan-Cullors talks about how to put this into practice in your (and her) own life, giving an example of when she was a teacher and a student came to her and told her that another respected teacher at the school did inappropriate things with her friend. Of course, Patrisse's desire was to take this to the authorities and see him get punished for hurting and violating a student like that. But as an abolitionist, she knew that course of action was not conducive to actually getting justice for the victim or "fixing" the perpetrator.

Throughout the book, Khan-Cullors reminds the reader that this isn't intended to be a book you read once then put on the shelf, and especially not one that you display on your shelf as a proxy "woke" card. No, this is meant to be a handbook, marked up, and referred back to - especially when things get difficult and you want to react instead of respond (see principle #2). I am looking forward to doing just this (once I get a physical copy!) and using Patrisse's straightforward, no-nonsense, and creative advice to integrate the principles of abolition into my own life. Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC via Netgalley!

As a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, Patrisse Cullors has a wealth of knowledge to share about being on the front lines of a push for social change. This handbook is a fantastic accumulation of that knowledge and is as applicable for the seasoned activist as it is for the up-and-coming change agent. Much of her well-earned experience could easily be applied beyond movement work to anyone seeking ways to be more effective, engaged citizens in the classroom, in the boardroom, and at home.

Wow, I just finished and I'm still riding that high. This was everything I hoped for and needed. Everyone should read this.

Patrisse Cullors is one of the co-founders of Black Lives Matter and is a seasoned activist. As such, she simply and clearly lays out how to live an abolitionist life and philosophy. This isn't just about abolishing prison. It is also about taking care of yourself and having courageous conversions with people like your mom. And so much, much more, obviously. I love that this book is so practical and personal. This is not a bunch of abstract concepts or "if onlys..." This also isn't a list of everything that is wrong. The beauty of this book is that it is positive and idealistic and completely doable.

I should add, there is a wonderful interview of the author by [author:Adrienne Maree Brown|1536532]
at the end of the audiobook. And, the audiobook performance is superb. I really enjoyed it.

Video review to come!

Half of this is useful for anyone who wants to become more political and it really does have some big dreams. The problem is that it's incredibly heavy-handed and uses a stunning amount of flowery, overwrought language that will alienate anyone who doesn't want to sound like a pretentious, granola, social-justice-warrior therapist.

Social justice is important. So is accountability, and radical change. It's possible that I just have fatigue over this kind of language being used to slur women for having boundaries, and that I've known people in real life talk like this when arguing that the world owes them something.

To be clear, I'm not even opposed to the thesis of the book, but there is a vibe here that's "fuck you, you don't get to ask questions, I'm not responsible for your education, this is the only correct way to do activism and anything less is wrong" and I don't love it.

The audiobook narrator is Ariel Blake, and apart from some weird pronunciation of some words that I can chalk up to her being American, she's fine. Not really memorable in either direction.

I received a copy of this audiobook for free from NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest, voluntary review.

From the title, it should have been more evident to me that this wasn’t the normal political journalism that I usually read. I saw the author's name and the cover and I jumped into the audiobook. It definitely wasn't what i had anticipated.

At first, I was a little disappointed, I love knowledge and history, and hard-hitting facts, basically, I’m a political junky, but after I took a step back and came back to the book for what it was rather than what I was expecting, I was happy to dive in.

Too often in movements (any movement) the folks doing the work get bogged down by things like red tape (if you are doing the work inside an organization), other people's emotions, and governments that are frustratingly exhausting. We don’t take care of ourselves and if we want to change how things are done we are blocked by others willing to go with the status quo.

I definitely think this would be beneficial to a wide range of folks, and I hope we are able to use this book to help reframe how to do the work in a different way.

An Abolitionist’s Handbook by Patrisse Cullors is an inspiring guide with a holistic focus on ourselves and pursuing abolition. It is part instructional book, part memoir, and part biography of others in the movement past and present. I found it fascinating and so helpful to consider the elements of what makes ourselves stronger and better at helping. We all come from different places, but many of us struggle to heal from past trauma and need to learn how to communicate courageously. The focus is on care, for ourselves and for others. I listened to the audiobook which was wonderfully read by Ariel Blake. I loved the presentation of this book and have learned so much from it.

Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio for providing this ebook / audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to this on audio, but would highly recommend getting a print copy so you can refer back to the action items at the end of each chapter. In this handbook, Patrisse Cullors, a founder of Black Lives Matter, lays out the steps we must take to achieve a future that is free of prisons and policing. Her instructions are clear and concise with actionable and applicable steps that can be applied immediately. Her advice applies to abolition thru the idea of creating a healthy community on all levels. She encourages all of us to strive toward courageous conversations. She requires that we all learn to apologize and forgive. She believes that laying steadier groundwork will be the impetus our collective society needs to imagine a future that better serves everyone and divests from current day slavery.

You know an audiobook is particularly good when it makes you think, and you get through it in a day or two. And it's especially good when you want to go buy the hard copy to revisit the text, take notes and let it sink in even more.

Patrisse Cullors shares memoir-like stories of her 20 years of experience as an activist and co-founding Black Lives Matter. Plus, she mixes in 12 steps to becoming a better activist. A better abolitionist. A better person. Yes, she explains what an abolitionist is, and uses great how-to examples of how and where to start. I recommend this book to those seeking a different perspective, especially parents who are raising kids to be kind souls to people of race, religion, ethnicity, location, socio-economic class, etc.

At the end of the audio is a wonderful interview between Ariel Blake (the narrator) and Cullors. The exchange offers even more insight into the minds of fabulous Black women who are using their voice for change.

Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for the advance listener copy of this Handbook via the NetGalley app. Grab yourself a copy on January 25th!

I absolutely loved this as a follow-up to Patrisse Khan-Cullors' memoir When They Call You a Terrorist. An Abolitionist's Handbook is a wonderful guide for beginning to think differently about change in our society. It's a hands-on, necessary book that looks realistically and hopefully at the future of work in activism movements around the world.

If you want to take justice work seriously, I highly recommend picking this book up. Read it. Underline. Take notes in the margins. Use the questions and prompts that she has at the conclusion of each step as a way of reflecting on your own journey.

This book is both a map and a catalyst for the changes we seek. I'm so grateful she took the time to distill such wisdom down and share it with us in our collective journey toward building a just and transformed world.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this audiobook. I highly recommend!

<b>"You begin where you are".</b>
That seems simple doesn't it? Begin where you are - to make the changes in your own life that need to be changed, to work to change the injustices around you, to change the conversations that you and others have that may not be supportive or abusive [the chapter on this and what really constitutes abuse was EXTREMELY eye-opening to me and has made me take a hard look at my own life and how I respond to different things around me], to support those around you who are marginalized - all very important things that we ALL should be doing. Yet, this is not as simple as it sounds. For many people, it involves changing behavior that is second nature and has been for probably their whole life. It involves being stronger than one ever thought they could be in standing up for the injustices that they see around them. It involves possibly alienating those who may be family members, close friends and co-workers in standing up for what should and should not be said and behavior that is and isn't okay and then remaining strong when those very people, who either don't want to change or are afraid to change, turn on you and/or walk away from you. Being an abolitionist is not easy. It is not fun. It can be amazingly rewarding. It WILL change how you see everything, especially when you make the commitment and start doing the right thing and being the ally you should be.

This is a very important book. Everyone should be reading it [even the ones who don't think they need it] and doing the questions in it and then reevaluating their lives and just where they stand. Because there will be people who read this and it won't make a difference to them [and that is something that is more than likely expected, but it is one of the saddest things I have had to write in a long time]. Then, there are the people who will read this and see that they can begin where they are and start making the change and will realize just how amazing it is to do the right thing. Then there are people who are already allies, but know they can do more [this is where I am] and there are still things in their lives that they can change [I had several moments of being smacked in the face with knowledge that I had never even considered and I know I have work to do ahead of me] and they want the tools to begin that. And then there are the people of color that this is truly written for - how to look at their own lives, how to address issues in their own lives and how they can begin to heal from the hurts and pain that have been inflicted on them and their people for hundreds of years. This is a book for all these people. Everyone can learn from this. Everyone.

I plan on buying this book and reading it again with the idea of taking a chapter a day and doing all the work that is in the book [there are questions and readings etc at the end of the chapters that encourage the person reading it to make changes] - the kindle is not a good tool to accomplish this [IMO]. I think that it is good to read through a book like this and just absorb it and get a feel for it and then read it again and start applying what needs to be applied and start the work. I know that won't work for everyone, but I have found, with books like this, this is one of the better ways to approach it.

I was able to get the audiobook, read by Ariel Blake, and that really opened up the book for me [I think I am really an auditory learner, though in doing this book again, I plan on read reading it]. She does the narration so well and it made me pay attention to more things that were being said than I might not have in just reading it. I highly suggest that those who plan on reading this and doing/starting the work, listen to it at least once. It is a really great experience with a narrator that doesn't flinch from the subject matter and really does the book and the topics justice.

Now, go read this book, but if you do, plan in it changing your life. Plan on it making you want to begin new journeys. Just begin where you are, and then move forward.

Thank you to Patrice Cullors, Ariel Blake [Narrator], St. Martin's Press, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing this ARC and audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The handbook covers a lot in a little space. In some ways, this might seem like it's doing a disservice to the subject matter. On the other hand, it could be seen as a good overview of what's involved in this kind of movement work. I'm leaning toward the latter.

As the author writes early in the book, it isn't intended to be a one-time read. I'd add that while I appreciated being able to read with my ears initially (a format that I find especially effective and manageable for most books), this is a book that I would like to consume both in audio and in print (and more than once for both formats).

In each section, Cullors offers questions to consider and suggestions for additional resources—extremely helpful.

The narrator—Ariel Blake—was excellent. The audio ARC included a bonus interview between the author and fellow activist and writer adrienne maree brown.

Thank you, NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St. Martin's Press, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected January 25.

[I read, enjoyed, appreciated, and rated highly Cullors' memoir—When They Call You a Terrorist—in 2018.]

4.75 stars

This was an excellent read. I’m going to need to buy a hard copy for myself and will definitely revisit the ideas. I love the direct, practical tone as well as the mix of pushing to change our larger society and advocating for action on a personal and community level. The division of ideas into clear steps along with suggestions for further learning, reflection, and action is well-structured. Overall, this is a great book, and I’ll definitely be looking to acquire a physical copy soon.

The content of this book is phenomenal and the audiobook narrator is especially engaging. I felt very inspired while listening and loved how accessible the content is for baby abolitionists. This book focuses on abolition as a whole, not exclusively police/prison abolition, which I think is a unique approach. I appreciated in particular the inclusion of disability justice ideas. Each step includes further reading and challenging reflection questions. I will be recommending this to literally everyone!

This book gives an awesome breakdown of actionable things anyone can do as well as a good explanation of why it’s helpful. A good read, and a great handbook for anyone who wants to do more!

This book was the perfect way to end 2021... and I believe this brilliant little book is "must reading" for every single person in America. Really.

Patrisse Cullors gives the reader a road map to be a catalyst for change in the world... and I am not talking radical change (although I think if one applies all of her 12-steps it would radical!) This book seemed to me a series of love letters to yourself and to the people around you that you might interact with every single day.

The only reason I am giving this book 4-stars is because I truly wished it was longer... gosh, it was so good I did not want it to end.

If you want to be a better ally... read this book. But realize that if you do read this book, you will be setting yourself on the path to becoming a better human. And wouldn't it be a wonder if everyone who reads this book suddenly finds themselves on the same path as everyone else!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC of this audiobook. I highly recommend!