DNF due to audio issues. I kept getting weird feedback while trying to listen to this which made it impossible for me to finish it. From what I did get, I enjoyed it but couldn’t keep going.

Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day by Kaitlin B. Curtice
Narrated by Kaitlin B. Curtice
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Genre: Nonfiction (Adult), Religion & Spirituality
Published: March 7, 2023

Living Resistance: An Indigenous Vision for Seeking Wholeness Every Day by Kaitlin B. Curtice was fantastic! It is a compelling that honestly made me feel uncomfortable at times...but in a good way because it caused me to check my privilege and see things differently.

I thought this was beautifully written and the narration by the author was wonderful! She reads in a way that made me feel like I was talking with an old friend.

I thought the different ideas presented were fascinating and redefined resistance.

I highly recommend reading this, especially if you're willing to do the work!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
The author covers the four realms of resistance-the personal, the communal, the ancestral, and the integral and how they overlap. They discuss how to integrate this into everyday life.
While this was interesting, it didn't speak to me that much.

Thank you so much @netgalley for access to this masterpiece!! Curtice, who described resistance as how we use our energy to combat the status quo, and is about celebrating each other’s complexity, takes the reader on a journey through the “seasons” of our lives. I wrote so many notes, including “when we draw from the richness of others’ practices, we learn more fully what it means to be human.” Also, as a white woman, I heard loud and clear that “white folks need to stop and listen to those who were marginalized at every level”. She described finding the sacred in our everyday lives, with many examples related gardening, which rang so true for me. Without a doubt, I will listen to this again. Beautiful.

I was unfortunately not able to listen to this due to it being approved one day before it was archived, but the context is enough to know we would likely order it for the library. It would likely fill gaps in the collection for missing diversity.

I highly recommend picking this book up as audio if possible. It reads like pure poetry and is a compelling story from moment one. Curtice's work brilliantly encapsulates our shared human experiences and beautifully shares her Indigenous experiences.

Living Resistance was simply magical for me. I am not indigenous, but have found that I love learning more about indigenous cultures. The understanding of our connection to our ancestors and our earth found within many of the nations of Turtle Island resonate with me. Although Curtice is an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi Nation and was raised in Christianity, one does not need to be either in order to gain wisdom from this book. Curtice's vision is available for all - we can be living resistance simply by seeking wholeness every day through our connections with our bodies, our languages, our family and friends, our earth, our ancestors, and our higher power. Once of the things I loved most were the "resistance commitments" offered at the end of each short chapter. These gave actionable, small steps one could take in order to build these connections. Many times, books this deep feel only theoretic for us because we are sure where to begin. However, Curtice gives us that starting line and tie in to our own daily lives. Finally, I could listen to Kaitlin Curtice talk all day, every day. I consumed this via audiobook and it was like listening to a friend share their deepest thoughts while you sipped a cup of hot cocoa.

4.75 stars

This is an excellent non-fiction text about life, the world, and what it means to resist. In addition to speaking from experience and telling captivating stories to make her points, the writer frequently mentions relevant books, TED Talks, poetry, and writing prompts. She also references diverse activists, artists, researchers, and leaders globally, and she concludes chapters with “resistance commitments” in the form of activities, questions, or other prompts. She is intentionally intersectional, inclusive, compassionate in her writing. I found this book fascinating and significant, and I’m looking forward to incorporating passages into future classes.

A couple of lines that I loved:
“I am a human being. I am always arriving.” Resistance is simply choosing to arrive.

The element of this book I would like to praise most highly is its appeal to people in many different places-- in faith, in the struggle and resistance. I would recommend it as a wonderful and useful primer for becoming involved in the work of resistance. As someone who reads so much non fiction and does practical work in movements every day, this book for me was like a retreat. While remaining challenging it encouraged self inquiry and care in a way that is a relief to me without feeling like I am forgetting my ethics and values.

Kaitlin goes through four realms of resistance as she guides you through embodied ways to bring ourselves back to us and to one another.

This book is perfect for anyone looking to start and/or continue their embodiment practices.

Thanks to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for access to the audio book of this title.

As much as I enjoyed the audio version of this book I really wish I had a physical copy, I will for sure need to purchase one and reread so that I can take notes. There is so much self reflection that I need to do. Actually, since we are on the topic, that is part of what I loved about this book. After each section she gave us examples of how to implement the lessons she taught or question to help us self reflect on what was taught. I found it extremely helpful to have practical steps that can be taken to help with my journey in learning to resist.

In this book Kaitlin talks about ways to create resistance against the toxic ways we are told to live in todays society. Things like resistance through rest and resistance through creating positive and empowering environments to raise our children. She also does a fantastic job of explaining how to do these things and help marginalized communities as well.

Kaitlin comes from an evangelical background and still identifies as Christian but she does not follow a lot of the teachings of the very colonialism version of Christianity that is taught today. I am not a Christian or very religious at all but I still related to a lot of what she had to say on religion and appreciated her points of view on religion!

Overall I really enjoyed this and I am excited to take some of these new ideals and practices and work them into my life. I am also excited to reread this with a notebook so that I can dig a little deeper into ways I can resist.

Thank you Netgalley and Kaitlin B Curtice for allowing me to listen to Living Resistance. Kaitlin's voice was so soothing, and I love how she helps her readers understand what it means to living Resistance in a society that's so divided. I love how she talks about her own culture identity as she's from the Potawatomi Nation as well as explain self-care for ourselves as a person body, mind, and soul. She then explains how everyone in the world can live in peace, harmony, and individualism, to show how we can make the world a better place. Curtice reminds her readers that we forge our own path and our futures and it's a statement that I will take on with me after finishing this book. We all can have use our own personal resistance to display what is wrong with the world as well as ways to help change it one step at a time. I think of Jordan Sparks song One Step At A Time when thinking of wanting a better life as well as Muse's song Resistance when thinking of not allowing society to change the way we think, feel, and view the world. When it comes to changing the world, it will be slow and challenging, but it will take time. If played right and with patience, increment actions can become an event that will change how we all live. We can use our platforms to bring awareness to issues that runs rampant as well as displays of love, generosity, sacrifice. I highly recommend the audiobook, but I will get this book in paperback once its available.

This is a brilliant book regarding how to be resilient in all facets of life. I really enjoy self discovery/help-style books that are written by BIPOC artists because it provides a different lens into the way of life.

Curtice’s upbringing is wildly fascinating - a native ancestry raised in Christianity. I love how she weaves Native American symbolism and beliefs into the four realms of resistance. She does a great job of making the information palatable, relatable and fun. I also enjoyed all of the works from other artists she credited throughout the book.

For tactical learners, like myself, I would recommend obtain a physical copy of the book and marking it up while listening to the audio (read by the author). Curtice does recommend to take notes in the book or to have a notebook if listening to the audio, but I think a combo would be the best way to sit with the material.

There is so much that anyone could take from this book! The information is soulful and I think requires time to sit with and ponder.

Amazing Combination

This was a really amazing book on Indigenous resistance.

I found it very similar to True Reconciliation: How to Be a Force for Change - One of my favorite indigenous books that I've read in the last couple years.

I also really liked how this book talked about spirituality and focused on Christianity. Something important to me. An amazing combination of Indigenous spirutuality and Christian faith.

This was a really important book on acceptance and how to move forward as well.

I really enjoyed Kaitlin's powerful words.

This is another must-read Indigenous read.

Check it out!

4.8/5

Living Resistance is a beautiful meditation on embodiment and collective power. Curtice brings together the words of some of my favorite authors and thinkers and puts them in conversation, showing how Robin Wall Kimmerer's work dovetails with adrienne maree brown's work which echoes Nedra Glover Tawwab's work, etc. This is a short, simple, and efficient book that will make you feel feelings and inspire you to work towards collective resistance.

In “Living Resistance” Kaitlin Curtice shows how almost every part of your life can be an act of resistance. Curtis organizes her material into four realms of resistance: the personal, the communal, the ancestral, and the integral. She explains this framework in the introduction, which makes it easy for readers to orient their understanding throughout the book. I would like more non-fiction books to follow Curtis’ example. At the end of chapters, Curtice suggests a variety of ways that the reader can practice resistance.

While Curtice is a member of the Potawatomi nation, she grew up in a conservative, evangelical Christian community. I grew up in a similar community and I recognize many of the things she describes. I have many good memories of my former community, but also many bad ones. As a Native American girl, Curtice had mostly traumatizing experiences. She talks about having to learn to reclaim her indigenous identity, and to love herself.

The Christians and churches Curtice has had contact with in her professional life are still often negative. Most still have a colonizing mindset. Curtice also discusses the need for BIPOC and other minorities to decolonize themselves and the systems of our country as a form of resistance. She gives several ways people can achieve this decolonization. One thing I was hoping to get a little more from this book is what white males (like me) can and should be doing. Some things she did say about that topic is the idea of indigenization, which is for people in America to let indigenous people lead. And another thing she wrote about is that we need to regularly listen to people from diverse backgrounds. That is where I will start, with listening more.

Thank you Net Galley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!!

I’m grateful to Kaitlin B. Curtis for the depth of insight in her writing and all the deep work she did to bring us on the journey with her throughout the pages of this book. The invitations for reflection and living resistance were exquisite. As someone who comes from a conservative evangelical background, I identified with her journey of questioning, grief, shame, deconstruction and light on the other side of rigid, cult-like, white religion. I was also challenged to consider how I want to live out resistance, long-term intentional activism, and connection to Mother Earth and the divine.

I listened to the audio book and highly recommend it! Hearing Kaitlin read her own words was so meaningful.

"In an era in which "resistance" has become tokenized, popular Indigenous author Kaitlin Curtice reclaims it as a basic human calling. Resistance is for every human who longs to see their neighbors' holistic flourishing. We each have a role to play in the world right where we are, and our everyday acts of resistance hold us all together."

What a stunning work.

Is it both difficult and painful to mirrors held up to systems of which you're a part? Yes.

Is it necessary? Also yes.

There are so many good quotes in this book, both from Curtice, and from others, but my favourite came from the very beginning.

I am human. I am always arriving.

I have incorporated that simple set of sentences into my daily breath-prayers. What a gentle and true statement.

I loved how the author brought her Potowami culture and practices, as well as those from others' into the work, weaving them into her story of healing and resistance.

I love the mind-pictures we're given - the concentric circles of different colours. I'm a visual person, so it's allowed me to recall the Venn Diagram during moments of calm.

I loved that concrete steps (thought experiments, writing prompts, etc.) were given along the way. Reading puts things into your brain. Doing puts things into your heart.

This is my first work by this author, tho' I've listened to her on several podcasts. I'm excited to go searching for her previous books.

I'm so grateful for the work Curtice does.

9.5/10

Thanks to NetGalley and Brazo Publishing for this transformational ARC.

I've encountered this author on social media spaces and was excited to read this book. It did not disappoint. It is both poignant in its simplicity and full of practical wisdom/practices. It helped me to think about resistance in an entirely new but also every day sort of way. I look forward to sharing this with my community and revisiting it in the coming months as I learn to put into practice what Curtice has to share.