“The power of the people is greater than the people in power.” This is a resounding sentiment across protest movements that I have witnessed lately. Politics isn’t something for a select few to perform; it is for all of us to participate in. As I write this, I’m reminded of an essay Andrea Gibson sent out in their newsletter after the fascist Trump administration was voted into power again. They wrote, “I keep asking myself, ‘What is my job in this moment? What do I specifically have to offer?” They encouraged their readers to throw a What’s My Job party and explore the question with their community. I’d like to leave you with the same.
Figure out what your version of standing up to oppressive systems looks like—the ones that leave you out, as well as the ones you benefit from. Everything human and alive in us has exhibited dissent and resistance for centuries. The books below document global protest movements that we should read about while we honour the lives of those who participated in them. I hope they leave you with the spirit to understand what your job can look like.
The Prisons We Broke by Baby Kamble
Baby Kamble writes a poignant memoir, walking us through the world of Mahar castes in Maharashtra before and after the revolutionary change brought about by Dr. Ambedkar. Inspired by his work, she joined the resistance struggle at a young age. Facing oppression head-on in India’s Brahmanical patriarchal society, she went on to establish a school for disadvantaged children in Nimbure. Jina Amucha, the original, was published in Marathi in 1986, and its fierceness and clarity are still required in the India of today.
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Set in China, this fictional novel masterfully lets us embody the lives of two generations. One generation that lived through Mao’s cultural revolution and their children who became the students involved in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. Told through the tales of two young women, Marie and Ai-Ming, this novel is a portrayal of how our lives are intertwined with the politics of our time as well as the politics before our time.
We’ve Been Here Before: How Rebellion and Activism Have Always Sustained America by Michael I. Days & Angela P. Dodson
For anybody who may be misinformed that protests in America are a phenomenon of the past decade, this book is here to break that myth. America has always been sustained by rebellion and activism. Michael I. Days and Angela P. Dodson, owing to their longstanding careers in journalism, build compelling profiles of people who were at the centre of these movements. They especially focus on women and people of color who are often glossed over when recounting history.
When We Rise: My Life in the Movement by Cleve Jones
This memoir documents Cleve Jones’ life as a queer activist moving from the massive mobilisation is 1970s San Franciso and the AIDS crisis up to the fight for marriage equality. We see his time with Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist who also became one of the first elected gay officials in the US. Post Milk’s assassination, Jones takes his mentor’s work forward, has a brush with AIDS that almost kills him, is involved in the AIDS Memorial Quilt, and co-founds the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. We read how hope and dread, possibility and prejudice, and celebration and violence all coexisted.
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights by Omar Barghouti
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement rose in apartheid South Africa and became an integral part of their resistance. Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the Palestinian Civil Society BDS campaign against Israel, documents it in this book. The global campaign has been ongoing for the past 20 years. You can join the movement and get more information about its impact here.
Protest Art: 20 (Art Essentials) by Jessica Lack
This book is deeply visual and documents various ways in which art has been used as a means of protest throughout the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It documents art used during periods of great upheaval across the world. Divided into nine chapters, each chapter addresses the different ways in which art has been used to show dissent and awaken collective consciousness.
If you want to dive deeper into books about dissent, check out 15 Essential Books to Read for the Resistance and Pride and Protest: 6 Books About Queer Liberation and Activists.