User Profile

I started noticing parallels between unschooling/self-directed education and my values as an anarchist around the same time, when my now-teenager was "preschool" age. These ideas are so intertwined, each informing the other, always reminding me there are other ways of living in this world and interacting with people of all ages...especially children. There are few people I trust as much as carla joy bergman to put together a book like TRUST KIDS!, which explores how we can break down the hierarchies that keep children from experiencing autonomy and consent in all areas of their lives (not just in their education).

I wanted to race through this book—it's so down-to-earth and a joy to read! But each piece had so much to say—important points I wanted to make sure I took in fully. TRUST KIDS! features essays, interviews, poems, and artwork from scholars, activists, and artists of all kinds of backgrounds and demographics. I read a number of new-to-me voices, but also many familiar, trusted voices, like Idzie Desmarais, whose essay "Anarchy Begins At Home" moved me deeply. ❤ (Everyone felt familiar and trusted by the end of the book!)

One of my favorite passages is from "A Fatigue-Wearing Judas: Acknowledging Histories and Breaking Cycles" by chris time steele:

"Learning is about unlearning, relearning, or learning-through as well...Unlearning isn't an event, it's an ongoing process, which involves being in community with others, reflecting on internalized white supremacy, and diagnosing the patriarchy within myself."

TRUST KIDS! counters the lies capitalism, colonization, and empire have taught us about children AND about ourselves.

What would a worldwide, lasting revolution look like? What would be the obstacles and what tactics would be needed to overcome them? How are we going to survive climate change? These are the themes Kim Stanley Robinson tackles in his 570-page cli-fi novel THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE.

The narrative is disjointed, with epistolary chapters placed throughout. If you roll with it, it works well. You get a well-researched, fairly well-rounded picture across class, power, and geography. The format makes for a clever way to introduce details that otherwise might not fit into a traditional narrative. I also appreciate the global perspective of this book. The U.S. is not at the center at all, and is critiqued heavily and fairly.

THE MINISTRY FOR THE FUTURE envisions a world that includes the Half-Earth concept as one of its solutions to combat climate change. Half of the planet would be reserved exclusively for nature; the other half for humans, centered in sustainable cities. It sounds plausible in the novel, but I had this nagging, bad feeling about it. I kept thinking, you're never going to get 100% compliance on that, no matter how many incentives you offer. And we have a terrible history of forcing Indigenous peoples off their land. Nowhere in the book is that addressed and, so far, what I'm reading about Half-Earth doesn't assuage my concerns.

So, I'm feeling meh about this novel. When I was able to believe it, its hopefulness felt inspiring and relieved some of my fears. When cynicism (reality?) got the best of me, I had to set it aside for a bit, which is why it took me so long to finish it. Plus, I have major problems with a top-down approach that is just repackaged state power claiming to be a solution. (Obama loving this book should have been a red flag for me.) But this is science fiction. It doesn't have to actually solve anything. There were plenty of moments where the book imagines creative ways to forge ahead, and for that, I'm glad I read it, even if I'm probably not going to pick up another Kim Stanley Robinson book in the future.

This medical memoir is as delicate as it is powerful. N. West Moss perfectly captures the heartache of infertility and chronic illness – and the fears, hopes, and frustrations that come with major surgery and its recovery – all with a gentle sense of humor and a lovely way of looking at the world, even the smallest little details. Moss has written this book in very short chapters consisting of beautifully engaging prose, making it difficult to put the book down once you pick it up. I grew to love the people she loves (and a praying mantis!), and felt like I was right there with her each step of the way. What a stunning memoir, and with so many unexpected moments of joy.

Wwhen Algonquin Books sent me a copy of Flesh & Blood for the Instagram tour, they included a little notebook, recipes by @PickYourPotions for basil syrup and hibiscus syrup, and a packet of wildflower seeds. I recently read a book about guerrilla gardening, so I’m excited to put the seeds to unexpected use!

I’ve only ever read Fr. Richard Rohr’s work in audiobook format, but honestly, I need to be buying his books in print so I can underline and put sticky notes everywhere. In Everything Belongs, he explores the radical freedom that comes through believing “that we have no real access to who we really are except in God.”

He discusses how civil religion and cultural Christianity miss a sense of the whole. They’re perfunctory. “The great commandment is not ‘thou shall be right,’ it is ‘be in love.'” When he reminds us that God receives all, he means literally all. Our ego is constantly comparing and dividing. It’s responsible for our dualistic thinking. Our true self—our soul—gives space for all.

I found his thoughts on avoiding groupthink and getting caught up in religious dogma especially inspiring and hopeful. The way our group experiences and knows God it not the only way to experience and know God, and believing it is is idolatry. He warns against playing the power, control, and domination game, no matter what “side” we’re on. He reminds us that our egos will find new ways to be right and moral and superior, so we have to keep that in check.

Activists need to be careful not to become power-seeking and dominating, or they become part of the problem and the movement self-destructs. A transformation of souls must occur in order for a revolution to happen. That desire to control others must be exorcised.

He also brings up the follow point: “Individualism makes church almost impossible. It makes community almost impossible. It makes compassion almost impossible.” Especially when thinking about the way people have responded to the pandemic, I think we can all say we’ve seen how destructive individualism can be.

These are just some of my favorite aspects of this book, but it’s hard to express them briefly enough for review purposes. Rohr’s explanations in the book are very deep and thoughtful, and he ties all his points together in profound ways. Everything Belongs is perfect for anyone who believes, as Rohr puts it: “We need less reformation and more transformation.”