I’m really excited to introduce our next book for Toward Liberation! This November and December, we’ll be reading Joshua Briond’s Taming the Revolution: White Power and the Fear of Black Freedom.
Joshua Briond is the co-host of my favorite podcast, Millennials are Killing Capitalism, and I’ve been following his updates about his new book for months, anxiously awaiting its release date. Over the past several years, I’ve learned so much from Millennials are Killing Capitalism (even though I’m many years past the age of millennials) and I’m always anxiously awaiting their newest episodes. Because I’ve learned so much from this, I know that Josh’s new book is going to be a transformative learning experience, while also being deeply engaging and moving.
Taming the Revolution traces how white power has repeatedly responded to Black revolutionary struggle through reform and cooptation, absorbing radical demands while continually working to preserve while hegemony and capitalist domination. The book moves throughout history, from Reconstruction to the civil rights era to the Obama presidency, tracing the various efforts that have been deployed to neutralize Black power and continually expand the carceral state.
As we continue our exploration of what it means to build a radical Black socialist movement, I’m especially excited to read this book together. Understanding how revolutionary movements have been undermined is essential to thinking about how we build movements that resist cooptation and move toward achieving genuine liberation.
I hope you’ll join us in reading and I’m really looking forward to discussing together! Because of the upcoming holidays, we’ll likely meet in mid-January to discuss, but we’ll back in touch soon with more details. Also, stay tuned for new posts from connease, Maya, and me as we read. There is a lot to talk about!
For now, you can get your copy of Taming the Revolution here.
In solidarity,
Alan