´When They Call You a Terrorist´. A #BLM Memoir

I will probably write a little bit later about the current wave of protests that took over the US and some European universities as well. The events are unfolding and as for now, I would rather observe and analyse the tactics and the situation in its entirety. 

On the other hand, one cannot avoid noticing that in fact, the content of the messages and the pattern of protests can be traced couple of years back, before and after the Blak Lives Matter #BLM movement. Thus, better understanding the mindset of the creators of this movement may shed more light on the current protests on campus.

Patrisse Khan-Cullors is together with Alicia Garza and Aya (former Opal) Tometi one of the founders of BLM. With a vocation of political activism, born in a poor single-mother household Khan.Cullors is a brand name for contemporary civil rights movements. And with the fame comes also the controversy, although being able to overcome one´s poor upbringing is not a crime.

When They Call You a Terrorist, that Patrisse Khan-Cullor5s wrote together with Asha Bandele - with a foreword by Angela Davis, is an important testimony to the genesis of the movement, as well as for larger political takes within the American policy, such as carceral policies and discrimination. At the same time, it also offers very important personal accounts on healing, being queer and overcoming one´s family boundaries.

The book is a first person memoir chronologically accounting Khan-Cullors life, but it also can be considered the evolution of an idea, a mindset and in the end, of a movement. I do have another memoir that may be relevant to my understanding, by Angela Davis, and hopefully soon I can have a bigger picture on this phenomenon.

There is definitely much more to be said about BLM and there are critical points to be touched upon that are not included in the memoir - but there are always limitation of the I-story because in such contexts the focus is on remembering, not on re-considering, and re-evaluating. Nevertheless, memoirs are an important part of any story, as they offer a good ground for a critical evaluation.

Rating: 3.5 stars