The Purpose of Power ★★★★★

The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart (Click Here To Buy)

★★★★★

The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart by Alicia Garza is a non-fiction book about organizing written by one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter Movement.

I read this as an audiobook on loan from the library read by the author.

The book is broken down into three sections. In the first part, Garza talks about her upbringing, including how important her mom was to her and what it was like growing up in California in a place where she was often one of the only Black people. From an early age, Garza was involved in organizing people and spreading knowledge. In the second part of the book, Garza focuses in on how she became a professional organizer. She talks about the importance of listening to people and how you want to widen your scope, as opposed to narrowing it. The final part of the book discusses Garza’s experiences with the Black Lives Matter Movement. Garza was the person who first used the hashtag #blacklivesmatter so she talks about the moments that brought her to that point including the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer as well as the moments after, not holding back places where she wishes they would have responded differently.

I thought this book was phenomenal. Not only was it interesting history to learn about Garza and the shaping of the Black Lives Matter Movement, but more importantly I appreciated Garza’s focus on the specifics of what you have to do to organize people and create social change. Garza ends the book stating, “We are not defined by what we lack, we are defined by how we come together when we fall apart.”

If you liked The Purpose of Power, I also recommend When They Call You A Terrorist by Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Our Time is Now by Stacey Abrams, The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris, and Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis.

Happy reading -

Ms.Bjork