Teaching Notes: Let this Radicalize You Foreword and Introductions

From the very beginning of this book, there is so much richness and I was immediately inspired to begin making connections and writing prompts. Note the word "introductions" in the title, as there is a intro from each co-author, each with their own motives and inquiry for this book.

Before I get into my notes, I want to share the resources that exist for this title already. If you want to get your copy, shop small press through Haymarket Books, where you can also find a workbook with great prompts.

Foreword: Radicalization is Vital by Maya Schenwar

“How do we hope without a map – without being able to glimpse some identifiable point in the future where things might get better? And how do we act, if we don’t know where our hope will come from?” (xiv)

• What are our maps? Are we really without maps? How did others make maps in times of struggle and despair

  • Study the Quilts of the Underground Railroad

Introduction: Remaking the World by Kelly Hayes

Hayes quotes Krista Franklin's poem "Call" from Too Much Midnight

• How does Franklin challenge the concept of linear time in the poem? How does she connect this idea to the ability to vision into the future?

Hayes includes several quotes from Diane di Prima's poem "Rant"

• “The war that matters is the war against the imagination / all other wars are subsumed in it” (2)

  • What are the ways our imagination is being stolen from us? Why

  • What are the tools we can use to reclaim imagination?

Activity:

After reading this chapter, define (individually or with a small group): what is “a poetic?” What is a poetic of self? (How might it be related to/influenced by cultural upbringing and epistemology? How might it change /shift depending on situation?) Write a list poem that defines your poetics at home or your internal poetics. Write a list poem that defines your poetics with the outside world.

Key themes:

• Poetics vs politics

• History as a weapon – how are they disarming us?

  • What/where is our armament?

    
    

Supplemental Readings:

• “Coming Home” by Kaira Jewel Lingo + meditation + prompts

• “Seven Homecomings” Lama Rod Owens

Introduction: We Can Only Survive Together by Mariame Kaba

“Who are the people to whom I’m accountable?” (9-10)

• Consider how this accountable list is connected to your sense of personal and community safety. Engage with Mia Mingus’s Pod Building – create your pod and notice where the list interacts.

“No matter how we choose to take action, we are usually working towards a future that we will be unlikely to see. It’s a future built on the hopes and the sacrifices of our ancestors upon whose labor and love we stand” (14).

• Connect with Layla Saad's "Good Ancestor" podcast archives

Key Themes:

• What does it mean to build?

• Getting informed and plugged in to mutual aid efforts

• Activist vs. organizers

• Activist Invitation: Who do you want to join and in what?