Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People by Alice Wong

Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People Reviews

• 
  Rosalie

  Reading these essays/reflections was a deeply moving experience for me as a feminist, a Latina, and a non-disabled person. I felt like I was having a long, late-night conversation with each author about topics that are both abstract and very personal at the same time: hope, despair, resistance, the limits and the potential of each of us as individuals and in community.
  
  The book is published by the Disability Visibility Project, rather than a conventional press, and in an e-book-only release (for reasons of accessibility), so it probably won't get the same review coverage that more traditionally published titles do. Hopefully we individual book lovers can spread the word to each other.
• 
  KA

  These essays have a wide range in quality, and few of them offer concrete plans or suggestions for organizing and self-care. Overall, worth reading for the really excellent essays.
• 
  Mateo Dk

  This felt kind of like a series of selfintroductory motivational speeches you'd hear at the beginning of an activist event. Very much 2016-2018 period piece without a lot of theory or meat, just introductions to individual activists and their thoughts on Trump era politics. I felt almost nothing about any of the book-- I was intrigued to maybe check out other writing by some of the contributors, but not because of the actual content of the essays usually, just because the biography after was interesting. Also, sorry, but the concept of saying "permanently disable Trump's electability" or whatever was... it floored me. I feel bad for such a negative review, it's nice to see so many disabled people centered, but the actual essays just weren't there and felt like introductions to more interesting thoughts.
• 
  Richard Propes

  Having recently had the opportunity to preview Alice Wong's upcoming "Disability Visibility," I enthusiastically claimed the opportunity to go back a couple years and check out a similar 2018 effort by Wong that also pushed disabled voices to the forefront. "Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People" is really an expansion of Wong's acclaimed Disability Visibility Project, an anthology of essays written by some of the country's most celebrated and recognized activists, leaders, and social justice pioneers for disability justice.
  
  In most ways, "Resistance and Hope" feels like an introduction to "Disability Visibility," though at least part of that is that it's obvious Wong has learned much since compiling this anthology and has applied that knowledge to her upcoming release. While "Resistance and Hope" is, indeed, just as filled with resistance and hope, it's a shorter effort with 17 essays and its inconsistent tone sometimes mutes its overall impact intellectually and emotionally.
  
  The authors here explore resistance, hope, self-care, disability justice, and the current state of political affairs in America under an administration that has reversed or just plain eliminated many disability rights measures.
  
  The book challenges, though perhaps a tad less than it intends and this is a key lesson Wong seems to have learned and applied in her upcoming "Disability Visibility." These essays are shorter and for the most part rather fundamental, while the post-essays bios are frequently far too lengthy. Additionally, Wong utilizes content advisories a bit excessively - this is also an area that is vastly improved in her upcoming project.
  
  All 17 of the essays will be appreciated, though is as nearly always true with anthologies certain ones are likely to resonate more than others. Favorites of mine included Cyree Jarelle Johnson's "Barron Trump's (Alleged) Autistic Childhood," Mari Kurisato's "They Had Names," and Stacey Milbern's "Reflections as Congress Debates Our Futures," and Naomi Ortiz's "Self-Care When Things Shatter." Lydia X.Z. Brown always impresses and the same is true for "Rebel - Don't Be Palatable: Resisting Co-optation and Fighting for the World We Want," while Mia Mingus, Maysoon Zayid, and Talila A. Lewis all shine.
  
  Truthfully, though, there's not a weak effort here other than noting that some could have benefited from lengthier presentation.
  
  Alice Wong has established herself not only as a premiere activist in America for disability justice, but also as one who enthusiastically shines the light on others. It's refreshing in a world often filled with "me first" to see someone so enthusiastically devoted to sharing the spotlight and empowering others.
  
  Published directly by the Disability Visibility Project, "Resistance and Hope" is available in a Kindle edition as the e-book format was chosen primarily for its flexibility and accessibility.
• 
  Anushree

  Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People, Edited by Alice Wong
  
  This is a publication by the Disability Visibility Project. You can find them on FB as well as Twitter.
  
  This is a compilation of 16 searing essays by multiply disabled people belonging to various marginalized communities - black, lgbtq+, muslim, jewish. The book is a poem that talks about hope, about how resistance gives hope, about who should resist, what resistance means to different people, about organizing as a means to resist, about art, writing, hip hop, movies, pop culture as a form of resistance, about the importance of dreaming about and having constant conversations of an impossible utopian world as a means to resist and reach a place which at least attempts to be fair and just for the many marginalizations across intersections. I read about Sagamihara 19 massacre first here and the more I read about it, the more I realize what a cocoon some of us live in. The book speaks of self care in the times of debilitating political season. The book is what it talks of. It is resistance. It is hope.
  
  I think all of us should read it for the myriad, kind and massively educated perspectives it promises to offer.
• 
  Hilary

  Resistance and Hope is a series of essays collected from the disability community, written to spur action, collective healing, and resistance. Each essay is short and sweet--not really calling for any specific actions but pushing forth broader ideas on what modern activism taken from learnings in the Disability Justice framework can look like. What I really appreciated about this book was that it truly demonstrated intersectional resistance and unabashedly called out existing ableist hierarchies present within nonprofits, advocacy groups, and cultural resistances such as the Hip Hop movement. I think the word "intersectional" is thrown around a lot, but seeing it in actual advocacy work is renewing. I don't feel like there was enough space given to fully dive into some topics I was particularly interested in, and as someone who has already done a bit of reading in disability theory and existing disability organizations and advocates, I don't think I came away with anything new, but I do think this set of essays would be particularly helpful as an introduction to the community for activists who are looking to make sure their organizations and communities are inclusive / hoping to build coalitions with other marginalized communities.
• 
  Anja

  Read this now. So important for these voices to be heard and to challenge one's own thoughts, or find ways to become more involved. I love that the authors talk about challenges within different communities & explores ways to make those communities more supportive, supported, and accessible to all. I also value the dissonance in representing two different viewpoints, even coming from the same author.
  
  All of this was food for my soul that I wasn't even aware I needed until I read it.
  
  Currently, this book is available via Kindle or free online download. (No paper format.) I suggest either one, but if you go the free online download route, consider donating to the Disability Visibility Project, LLC via Patreon or Paypal:
  https://disabilityvisibilityproject.c...
  
  Let's bring more voices to the front and continue the work of these amazing people.
• 
  Kyra

  I've been a fan of Alice Wong ever since hearing her interview on Ana Marie Cox's podcast, so I was very excited to hear that she edited a new book about disabled experiences. "Resistance and Hope" consists of essays centered on navigating disability justice in the Trump era, with special attention to the experiences of queer and POC individuals. Some of the writers were familiar to me (Lydia Brown, Mia Mingus), and others were authors I didn't know before but really enjoyed (Stacey Milbern, for example). Overall, it's a great book to read if you're interested in intersectional disability activism, whether you're new to the subject or have engaged with it for years.
  
  I wish more books like this existed.
• 
  Angela

  It may be possible that in the near future I will run out of adjectives during my mini-reviews - but it is not this day!
  
  Written in 2017, these 16 essays cover a vast array of subjects within the disabled community: resistance, hope, self-care, intersectional disability rights and social justice.
  
  This was such an informative read. If you take nothing else away, remember that. If you happen to actually go out of your way to read this fabulous and necessary collection, please make sure you make it to ‘Don’t bring cotton candy to a nuclear war’ by Maysoon Zayid which really stood out for me.
• 
  C.E. G

  2.5 stars, but rounding up because the collection introduces readers to the names of disability justice activists who are doing work that is important to know and support. But the actual experience of reading the anthology didn't feel that revelatory - maybe because I already follow some of the contributors on social media, the ideas here were already largely familiar to me.
• 
  Jaime

  Loved most of it
  
  I really liked this book, with one exception : content notes are for sensitive topics that may impact trauma survivors or people with phobias. In a disabled writer anthology it baffles and upsets me that this was treated so badly! "Activist praxis" isn't a content note!
• 
  Jennifer Stoy

  Now, like every essay anthology, not every essay was 5 stars, but enough of these hit me in the thoughts and emotions that it was overall a 5 star experience. The Neumeier, Mirov, and Valentine were especially memorable to me, and others were very viscerally good as well.
• 
  Vari Robinson

  Too focused on Trump and mainstream politics; I was hoping for big leftist ideas and some of it was that, but not enough.
• 
  Mo

  I could not be more grateful that this book exists. Every essay meant more to me than I can say.
• 
  Madi

  "When world is shattering, we are the shards cutting to shape something new." (Naomi Ortiz)
• 
  jo price

  very timely and comforting for what we are living *rn*. really appreciated the the reminder/calling in of what *really* matters and what doesn't.
• 
  Fei

  The essays are primarily reflecting on the years after Trump was elected but are still very much true today
• 
  moss

  a few of the essays resonated, a lot of them focused on a resistance strategy which was primarily electoral politics. not super inspiring, especially looking back from 2022.
• 
  Fi

  Everyone should read this! I only wish there was a physical book version so I could underline and bookmark!
• 
  Joy Messinger

  [5 stars] A timely collection of essays by disabled people in the US, edited by the Disability Visibility Project's Alice Wong. Writers grapple with resistance and hope amidst a social and political climate of white supremacy, patriarchy, colonization, and ongoing ableism. I appreciated the essays that looked at the intersections of race, gender, and disability, especially "Rebel - Don't Be Palatable" by Lydia XZ Brown, "Barron Trump's (Alleged) Autistic Childhood" by Cyree Jarelle Johnson, "They Had Names" by Mari Kurisato, "the birth of resistance" by Talila A Lewis, "Renewal of Faith and Hope" by Noemi Martinez, "Reflections as Congress Debates our Futures" by Stacey Milburn, and "Building Back Belonging, Hope, and Possibility" by Mia Mingus.