An entertaining resource for anyone seeking genuine engagement with anti-racist activism.
An anti-racist interactive workbook leads readers through a journey of self-reflection, education, and activism.
Bell is a Black comedian, director, creator of CNN’s United Shades of America With W. Kamau Bell, and the ACLU Artist Ambassador for Racial Justice, and Schatz is a sought-after queer feminist activist, public speaker, and author of Rad American History A-Z, among other books. Throughout, humorous dialogues between the authors frame the many useful activities. The authors define terms, reflect on personal experiences, and anticipate objections to engaging in activism that could come at a personal cost. Interspersed between these interactions are activities ranging from crossword puzzles and word searches to spaces for reflection and planning. The text also incorporates a variety of graphics—e.g., an iceberg illustrates the unseen effects of White supremacy, and a jukebox displays possible responses to racist comments. In the final section, the authors address the emotional impact of anti-racist activism, encouraging readers to reflect on their fears about taking part in anti-racist activities and to create strategies for making amends if and when they make mistakes. Bell and Schatz intend for readers to finish the book with the ability to identify their privileges (“unearned access to social power accorded by the formal and informal institutions of society to ALL members of a dominant group”), define anti-racism, and have a plan for a variety of circumstances, including discussing race with children, reducing dependence on policing, and safely participating in public protest. Overall, the narrative is practical and accessible, balancing historical context with self-reflection and direct action. The dialogues between the authors are informative, frank, and vulnerable, creating a safe space for both learning and taking risks. While the authors introduce the book as being for people of all races, the text itself feels more relevant to White people than people of color.
An entertaining resource for anyone seeking genuine engagement with anti-racist activism.Pub Date: July 19, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-523-51428-1
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.
A noted actor turns to verse: “Poems are a Saturday in the middle of the week.”
McConaughey, author of the gracefully written memoir Greenlights, has been writing poems since his teens, closing with one “written in an Australian bathtub” that reads just as a poem by an 18-year-old (Rimbaud excepted) should read: “Ignorant minds of the fortunate man / Blind of the fate shaping every land.” McConaughey is fearless in his commitment to the rhyme, no matter how slight the result (“Oops, took a quick peek at the sky before I got my glasses, / now I can’t see shit, sure hope this passes”). And, sad to say, the slight is what is most on display throughout, punctuated by some odd koanlike aperçus: “Eating all we can / at the all-we-can-eat buffet, / gives us a 3.8 education / and a 4.2 GPA.” “Never give up your right to do the next right thing. This is how we find our way home.” “Memory never forgets. Even though we do.” The prayer portion of the program is deeply felt, but it’s just as sentimental; only when he writes of life-changing events—a court appearance to file a restraining order against a stalker, his decision to quit smoking weed—do we catch a glimpse of the effortlessly fluent, effortlessly charming McConaughey as exemplified by the David Wooderson (“alright, alright, alright”) of Dazed and Confused. The rest is mostly a soufflé in verse. McConaughey’s heart is very clearly in the right place, but on the whole the book suggests an old saw: Don’t give up your day job.
It’s not Shakespeare, not by a long shot. But at least it’s not James Franco.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2025
ISBN: 9781984862105
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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