This is part-memoir, part-political manifesto about how to show up in solidarity with marginalized groups when you yourself are part of the group that is doing the oppression. I learned a lot from it, even if it was a little disjointed at times. Sarah Schulman is a good writer and I'll be interested to see what she writes in the future.

we have been blessed with another sarah schulman book! and there's no one i'd rather read a book on solidarity about other than her - with her long history of activism there are few humans more equipped to tell us opportunities that we can grow together as a society and how we can apply that new-found solidarity to our modern existence as witnesses of the genocide of palestinians perpetrated by israel.

i loved that this book delved into different scenarios where the existence of solidarity - or the lack thereof - changed the landscape of society. there's discussion of spanish women fleeing their countries to get abortions deemed illegal by their country and how, after they received a safe and effective procedure, they were unwilling to fight for others like them and so were a part of perpetuating the problems that they faced. there were discussions of pinkwashing from israel and how it gives a false sense of security/safety to queer people, when the unexplainable piece of the puzzle is why we're all meant to be complicit in the extermination of an entire people because an anti-lgbt country accuses them of being anti-lgbt. there's discussion about dareen tatour's poetry and poetry existing as an effective method of nonviolent resistance. sarah also writes more about ACT UP and of course about the alienation of trans and queer people resulting in a suicide epidemic.

ultimately, most of the world's problems can be solved by developing solidarity with one another. and sarah writes about how sometimes, the shape of solidarity is outside the lines of what is legal or utterly against status quo, but that we shouldn't keep those things from stopping us from doing what is right and we're all responsible for doing that.

Loved this. Especially with the current administration this book is very important and I honestly learned a lot. 10/10 would recommend

Schulman offers an important read at a time where there are fewer spectrums along which we and our opinions exist, and more binaries into which we try to make them fit. Nowhere is this more true, than talking about Palestine. It is not a delineation of events happening there, but more or less how we build solidarity here and now in the Free Palestine movement as well as building upon it where solidarity is a workable framework. It reminds me somewhat of a civil rights direct action manual I recently read at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario. It doesn't have specific strategies and tactics per se, but it takes up the interpersonal at the intersection of activism and keeping our humanity intact. It won't tell you how to tear down silos and go in with an oft quoted, but seldom clarified for meaning phrase "burn it down" of systems. It offers helpful wisdom to tarry better. It's not the sexiest way to sell the book, I know, but we are in a time of (to quote Donna Haraway, because if given the chance it is always a good idea) "staying with the trouble". Indeed the troubles are so inescapable that while we can turn off social media or walk away from the news, the lessons activists and communities are learning from and through pro-Palestinian activism will apply to other areas that will no doubt, in another Trump administration become facts turned into negotiations or debate: science, climate emergencies, civil rights, the existence of trans people as reflective of biodiversity and as therefore worthy of care, the data reflecting that immigration actually *helps* countries who receive immigrants, and more. Schulman goes a long way to helping readers understand what solidarity means, how we confuse the term, and also how an elusive meaning fans the flames of already scorching discourse. The interview with Morgan M. Page towards the end of the book dovetails wonderfully with the notion of solidarity where it discusses disposability culture, and takes a very plainly stated look at suicidality in activist communities. If you are considering reading and this might trigger you, especially if you are trans (it is two trans people whose deaths are discussed), I would recommend reading it with an awareness that it could bring up emotions that overwhelm and require more of your emotional energy than not. It is still however, a great book that I highly recommend. One of my favourite parts of the book is its hesitation in offering solutions. Tarrying is, as I said, not the sexiest term, but it is, as the title of Schulman's book notes, necessary. The more tools we have to work on this in the coming years, the more whole our humanity stands to remain while we stare into the abyss of both late-stage capitalist and fascist atrocities unfolding. Thank you to the publisher for this advance reader copy- I'm so grateful.