Calling In

How to Start Making Change with Those You'd Rather Cancel

288 pages

English language

Published 2025 by Simon & Schuster, Limited.

ISBN:
978-1-9821-9079-8
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5 stars (1 review)

From a pioneering Black feminist and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow, an urgent and exhilarating memoir-manifesto-handbook about how to rein in the excesses of cancel culture so we can truly communicate and solve problems together.

In 1979, Loretta Ross was a single mother who’d had to drop out of Howard University. She was working at Washington, DC’s Rape Crisis Center when she got a letter from a man in prison saying he wanted to learn how to not be a rapist anymore. At first, she was furious. As a survivor of sexual violence, she wanted to write back pouring out her rage. But instead, she made a different choice, a choice to reject the response her trauma was pushing her towards, a choice that set her on the path towards developing a philosophy that would come to guide her whole career: rather than calling people out, try to call even your unlikeliest …

1 edition

A stablizing form of activism

5 stars

This book is advocating, and hoping to start a movement of activism, based less in call-outs, and more in call-in. Bascially, less shunning and insulting of an opposing believe, political or otherwise. And more leaving room to a discussion. Sometimes based less in opposition, and rather finding areas of similarity. This of course is for people open to such a thing. And she still has room in the process for either calling-out harmful behavior. Or even calling-off when no progress can made. But also, asking that we call ourselves in, to see if we can truely put this into practice.

I.... really needed this book. I might reread it later. I want to get back into activism. But my previous foray based in anger and rightiousness left me exhausted, frustrated, and angry at things that didnt deserve it. And that only stopped when I backed away from activism. Or at …