Practicing Liberation, Tessa Hicks Peterson
Practicing Liberation, Tessa Hicks Peterson
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Practicing Liberation
Transformative Strategies for Collective Healing & Systems Change: Reflections on burnout, trauma & building communities of care in social justice work

Author: Tessa Hicks Peterson, Hala Khouri, Kazu Haga

Narrator: Henriette Zoutomou

Unabridged: 7 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/06/2024


Synopsis

How do we do effective, sustainable social change…without burning out, internalizing systemic toxicity, or replicating urgency culture?

A trauma-informed anthology with contributions from 13 activists and community organizers—for readers of adrienne maree brown, Staci K. Haines, and Ejeris Dixon

When your work is inextricable from your identity, your community, and your own liberation, you need a unique praxis of care to sustain it—and for mission-driven activists, organizers, and changemakers working under oppressive systems, making space to center vital needs like rest, self-care, and healthy boundaries isn’t as simple as clocking out.

Practicing Liberation reorients collective justice work toward a model that transforms the effects of injustice, harm, and oppressive systems into resilience, joy, and community care. Through frameworks like trauma-informed methodology, transformative movement organizing, engaged Buddhism, and healing justice, editors Hala Khouri and Tessa Hicks Peterson show readers how to:

Embody healing, wellness, and beloved communityGuard against replicating systems of harmDisrupt racist, classist, anti-queer, and anti-trans behavior and systemsCelebrate creativity and radical imagination in movement workCenter healing from intergenerational trauma, white supremacy culture, and extractive capitalismHonor that self-care is a necessity—not a luxury—that strengthens our collectives
Featuring essays from editors Hala Khouri and Tessa Hicks Peterson and contributors like Kazu Haga, Taj James, Nkem Ndefo, Jacoby Ballard, Sará King, Kerri Kelly, and more, Practicing Liberation can be used on its own or alongside The Practicing Liberation Workbook to help readers orient toward embodied leadership, interconnected collectives, and a bold vision for transformation—the vital tools we need for collective wellbeing, healing, and long-term social change.

About The Author

TESSA HICKS PETERSON is a scholar activist and the Assistant Vice President of Community Engagement and Associate Professor of Urban Studies at Pitzer College. Dedicated to social justice, she combines art, movement, and academic rigor to empower communities.HALA KHOURI, MA, has spent over two decades integrating the worlds of therapy, yoga, and trauma research. An adjunct professor at Pitzer College, she’s the force behind the Radical Wellbeing online community.Contributors to the anthology include Jacoby Ballard, Leslie Booker, Kazu Haga, Taj James, Kerri Kelly, Dr. Sará King, Nkem Ndefo, Keely Nguyen, Dalia Paris-Saper, Claudia Vanessa Reyes, Valorie Thomas, Therese Julia Uy, and Davion "Zi" Ziere..


Reviews

Goodreads review by Ailey | Bisexual Bookshelf on June 04, 2024

"Practicing Liberation: Transformative Strategies for Collective Healing & Systems Change," edited by Tessa Hicks Peterson and Hala Khouri, is a powerful collection of abolitionist and transformative justice essays that delve into themes of healing justice, decolonialism, community care, and collect......more

Goodreads review by Maileen on May 10, 2024

Working toward systems change to realize social justice requires a deep personal commitment and resolve toward community healing and well-being. "Practicing Liberation" is an anthology of essays penned by changemakers, advocates, educators, healers, activists, and leaders who challenge their peers t......more

Goodreads review by Greg on September 04, 2024

What stood out about this book was how inclusive and community-driven it was. Each section was filled with background research to clarify each topic presented, examples, workshop activities, and space to write reflections, all contributing to an experience unlike anything else. I was mainly fond of......more

Goodreads review by Dora on February 26, 2024

There is a part in this book that speaks to my lived experience, and it states "changemakers are also grief stricken by the hypocrisy of organizations or movements that do not live the values they preach." I read this book, taking notes, agreeing and disagreeing with some of the insights from various......more

Goodreads review by Rebecca on April 30, 2024

This book is really geared towards those working in the nonprofit and social justice space, but has takeaways many can appreciate. Taking the time to focus on self care, wellness, and healing and centering that in ourselves and our work allows us to make an even greater impact.......more


Quotes

"What a treasure during these turbulent times!"—PEDRO A. NOGUERA, PHD, dean at the Rossier School of Education, USC

"This anthology is a must-read for nonprofits, universities, communities, and organizations committed to changemaking."—BETH BERILA, PHD, faculty director of gender and women’s studies, St. Cloud State University

"This interdisciplinary text arrives at a time when we need many robust examples of how we practice and think about liberation."—DR. ANGEL ACOSTA, chair of Acosta Institute

"This anthology is asking us to grow a new collective capacity and muscle memory stemming from justice, liberation, dignity, and healing—connective tissue that supports us being in more aligned movements together."—FARZANA KHAN, cofounder and codirector of Healing Justice London