Description
Book SynopsisThe
New York Times bestselling author of
My Grandmother's Hands surveys the deteriorating political climate and presents an urgent call for action to save ourselves and our countries.
In
The Quaking of America, therapist and trauma specialist Resmaa Menakem takes readers through a step-by-step program of somatic practices addressing the growing threat of white-supremacist political violence.
Through the coordinated repetition of lies, anti-democratic elements in American society are inciting mass radicalization, violent insurrection, and voter suppression, with a goal of toppling American democracy.
Currently, most pro-democracy American bodies are utterly unprepared for this uprising. This book can help prepare us--and, if possible, prevent more destructiveness.
This preparation focuses not on strategy or politics, but on mental and emotional practices that can help us:
- Build presence and discernment
- Settle our bodies during the heat of conflict
- Maintain our safety, sanity, and stability under dangerous circumstances
- Heal our personal and collective racialized trauma
- Practice body-centered social action
- Turn toward instead of on one another
The Quaking of America is a unique, perfectly timed, body-centered guide to each of these processes.
Trade ReviewThis is a book that will wake you up, excite, and terrify you. But Resmaa won’t leave you there; all along the way he gives you the practices to do the work of healing into action. And he delivers all of this in riveting prose. Resmaa Menakem is a visionary, and his work is absolutely essential for antiracist practice. We need this book in as many hands as possible.”—Robin DiAngelo,
New York Times bestselling author of
White Fragility and
Nice Racism"All of us need to read this book—and then act on it.”—Angela Rye, NPR political analyst and former CNN commentator
"Resmaa Menakem is one of our country's most gifted racial healers. His brilliant new book could not be more timely."—Michael Eric Dyson, author of
Entertaining Race and
Long Time Coming"
The Quaking of America is more than an insightful book about the challenged state of American multiracial democracy. It is a user’s guide, an instruction manual on how to transform your body, yourself, and this country into their highest and noblest aspirations.”—Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota
