Edited by Kelly Hayes
AK Press
11/4/2025, paperback
SKU: 9781849355841
A bundle of letters to activists and organizers on the frontlines in catastrophic times from Let This Radicalize You co-author Kelly Hayes
In social movements, some heartbreaks are all but inevitable. Campaigns will be lost. Mental health crises will occur. Social ills, like gender-based violence, will manifest themselves in movement spaces. People will experience profound personal losses. Grief, alienation, and despair can grind us under. Sometimes, we need accompaniment. Sometimes, we need to be met where we're at by a caring voice of experience. Read This When Things Fall Apart is a care package for activists and organizers building power under fascistic, demoralizing conditions. It's an outstretched hand, offering history lessons, personal anecdotes, and practical advice about how to navigate the woes of justice work. A survival guide for the heart, this is a book for activists to keep close, and to share with co-strugglers in need.
Personal, reflective, and hopeful, Read This When Things Fall Apart harnesses the writers' individual moments of despair into living, breathing wisdom that chips away at the supposed inevitability of fascist life. Restorative like a letter from a trusted friend and invigorating like a story from a mentor, the book is an indispensable companion for all of us navigating challenging times. Featuring letters from Mariame Kaba, Ashon Crawley, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Eman Abdelhadi, Brian Merchant, and more.
Reviews:
"Read this When Things Fall Apart is a balm of these dark times. This is the book I wish I'd had as a young organizer. It is a necessary text that sent me through the full kaleidoscope of emotions--spanning rage, laughter, and sadness--but more importantly, helped ground me in times of crisis and unrelenting brutality." -- Robyn Maynard, co-author of Rehearsals for Living
"In this time of monsters burying us in grief and despair, this extraordinary collection is a steady hand with advice, analysis and affirmation. Each generous and generative letter centers our love for ourselves and our people as methodology. This book is a compelling reminder that we need each other as comrades and community, that we all have gifts to contribute to movements, and that--through uncertainty and one million experiments--we will win." -- Harsha Walia, author of Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism
"These letters are like seeds in a pomegranate--gorgeous gems full of nourishment, nestled together, shaped by one another, juicy, sweet and alive. The intimacy and urgency of these wise messages, written by people who have given so much to our movements and seen so much, is just what we need right now, in harrowing times, to help new people cross the threshold to collective action and to bolster the spirits of all who continue to press on, against difficult odds. I cannot wait to give this book to my students and the people I've been working with for decades. We all need what is in here." -- Dean Spade, author of Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)
About the Editor:
Kelly Hayes is a Menominee Native author, photographer, organizer, and movement educator. They are the host of Truthout's podcast, Movement Memos, and the co-author of Let This Radicalize You with Mariame Kaba. Kelly's written work can also be found in a variety of publications and anthology collections. Kelly has trained thousands of people around the country in direct action and protest tactics.