Stay Woke: A People's Guide to Making All Black Lives Matter

Session Submission Type: Author meet critics

Session Description

When #BlackLivesMatter went viral in 2013, it shed a light on the urgent, daily struggles of Black Americans to combat racial injustice. While better known for its activism against militarized policing and state violence, this contemporary social movement actually has a more radical, democratic vision of a world where all Black people are able to live full lives of undisputed dignity and mutually recognized humanity.

In this ambitious book, Tehama Lopez Bunyasi and Candis Watts Smith highlight and build on the lessons of racial inequality, inequity, and intersectionality the contemporary movement for Black lives has challenged its fellow citizens to learn. Stay Woke offers a handy guide that empowers its readers to become more knowledgeable participants in public debate, activism, and American politics. Written in accessible language, Lopez Bunyasi and Smith synthesize a wealth of scholarly work in order to provide an illustrative diagnosis of the state of racial inequality in the United States, ranging from the larger policy inequalities that many are aware of but may not experience themselves to the everyday ways that inequality shapes each of our lives.

Lopez Bunyasi and Smith situate and contextualize the United States’ contemporary state of racial dynamics in a long history of radical change and retrenchment. They call our attention to the idea that progress toward a more egalitarian society is neither linear nor inevitable, and Stay Woke provides a mirror to its readers, which may allow them to assess whether they are part of the problems we face, or are part of the solution. At the center of the guide is a conceptual tool kit aimed to help novice and committed activists, alike, engage in fruitful conversations about complex matters related to race and racism and to navigate the rocky landscape of America’s racial politics. The ultimate goal of Stay Woke is to guide readers toward not only envisioning but also bringing their own anti-racist visions of society to fruition.

Sub Unit

• Division 32: Race, Ethnicity, and Politics

Chair

• Chris Zepeda-Millan UCLA

Presenters

• Tehama Lopez Bunyasi George Mason University

• Candis Watts Smith Duke University

• Sekou Franklin Middle Tennessee State University

• Andrew Dilts Loyola Marymount University

• Lorrie Frasure UCLA