We Speak for Ourselves : How Woke Culture Prohibits Progress - D. Watkins

We Speak for Ourselves

How Woke Culture Prohibits Progress

By: D. Watkins

Paperback | 15 October 2020

At a Glance

Paperback


$36.24

or 4 interest-free payments of $9.06 with

 or 

Aims to ship in 15 to 25 business days

From the row houses of Baltimore to the stoops of Brooklyn, the New York Times bestselling author of The Cook Up lays bare the voices of the most vulnerable and allows their stories to uncover the systematic injustice threaded within our society. Honest and eye-opening, the pages of We Speak for Ourselves “are abundant with wisdom and wit; integrity and love, not to mention enough laughs for a stand-up comedy routine” (Mitchell S. Jackson, author of Survival Math).

Watkins introduces you to Down Bottom, the storied community of East Baltimore that holds a mirror to America’s poor black neighborhoods—“hoods” that could just as easily be in Chicago, Detroit, Oakland, or Atlanta. As Watkins sees it, the perspective of people who live in economically disadvantaged black communities is largely absent from the commentary of many top intellectuals who speak and write about race.

Unapologetic and sharp-witted, D. Watkins is here to tell the truth as he has seen it. We Speak for Ourselves offers an in-depth analysis of inner-city hurdles and honors the stories therein. We sit in underfunded schools, walk the blocks burdened with police corruption, stand within an audience of Make America Great Again hats, journey from trap house to university lecture, and rally in neglected streets. And we listen.

“Watkins has come to remind us, everyone deserves the opportunity to speak for themselves” (Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestselling author) and serves hope to fellow Americans who are too often ignored and calling on others to examine what it means to be a model activist in today’s world. We Speak for Ourselves is a must-read for all who are committed to social change.
Industry Reviews
“Watkins anchors his new collection of essays in the voices, language, everyday realities, and dreams of black citizens… offer[ing] deep critiques of the elitism and respectability that directly and indirectly censor voices. A strong offering that brings nuance and multiplicity to readers attempting to decipher the black male urban experience while uplifting the stories, visions, and love that incubated a rising star.” - Kirkus Reviews

More in Ethnic Studies

Junior Atlas of Indigenous Australia - Macquarie Dictionary

RRP $39.99

$27.80

30%
OFF
Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia : 2nd Edition - Bill Arthur
All About Love : New Visions - bell hooks

RRP $27.99

$26.50

First Knowledges Country : Future Fire, Future Farming - Bruce Pascoe
First Knowledges Astronomy : Sky Country - Karlie Noon

RRP $24.99

$23.75

Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia - Anita Heiss

RRP $32.99

$30.25

First Knowledges Design : Building on Country - Alison Page
Sharing : CBCA's Notable Early Childhood Book 2022 - Aunty Fay Muir
A Promised Land : The Presidential Memoirs Vol. 1 - Barack Obama

RRP $65.00

$44.25

32%
OFF
First Knowledges Plants : Past, Present and Future - Zena Cumpston
Praiseworthy : Winner of the 2024 Stella Prize - Alexis Wright
First Knowledges Law : The Way of the Ancestors - Marcia Langton
Indigenous Knowledge : Australian Perspectives - Aaron Corn
Sand Talk : How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World - Tyson Yunkaporta