Review: ‘When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir’

Authors Patrisse Khan-Cullors (left) & asha bandele (right) When They Call You A Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir takes us through the life of Patrisse Kahn-Cullors and the global movement’s driving force. I carried this book around with me for weeks. The foreword penned by Angela Davis served both as a ceremonious introduction and a history lesson. Each chapter had to be swallowed and thoroughly processed before I could begin the next. I struggled reliving every moment of Patrisse’s life that lead to more than just the hashtag as we know it. I struggled reliving many moments in my own life and the shared trauma of all of Black America. When They Call You A Terrorist is a chronicle of ‘living while Black’ since 2012 and the murder of Trayvon Martin. It is a coming of age story. What this memoir is not, is the detailing of the immediate formation of #blacklivesmatter or the movement as we now know it. Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Angela Davis Patrisse and her co-author asha bandele begin every chapter with an epigraph that sets the tone for the journey of the reader. We learn early on that Patrisse’s whole life was set up for activism. She shares her firsthand accounts of prejudice and persecution for being young, Black, woman, queer and poor. Patrisse allows us to learn about her family’s personal experiences with the pain and struggle of navigating the criminal justice system. When They Call You A Terrorist is personal. Patrisse brings us along to meet her biological …