HCG Book Reflections*: Loving Corrections by adrienne maree brown

In July the latest book by adrienne maree brown (amb), Loving Corrections, was released. While amb is a widely published author across genres and mediums this piece is sure to be heavily referenced by a range of social justice circles from grassroots activists to healing spaces to organizations looking to do internal change work. Stylistically, it is a collection of both original and previously published (but now updated) essays whose organizing thread, loving accountability, joins the seemingly disparate content.

I appreciated the timing of this book because the range of issues it touches upon (i.e. patriarchy, whiteness, challenges in organizing for change, climate change, and the kindness and clarity that is needed in this moment) are current tender spots for those working for social justice. The issues we are facing domestically and globally can exhaust all of us by their sheer number and weight. This piece looks squarely at many of them while holding a through-line of care and rootedness that steadies the reader. I think her superpower, if there is just one, is the way amb can hold space for so much hard content while helping readers make sense of it in ways that are loving and forward moving.

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Organized in three major sections, ruminations (with 10 essays), murmurations(again with 10 essays), and solstice and equinox spells (with 6 essays)the book follows a practical path for engaging in change work by first“righting” a number of issues, and then moves to more forward leaning work that invites us all to “steward, build, realize, and hold accountable” as we create change together. This book is forthright and loving, visionary and pragmatic, future-oriented and current and our firm has been recommending it since it was released.

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Unlike authors who philosophize in ways that can make the content seem disconnected, adrienne never shies away from using her own learnings as fodder for her writing, giving it just the right blend of gravitas and realness. There are a number of instances where she shares the ethical threads of her own journey with a topic as she asks us to consider it as well. For example, with respect to dismissing some and not others: “…I had to decide not to give up on us. All of us! I asked myself: What does it mean to intentionally decide to stay in relationship with humanity, to not count anyone out based on identity?” (p.4). Thankfully, she does not stop at this aspirational position but offers direction for how we can move forward together: “Do not assume anything about other people’s lives, stances, or capacities. Lean into relationship. Ask what’s needed and how people are, with real care. Then, give people a way to be in solidarity”(p.87).

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Later in the book she talks about an “imagination battle” (p.144) and throughout intimates what is required to free our minds enough to imagine ways of being that are just, new, and transformative: “For me to imagine how we pivot from a competitive economy to a compassionate one – from capitalism to something in the realm of socialism, collective, and cooperative economies - I must look at how I let capitalist behavior patterns root so deeply into my own heart, shaping me” (p.127). And then, “This, to me, is the work of internal accountability. We are cultivating within ourselves a transformative practice that helps us heal from what the world has been while generating what the world will be.” (145).

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And just when you wonder if you can be as comprehensive and thoughtful as this book models, she says, “For the record, you can be centered and still be messy, incoherent, anxious, upset, all the feelings.The difference is that you are actually aware of your emotional state and can thus be responsible for what you speak and share in that state” (p.152). That self-awareness and internal accountability is one of many “new” elements to movement work that can forge a way forward, building bridges as we go.

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For those working for a better world that is just, liberatory and socially equitable recent events have made that seem a little more out of reach. While amb does not sugar coat the truth she doesn't cede the ground to fear or pessimism either. This book is an honest look at what it takes to hold each other, to be accountable to each other, and to love each other into being our best selves individually and collectively. Please read it and share it so we can all work for the loving society we all hope for.

*I call these “book reflections” because to “review” something implies that I am qualified enough in my own work and life process to viably critique, whereas a reflection affords me the opportunity to share what I see as some of its strengths while leaving plenty of room for other thoughts and reactions. I encourage you to read the book yourself and make your own determinations.

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