Freedom Book Club

Friends reading books into life.

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The papers of Octavia E. Butler (1947–2006), the renowned science fiction writer, have resided at The Huntington since 2008, and since being made available to scholars for research, it has become one of the most heavily used archives at the institution. The collection includes extensive drafts, notes, and research materials for more than a dozen novels, numerous short stories, and essays, as well as correspondence, ephemera, and assorted books.

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Found these photos from an Emergent Strategy workshop I attended in Oakland. Rather than doing a “traditional” book talk, Adrienne, who works as a facilitator, made the event into a workshop. We got into groups and discussed concepts that she talks about in the book, like what would it look like to move at the speed of trust? I have to dig up my notes and will edit this post to add some more insights.

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Island Roots

Island Roots is the story of the Filipino pioneers who came to Bainbridge Island in the 1920's and 30's to work the land. It is the story of their relationsh...

Ferchil and I are reading “America Is in the Heart” together for the first time. In the introduction, they provide historical context of Filipino im/migration in the 19th and 20th century: why they are coming, who they are meeting along the way, and how they are making a life outside of the Philippines.

While at work, I happened to find this video in the university’s Kanopy archive, which deepened my understanding of how Filipino im/migrants settled in Washington state, which is where Carlos Bulosan first entered the United States. It was also interesting to know the men married First Nation women, merging their cultures and history. It makes me think of the work that the Center for Babaylan Studies does with First Nation people in Canada, and how their work helped me understand my place on this land that is not really mine, and to be aware of centering natives in movement/freedom work.

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Fires on the freeway

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Jamila Hanan on Twitter

“The #Rohingya #genocide depicted by children #refugees in #Bangladesh who witnessed atrocities as they fled from their villages”

When we discussed The Parable of the Sower, I remember Raquel kept saying that this-- the way people were being attacked, the crippling shortage of resources, how whole communities were being burned and people indiscriminately slaughtered-- is already happening.

The ongoing massacre of the #Rohingya is a current, terrifying, heartbreaking example.

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Happy Birthday, Octavia E. Butler. Your books are changing my life.

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The Lit Review

The Lit Review is a new podcast series where we will interview organizers and community members about books. On each episode, we'll lead an informal conversation with our guests about a key book that

I love this podcast series already! Books are selected and discussed in the same spirit that I want for our Freedom Book Club. Even better, they have organizers and people I consider thought leaders come on and talk about the significance of the books. The intro is 🎯🎯🎯

This will definitely be a good resource for book recommendations and insight about the ones we have already read. To date, they have reviewed The Underground Railroad (episode 13) , as well as Parable of the Sower/Talents (episode 7).

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NowThis on Twitter

“This woman's coworkers showed there's still good in the world https://t.co/zvqMY4RS2D”

This was a beautiful gesture and shows how a community can really show up for someone who’s having a hard time. It reminds me of the spirit of Acorn and Robledo. 

“Most of them were good people- just poor.” (p.123)

There’s an uneasiness that I feel about this, as well, that happens whenever I think about the survival of poor people. There’s never enough resources, and whatever we can grasp is at the expense of people who also need it. The rich continue to amass wealth while we collectively struggle to get just enough and live one misstep away from financial ruin, if we’re not already struggling through one.

I love seeing so many people who have the emotional capacity to contribute to pay for someone’s cancer treatment, or to a memorial fund for Philando Castile. But the scarcity of resources, the very people who donate are the ones who likely don’t have much to spare. And WE SHOULDN’T HAVE TO PRIVATELY CROWDSOURCE SOMEONE’S HEALTHCARE OR TO HELP OFFSET THE FINANCIAL COST FOR SOMEONE WHO WAS KILLED BY THE STATE. Healthcare should be available for all, and cops shouldn’t be killing people. 

Geezus. There are so many insidious functions of white supremacy and unchecked capitalism. Fuck.

“Here at Acorn, if we can’t save everything, we can at least work together to save one another.”

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The thing that I want to build is so damned new and so vast! I not only don't know how to build it, but I'm not even sure what it will look like when I have built it. I'm just feeling my way, using whatever I can do, whatever I can learn to take one more step forward.

Lauren Oya Olamina, from Monday, October 17, 2032

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The agave was a handsome, variegated species-- blue-green leaves edged in yellow-white... Each leaf was tipped with a long, hard, dagger-sharp spike, and for good measure, each leaf was egged in jagged thorns that were tough enough to saw through human flesh. We intended to use them to do just that.

- Lauren Oya Olamina, from Monday, September 27, 2032

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I took these photos during a camping trip to the Lost Coast, which is in Mendocino County. I wish I had taken photos of the towns I passed to get to the coast because I see Acorn and Dovetree being these towns. 

I feel really lucky that I’ve visited and seen these areas of California. It helps make the story feel so alive.

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I went to an event at the Grand Lake Theater in Oakland that featured Black Panther Party leader Ericka Huggins and poets and writers Chinaka Hodge and Zoé Samudzi. They decidedly chose not to do a panel-style discussion, and instead read passages from their favorite books and poems.

In this picture, Chinaka is reading one of the three passages she chose from Parable of the Sower: The one where Lauren describes her hyperempathy, the one describing President Donner, and the one about Earthseed and how its destiny is among the stars.

After the passages were read, they entered into a discussion about the importance of creating the world that we want to live in. The Black Panthers were doing that until the state killed and imprisoned their leaders. Zoé said that it will always be hard to create this new world, precisely because it is new.

I think about Lauren and the freedom that she and her group of followers have been able to attain, even under constant, overwhelming threat of violence and danger, and how that freedom is rooted in Lauren’s beliefs about Earthseed. That’s what really impressed me about her, that from a young age, she knew what world she wanted and constantly worked through her ideas about it. She also had the conviction to ground her life in pursuit of Earthseed while bringing people into it. 

This night, this book keep me hopeful and feeling like the world we want is tangible and alive.

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Octavia

Octavia E. Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006) was an American science fiction writer. A recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards, Butler was one of

The Destiny of Earthseed Is to take root among the stars.

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For want of a drink

Finite, vital, much wanted, little understood, water looks unmanageable. But it needn’t be, argues John Grimond (interviewed here)

And these takes from the tweet:

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I took these photos a few years ago when I still lived in San Diego. This is out east, in Campo, a mile from the border.

This land came to mind (this area, specifically) as the group journeyed past Salinas. This is isolated pro-Trump “prepper” land. In the story, they would be the ones who are better equipped with the land, resources, and knowledge needed to survive, because they foresaw the devolution of modern society and prepared accordingly.

One constant, nagging thought that I am leaving the book with is how much I don’t want these anti-immigrant White supremacists who fear everything to be the only ones who survive.

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Moral: The weak can overcome the strong if the weak persist. Persisting isn't always safe, but it's often necessary.

Lauren Olamina (from Sunday, November 22, 2026)