An esteemed activist invites us to consider the complex idea of abolition as much more than a strategy or a set of tactics—at a deeper level, abolition is an entire political framework, culture, and orientation
Blending history and political theory and weaving in examples from literature, social movements, and his personal life, this book is a useful resource and primer for those interested in fighting for social justice. Guided by questions like what is freedom?, how do we get free?, and what are the freedom dreams that encourage us and drive us forward?, esteemed activist Bill Ayers explores the concept of freedom in 8 essays:
- Freedom/Unfreedom takes off from the Black Freedom Movement in the 20th century as a template for social justice movements that followed, and begins to illuminate the idea of freedom in light of what folks come together to oppose.
- Freedom’s Paradox offers examples of a contradiction (from Frederick Douglass to the French Resistance to the Panthers)—even, or especially, in the most dire circumstances, people testify to “being free” at the moment they identify and unite to oppose unfreedom.
- Social Freedom/Individual Liberty directly takes on the link between the individual and the social when freedom is the question.
- Freedom, Anarchism, and Socialism takes off from the idea that freedom without socialism is predation and exploitation, and that socialism without freedom is bondage and subjugation.
- Freedom, Truth, and Repair considers reparations as a necessary step in any honest attempt toward authentic reconciliation.
- Organizing Freedom is a primer on organizing, strategy, and tactics for freedom fighters.
- Teach Freedom considers what an education for free people entails.
- Freedom and Abolition connects an enriched understanding of what freedom entails with an embrace of abolitionist politics.
“In the US, ‘freedom’ has become a dollar-store word—cheap, stripped of its real meaning. Not for Bill Ayers. He knows freedom is dear, precious, and always unfinished. These lively conversational essays take us on a journey through freedom struggles—past, present, and future—toward freedom’s destination: abolition.”
—Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination
“In combining his decades-long experience as an activist with his impressive erudition, Bill Ayers’s most recent book offers us the best possible framework for formulating the central questions of our time and for seeking answers with the most transformative potential.”
—Angela Davis
“For over fifty years, as an activist, an educator, a writer, and a mentor, Bill Ayers has been a freedom fighter determined to change the world for the better. In his newest book, When Freedom Is the Question . . . , his wit, wisdom, and passion for justice offer an eloquent illumination of the challenges and opportunities facing social movements today. In its pages, we find history lessons, hard truths, and poetic inspiration. Read it and resist!”
—Barbara Ransby, historian, writer, activist, and author of Making All Black Lives Matter
“As revolution embodied, Bill Ayers is proof that our historical task is never to be abandoned.”
—Tongo Eisen-Martin, poet laureate of San Francisco
“These essays are an ode to resistance and revolution, past and present, a celebration of generations resisting, failing, building, conversing, and acting, embodied in the determination and inspiration of ‘We Shall Overcome.’”
—Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of Not “A Nation of Immigrants”: Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion
“Bill Ayers is a lifelong freedom fighter, teacher, and truth teller. His decades of fearless advocacy for the downtrodden stem from a deep well of compassion and laser-sharp revolutionary analysis. His wisdom and insight are on full display here.”
—Tom Morello, justice activist and guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, and Prophets of Rage
Author’s Note
Land and Space Acknowledgment
1. When Freedom Is the Question . . .
2. A World That Could Be—But Is Not Yet
3. “Lady Freedom Among Us”
4. No Gods, No Masters
5. Truth and Reconciliation and Freedom
6. Studying Freedom/Teaching Abolition
7. Creating Crawl Spaces for Freedom
8. . . . Abolition Is the Answer
Thanks and Recognition
Notes
Credits
Index
- “Reflections on Freedom, Abolition and Organizing with Bill Ayers; plus Resistance in Residence Artist L. Peter Callender,” KPFA/Law & Disorder, interview
- “Bill Ayers keeps his eyes open to the beauty, chaos, and cruelty in the world,” Matter News, interview
- “The new fall arts season is looking rich indeed, but also election-year anxious,” Chicago Tribune, book mentioned in arts roundup column
- “Bill Ayers - When Freedom is the Question, Abolition is the Answer,” The Brainwaves Video Anthology, video interview
- “As the DNC in Chicago again sees large protests, a new generation of demonstrators finds inspiration in the past,” CBS News, interview
- “A Thousand Possibilities,” Inquest, excerpt
- “Excerpt from When Freedom is the Question, Abolition is the Answer: Reflections on Collective Liberation by Bill Ayers,” Another Chicago Magazine, excerpt
- “Elizabeth Strout! Jerald Walker! Seamus Heaney’s letters! 28 new books out today,” Literary Hub, included in reading roundup
- “Democratic National Convention: From 1968 to 2024, Pt. 1 ft. Bill Ayers,” Bourbon ’n BrownTown, podcast interview
- “Vietnam Then, Gaza Now: Bill Ayers & Juan González on 1968 and 2024 Antiwar Protests at Chicago DNC,” Democracy Now!, interview
- “The View from ’68: Bill Ayers on the Chicago DNC,” The Real News Network, interview
- “Bill Ayers and the Way Forward for Abolition and Liberation,” WORT/A Public Affair (Madison, WI), interview