Pleasure Activism (by adrienne maree brown)

Read for the category of "a book about activism" - note that activism is in the title, and the subtitle is "The Politics of Feeling Good, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing World."  But this is really a book about pleasure, particularly sexual pleasure, as seen through a queer, POC lens. It's a compilation of essay, poetry, interviews, and dialogue and really doesn't focus much on activism, at all. More about "activism" in the sense of activating pleasure. (Apparently the secret is being poly.)

So in terms of my expectations: I was hoping to learn more in here about how to infuse political activism with pleasure to sustain the fight, and help encourage others to take action by making activism pleasurable. When I realized this is really more about POC folks reclaiming their own pleasure, I was let down. But maybe this book was just Not For Me, and that's okay; it seems to have resonated with its audience.

That said, there is some great, profound stuff in here and I got a lot of out if. Some disappointing stuff (judgment about food, despite being explicitly body positive; a disability interview with an abled person) but some amazing essays by collaborators and brilliant thinkers (of whom brown is clearly one.)  It's the most "woke" book I've ever read, parsing its own language with multiple disclaimers and definitions and I can imagine some readers might find it overkill, but maybe it's necessary. 

There is an audience for this book but I think perhaps white feminists are not that audience. My final category in the challenge is "a nonfiction book about intersectional feminism" and I'm going to read Against White Feminism.  Maybe I'm already pretty good at pleasure, and am looking for more challenge.