Inspired by this month’s book, each month Bosla Arts will be recommending a book, film, exhibition, or anything else by artists and activists that we believe is instrumental in transnational solidarity.

For November, we have chosen, Freedom is a Constant Struggle, by celebrated activist and scholar, Angela Y. Davis.

The book is a collection of interviews, speeches, and essays by Davis that looks at state violence and oppression through a global lens - uncovering how history and current events around the world are interconnected. In this way, Davis asks us to consider how the oppression of Palestinians connects to structural racism and mass-incarceration in the USA, and so on.

What resonates with us so much in this book is Davis’ understanding of transnational solidarities and how crucial intersectional grassroots activism and collection action are in the struggle for freedom in the world. From our work at Bosla Arts, we have learnt about such knowledge-sharing and transnational solidarity though the artists we have collaborated with: between protestors in Hong Kong and Myanmar, Cuba and Eastern Europe, Sudan and Egypt, etc. While authoritarian rulers are learning from each other, so too are protestors.

We have got to understand that nothing we fight for is removed from its global context. How could we begin to understand contemporary politics without considering colonialism, for example.

Davis quotes Dr. Martin Luther King:

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”[1]

Our choice of this book is obvious, on the date of publishing this post the number of civilian deaths in Gaza following Israel’s bombardment and invasion has reached over 9700 in less than a month and yet, the people’s call for a ceasefire around much of the world goes unheard.[2]

The time for transnational solidarity is not only necessary, but crucial. Davis outlines that we must work towards showing people that freedom for the Palestinians concerns them too:

“The question is how to create windows and doors for people who believe in justice to enter and join the Palestinian solidarity movement.”[3]

If we believe in freedom, in justice, and in human rights for ourselves, our friends, our communities, we must believe it for all. As Davis says so well:

“We will have to go to great lengths. We cannot go on as usual. We cannot pivot the center. We cannot be moderate. We will have to be willing to stand up and say no with our combined spirits, our collective intellects, and our many bodies.”[4]

[1] King, Martin Luther, quoted in Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis, Penguin Random House, 2016, p66.

[2] Death toll rises to 9770 as reported in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2023/nov/05/israel-hamas-war-live-dozens-killed-in-strike-on-gaza-refugee-camp-say-palestinians-protests-around-world-demand-ceasefire

[3] Davis, Angela Y., Freedom is a Constant Struggle, Penguin Random House, 2016, p21.

[4] Davis, Angela Y., Freedom is a Constant Struggle, Penguin Random House, 2016, p154.