Radicals of color

Talking Back: Voices of Color

Edited and with an introduction by Nellie Wong

This dynamic new anthology features writings by youth, political prisoners, feminists, immigrants, and history-makers.

Essays and interviews advance the views of a multi-racial, inter-generational mix of 30 Black, Latina/o, Indigenous, Asian Pacific American, Palestinian and LGBTQ community organizers. Topics include quality education and environmental justice, indigenous land rights and international solidarity, community mobilizing against police abuse, film and book reviews, hidden histories of women of color, and tales of endurance and survival.

The introduction by Nellie Wong, a celebrated and widely published poet, explores the meaning of talking back as a step in gaining self-esteem and as a collective act. She writes: "To whom do we talk back? To those who will silence us. Those who incarcerate us in prison or in the home. Those who deny us our rights to cross borders to seek refuge from violence and safety for our children. Those who brutalize us because of our race, gender or sexuality... These voices of color matter. They need to be heard. Everywhere."

Latest news: May 2016

You KNOW something's worth reading when it's banned by Texas prison censors! "Talking Back: Voices of Color" was refused delivery to Chicano political prisoner Alvaro Luna Hernandez because of Mark Cook's article on the 2010 Georgia prisoners' strike. Censors claim that "it contains material that a reasonable person would construe as written solely for the purpose of communicating information designed to achieve a breakdown of prisons through offender disruption such as strikes, riots or security threat group activity." Hell yeah! Read it and be inspired!

$15.00 U.S. ($20.00 Australia)
240 pages, index, ISBN 978-0-932323-32-3
Ebook: $6.99, 978-0-932323-33-0

Sample the book

Reviews
--Leah Oviedo, Impower You
--Gail Bensinger, Glen Park News
--Vincent F. A. Golphin, Veereads: It's About Story
--Barbara Lloyd McMichael, Bellingham Herald
--Kam Williams, Baret News Wire
--Acquanda Stanford, The Black Feminist Manifesto
--Ray Jackson, The Organiser
--New Releases, Seattle Times
--Jiselle Hanna, The Organiser
--Seattle Gay News

Interviews on "Accent of Women" with editor Nellie Wong and author Emily Woo Yamasaki


"A rainbow of radical authors writing on many of the critical issues of today-education, racism, healthcare, LGBT, immigration, the penal system, feminism.... This book is a treasure."
James Wright African American scholar and unionist, former civil rights movement organizer

"Read these stories. Hear their pain and rage. Feel the light and power and hope emanating from their words. This is what revolutions are made of."
Karin Aguilar San Juan Filipina American lesbian, associate professor of American Studies, Macalester College

"Some books have that need to be read. This is one of them. Capitalism has many deadly weapons, including the so-called justice system. Talking Back will give you answers."
Ray Jackson President of the Indigenous Social Justice Association

"Talking Back's fearless and varied voices, bound together by a revolutionary spirit and a humanist determination, bring understanding to the true meaning of political action."
Happy/L.A. Hyder Arab American visual artist and writer

"A must-read for all activists of color and their allies, to better understand the personal and organizational experiences that emerge from their toils for equality and justice."
Dr. Jesse Díaz, Jr. Sociologist examining race, class and mass imprisonment, and the immigrant rights and anti-police abuse movements

"This is reading with a purpose. Whether or not you share the opinions or positions of the authors on these diverse subjects and current events, you may certainly come away with a different perspective and possibly be moved to question the status quo."
Alice Goff Black immigrant, labor leader and community activist

"These articles remind us why we must keep up the fight. And...whilst the fight for a better world is critical, so too is telling our stories."
Jiselle Hanna Australian-born Egyptian, co-host of Accent of Women radio program, trade unionist