Title: The Body is Not an Apology
Author: Sonya Renee Taylor
Genre: nonfiction; self-love; self-help; workbook; feminism; social movements – social justice
Synopsis: [from Goodreads] Humans are a varied and divergent bunch with all manner of beliefs, morals, and bodies. Systems of oppression thrive off our inability to make peace with difference and injure the relationship we have with our own bodies.
The Body Is Not an Apology offers radical self-love as the balm to heal the wounds inflicted by these violent systems. World-renowned activist and poet Sonya Renee Taylor invites us to reconnect with the radical origins of our minds and bodies and celebrate our collective, enduring strength. As we awaken to our own indoctrinated body shame, we feel inspired to awaken others and to interrupt the systems that perpetuate body shame and oppression against all bodies. When we act from this truth on a global scale, we usher in the transformative opportunity of radical self-love, which is the opportunity for a more just, equitable, and compassionate world–for us all.
Review: 5 Stars
This book was recommended to me by a friend of mine. It had never come up on my radar before, I’d never seen it on my timeline, heard quotes from it, or heard of the author, Sonya Renee Taylor before.
I’m so glad I have now. This book is one I will, as my friend did with me, recommend to everyone. It is worth your time, and your work.
This isn’t a body positivity book, but it does have aspects of that. This is a present day and historical account of straight up body terrorism and how we are all both steeped in it and accountable for it. Taylor walks us through a journey to self-awareness using the body. We all have one, and it makes the messaging digestible for all.
The endgame: radical self-love in the face of white supremacy, capitalism, and our own implicit bias.
chelsea usher 