Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists
"You know how little kids say, 'It's not fair!' and 'You are not the boss of me!" That innate sense of fairness is the earliest source of every revolution -- including feminism. As more little girls grow up without being schooled or shamed out of this sense, more women, and many men, too, are having "Clicks!" -- those life-changing moments in which we see and stop putting up with the imbalance between women and men. Read this diverse, touching and entertaining anthology of "Click!" stories to find a fairness that is all your own."
-Gloria Steinem
When did you know you were a feminist? Whether it happened at school, at work, while watching tv, or reading a book, many women can point to a particular moment in which they knew they were feminists. In Click, a range of women—including Jessica Valenti, Amy Richards, Shelby Knox, Winter Miller, and Jennifer Baumgardner—share stories about how that moment took shape for them. Through these diverse narratives, editors Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan tackle the questions of what makes a feminist, what it means to be one, and how that identity shifts and grows over time—and they emerge with an honest picture of the role of feminism in the lives of young women today.
Sometimes emotional, sometimes hilarious, this collection gives young women who already identify with the feminist movement the opportunity to be heard—and it welcomes into the fold those new to the still-developing story of feminism.
Buy the book here:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781580052856-0
DO IT ANYWAY: The New Generation of Activists
“In these profiles of young activists Courtney Martin untangles the knot of ethics, activism, and altruism with an acute eye and bold heart. It will undoubtedly become a manifesto for her peers—a call to action that is empathic and sober, political and psychological, visionary and practical. Do It Anyway asks the most difficult question possible: how can I make my life meaningful? The answers are varied, transformational, and necessary for us all.”
—Jane Fonda
That age-old quest for meaning—Who am I? What is my calling? How can I make the world better?—is about to get a twenty-first-century makeover by one of the country’s most widely read young writers on social change. Courtney E. Martin pursues the gritty truth about the complicated and challenging process of social change in contemporary America.
In Do It Anyway, Martin explores the lives and motivations of eight activists—not superhuman heroes, but ordinary young people searching for their own way to make a difference. Among others, we meet Raul Diaz, a prison re-entry social worker at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles; Nia Robinson, an African American climate-change activist in Washington, D.C.; Maricela Guzman of California, a former soldier fighting to end violence against women in the military; and Rosario Dawson, an actor struggling to use her celebrity for social change while staying authentic in her activism.
In direct opposition to an older generation’s cry that young people are apathetic and disengaged, Do It Anyway introduces a new generation of activists drawn to the kind of work that keeps you up at night because you believe in it so deeply.
Buy the book here:
http://www.amazon.com/Do-Anyway-New-Generation-Activists/dp/0807000477/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269280797&sr=1-3
Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters
"I'm the mother of two teenage girls, so Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters hit me like a hardcover punch in the gut. Courtney E. Martin sounds a clarion call for all of us—mothers, daughters, pundits—to stop counting calories and start changing the world."
- Arianna Huffington
This eye-opening look at twenty-first century culture and its impact on women reveals how food and weight obsession, driven in no small part by images of celebrities openly wasting away, threatens a new generation of girls as the feminist exhortation that “you can do anything” is twisted into “you must do everything.” Martin argues passionately that women must commit themselves to developing new attitudes about their bodies, and redirect the negative energy they spend on denying themselves contentment in order to become re-engaged with the possibilities of a better life.
Buy the book here:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780425223369?&PID=32513
The Naked Truth: Young, Beautiful and (HIV) Positive
By Marvelyn Brown with Courtney E. Martin
"Marvelyn Brown takes a bold approach to speak to our youth with enough honesty and frankness, everybody should be listening! She is an inspiration to men and women everywhere!"
– Ludacris
The surprisingly hopeful story of how an everyday girl contracted HIV and how she manages to stay upbeat, inspired, and more positive about life than ever before. It is an inspirational memoir that shares how an everyday teen refused to give up on herself, even as others would forsake her. More, it's a cautionary tale that every parent, guidance counselor, and young adult should read.
Buy the book here:
http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9780061562396-0