on In The Worldwide Family of Militant Women
“In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women is in the company of political memoirs like The Wall Between, Assata, and Outlaw Woman in not only teaching us how to fight, but inspiring us to do so. Organizers and activists, students and workers, each have something to learn from Arlene Eisen’s ideological development, internationalist perspective, steadfast commitment to building the women’s liberation and anti-war movements, and fightback against a capitalist racist patriarchal society. This is the political education and radical motivation we sorely need as the choice between socialism and barbarism becomes more acute.”
—Charisse Burden-Stelly,
author of Black Scare/Red Scare:
Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States
“Arlene Eisen’s earlier work, Women of Viet Nam, remains, so many years later, one of my favorite books depicting the ways women’s resistance affects the outcome of a struggle for justice. It is both a history and an analysis of how promoting women’s full leadership and participation can determine the success of an entire social system. Her new memoir offers an account of the experiences that gave rise to that book and to a lifetime of anti-imperialist action.”
—Laura Whitehorn, former US-held political prisoner,
co-founder of Release Aging People in Prison (RAPP Campaign),
editor of The War Before by Safiya Bukhari
“Do yourself a favor, get a copy of In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women. The historical lessons conveyed in this work are as relevant to movement-building today as they were in the 1960s and 70s. And believe me, the proof, as they say, is in the pudding. Arlene applied and shared many of these lessons with me, and many others, in our joint work in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. And then again, in even more depth, in developing Operation Ghetto Storm (OGS). Her methodology to collect the data that shaped the analysis in OGS and the mass line she employed to develop the #Every28Hours hashtag were derived from the lessons shared in Worldwide Family. So, again pick it up. Read In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women, reflect, incorporate and apply it to your practice.”
—Kali Akuno, Executive Director and
Co-Founder of Cooperation Jackson, co-editor of Jackson Rising Redux
“In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women is more than memory, it’s a living blueprint. In this fierce and unflinching account, Arlene Eisen walks us through blood, protest, and revolution. Rooted in the radical love of women who carried torches before her—Vicki Garvin, Toni Cade Bambara, the Combahee River Collective—this is a fire-lit offering for today’s freedom dreamers. Eisen, voice sharpened by decades of resistance and mothering, speaks to our now: climate collapse, rising fascism, state violence, and the unrelenting grip of white supremacist patriarchy. This book is a testimony of the chaos one reckons with, as we attempt to build a new just world.
—Mahogany L. Browne, author/poet-in-residence,
Lincoln Center, Founder of Black Girl Magic Ball, author of Chrome Valley,
A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe, Woke Baby
“In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women will inspire women in today’s political movements through stories from Arlene Eisen’s rich herstory of organizing. Full of personal and political reflections, this book provides insights for today’s activists into the power of internationalism, solidarity, and the crucial participation of women in the global struggle for liberation.”
—Linda Evans, anti-imperialist political prisoner for 16 years;
co-founder of All of Us or None, and volunteer with Immigrant
Defense Taskforce of North Bay Organizing Project in Santa Rosa
“In the tradition of Sankofa, we ought to look back so we know how to move forward-but this time, we must chart a path with the revolutionary blueprint of women who loved us enough to not become that which was done to us. Arlene Eisen offers us an urgent and necessary testament to the feminist groundwork of our social movements. An approach, a way with and through, to bear witness and participate in the transformative everyday conditions of our lives. This book is a map, a flame, a fresh glass of water for each of us during these ever-trying times on a path toward liberation.”
—Aja Monet, surrealist blues poet, author of
My Mother Was A Freedom Fighter and Florida Water
“In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women reminds us that we are a global family co-led by militant women. In this memoir, from the 1960s to eighties, Arlene Eisen, a survivor of misogyny, domestic violence, militarism and medical torture, evolves as a skilled writer and organizer and the mother of two sons who became influential artists and writers. Worldwide is a deeply personal and revealing memoir that travels through generations to interweave the contributions of brilliant and brave women in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East who confronted militarism, CIA, FBI and fascism. This book offers a gift to us, inspiring our international militancy and loving entanglements with women across the globe who seek liberation.”
—Joy James, author of
New Bones Abolition and Contextualizing Angela Davis,
is the editor of Beyond Cop Cities and Confronting Counterinsurgency.
“White supremacy is a helluva drug. It is so pervasive and (many times) pernicious. It not only reaffirms the delusions of white people that their worldview, values and experiences are central to everything, it also reinforces that same sickness in the minds of all those who are not white. Fortunately for us, we have reminders that this is a lie. Arlene Eisen’s story is an invaluable reminder that there were—and are—people in the present century who have committed their lives to the defeat of not only white supremacy but also its brothers (imperialism, and capitalism’s patriarchy). In general, Eisen’s story is of one woman’s path to commitment to the collective revolutionary struggle. In particular, her experiences with the Vietnamese and Black Liberation struggles during the 60s and 70s provide a much-needed addendum to a history still tainted by omissions and lies. In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women is a critical addition to the worldwide story of anti-imperialist revolution that is still being written.”
—Thandisizwe Chimurenga, Los Angeles author of
No Doubt: The Murder(s) of Oscar Grant; Some of Us Are Brave:
Interviews and Conversations with Sistas on Life, Art and Struggle;
and host of Rootwork: Getting Down to the Root,
aired on KPFK and Black Liberation Media.
“In the Worldwide Family of Militant Women could not be more timely. As Iran burns and Gaza starves, readers, especially feminists, will take heart and inspiration from Arlene’s memoir of love and revolution in the 1960s and ’70s. Told with humor and unflinching honesty, this book unearths the history of a multiracial group of North American feminists who built lasting relationships with anti-colonial women organizers in Vietnam, Latin America, Palestine and Iran. I laughed, I cried, and most often, I nodded and said, ‘Yes, that’s exactly how I feel.’”
—Kate Jessica Raphael, author of Murder Under the Bridge:
A Palestine Mystery, Producer, KPFA Women’s Magazine