“Each chapter in Patrisse Khan-Cullors' best-selling memoir When They Call You a Terrorist starts with a quote. There are words from Toni Morrison, poems by Audre Lorde, and writings from Octavia Butler. But when Khan-Cullors recently adapted the book for young adults, she added new elements. Throughout the pages, there are extra notes typed in a separate font that almost look like handwriting.
‘This is f—ed up.’
‘I don't want to live by these isms...’
‘Who am I?’
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World, co-written with asha bandele, was published in 2018 and details how Khan-Cullors became the artist and organizer we now know as the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement. In this new version of the memoir, released on September 22, there are personal family photos and chapter-specific reader questions. And those small notes? Lines pulled directly from journals Khan-Cullors kept from ages 16 to 26.
‘I wanted young people to understand that I was also a young activist,’ she tells ELLE.com. In a year when teenagers have continued to lead the very movement she helped start, the book feels like a gift and a guidepost for generations to come.
Below, Khan-Cullors discusses what it would've meant to her to have this story growing up—and how she's having the same conversations today that she had as a teen.”
Follow the link above to read the full interview.
