This short and informative audiobook is the latest from the Pocket Change Collective, a series of small books by artists and activists exploring politics and social justice. In a warm and conversational tone, author and narrator Adam Eli lays out a framework for a new generation of queer activism based on kindness, radical empathy, and community responsiblity. Drawing on the tenets of his Jewish faith and reflecting on his own privilege within the queer community as a white, cis, gay man, he advocates for building inclusive queer movements and affirms that queer people anywhere are responsbile for queer people everywhere. His voice is often infused with humor, and his lively, impassioned narration adds a lot of life and interest to this short but engrossing audiobook. L.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
The New Queer Conscience
The New Queer Conscience
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Overview
"The new manifesto for how we as queer people could and should navigate the world. It's the holding hand I never had--but wish I did."--Troye Sivan, Golden Globe nominated-singer, songwriter, and actor
"With the persistence of queerphobia all around the world, this book is absolutely necessary, even vital."--Édouard Louis, internationally bestselling author of History of Violence
"To Eli's credit, all of the rules are rooted in considerations of conscience and kindness and, if observed, will make a
better world--as will this book."--Booklist, starred review
"A must-read that highlights the importance of radical empathy, community building, and solidarity."--School Library Journal, starred review
In The New Queer Conscience, LGBTQIA+ activist Adam Eli argues the urgent need for queer responsibility -- that queers anywhere are responsible for queers everywhere.
Pocket Change Collective is a series of small books with big ideas from today's leading activists and artists. In this installment, The New Queer Conscience, Voices4 Founder and LGBTQIA+ activist Adam Eli offers a candid and compassionate introduction to queer responsibility. Eli calls on his Jewish faith to underline how kindness and support within the queer community can lead to a stronger global consciousness. More importantly, he reassures us that we're not alone. In fact, we never were. Because if you mess with one queer, you mess with us all.
Editorial Reviews
"The new manifesto for how we as queer people could and should navigate the world. It's the holding hand I never had—but wish I did." —Troye Sivan, Golden Globe nominated–singer, songwriter, and actor
"With the persistence of queerphobia all around the world, this book is absolutely necessary, even vital." —Édouard Louis, internationally bestselling author of History of Violence
"To Eli's credit, all of the rules are rooted in considerations of conscience and kindness and, if observed, will make abetter world—as will this book."—Booklist, starred review
"A must-read that highlights the importance of radical empathy, community building, and solidarity." — School Library Journal, starred review
"Small but mighty necessary reading."— Kirkus Reviews
06/26/2020
Gr 7 Up—Eli's compact manifesto is both a memoir and a stirring call to action. Readers gain a step-by-step approach to building a cohesive queer community. While Eli does not claim to be the definitive voice for the entire LGBTQIA+ community, he writes, "Queer people anywhere are responsible for queer people everywhere." Eli uses his own experiences growing up in the Orthodox Jewish community as a framework for building a community for queer people everywhere, regardless of distance. Ten principles are provided to establish and foster a strong queer community, and Eli details the importance of each tenet. These include treating newly out people with kindness and understanding. The more privileged members of society must rally behind the less privileged, creating a strong intersectional approach. The back matter lists organizations to join and support as well as other books in the series. VERDICT A must-read that highlights the importance of radical empathy, community building, and solidarity.—Kristyn Dorfman, The Nightingale-Bamford Sch., New York City
This short and informative audiobook is the latest from the Pocket Change Collective, a series of small books by artists and activists exploring politics and social justice. In a warm and conversational tone, author and narrator Adam Eli lays out a framework for a new generation of queer activism based on kindness, radical empathy, and community responsiblity. Drawing on the tenets of his Jewish faith and reflecting on his own privilege within the queer community as a white, cis, gay man, he advocates for building inclusive queer movements and affirms that queer people anywhere are responsbile for queer people everywhere. His voice is often infused with humor, and his lively, impassioned narration adds a lot of life and interest to this short but engrossing audiobook. L.S. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
2020-03-29
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940177785110 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
| Publication date: | 06/02/2020 |
| Series: | Pocket Change Collective |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Age Range: | 10 - 13 Years |
Read an Excerpt
Prologue
On October 27, 2018, a gunman burst into a Pittsburgh synagogue and killed eleven people. Within hours, the global Jewish community mobilized into action. Jews across the world raised money to cover funeral costs. Rallies and memorials were held in every major city. The global Jewish community expressed public sympathy and outrage, while volunteers flocked to Pittsburgh to serve the community hot meals and attend the funerals. The message was clear: An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us.
In general, the global queer community does not respond like this in times of crisis. On January 14, 2019, just two and a half months after the synagogue shooting, news broke that a new wave of queer “purges” were taking place in Chechnya, a small Russian republic. Forty queer people were detained and two were killed. But there was no effective global call to action. Between October 27 and January 14, at least three Black trans women were murdered in the United States. As usual, the epidemic of violence against Black trans women did not prompt any kind of unified or helpful communal outrage.
As a queer Jew, I watched these attacks on my two communities unfold parallel to each other. Distraught, I thought of a quote from the Talmud, a piece of ancient Jewish scripture, that says, “All Jewish people are responsible for one another.” We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience. The Global Queer Conscience is an attitude that repositions how we see ourselves as queer people and how we fit into the world.
I cannot, and will not, speak for the community at large—no one person can. But I believe that this dream will become reality if we come to this simple understanding:
Queer people anywhere are responsible for queer people everywhere.
The New Queer Conscience
I wish someone had told me that being queer means you are never alone.
It is 10:15 p.m. I am sixteen years old and in the worst pain of my life. I am in love with my straight best friend. I am standing at a party in total shock as he gives me a play-by-play of his first hookup with his new girlfriend. I act curious and excited, demanding all the details.
At some point, I grab his shoulder, eager for any kind of contact with him. He shrugs me off, and I disappear toward the train home.
My heart rate rises. I can no longer speak. I’m standing at the train station. Flashes of our conversation: his face, her hands, his zipper. I double over clutching my stomach. I tell myself, as I always I do, that if I replay the scene in my mind it will eventually hurt less.
Pulse, mind, and tears racing, I’m sure she doesn’t see his beauty the way I do. But a wave of nausea and pain forces me to refocus. Her hand, his Abercrombie & Fitch jeans, a zipper . . . and blackout.
The next day in algebra he throws me an encouraging wink as our teacher distributes a midterm. An unintentional kick to the stomach. I flee to the bathroom and lock the door.
Big picture, I don’t know anyone queer who can tell me that these feelings are normal. And from a practical perspective, nobody can tell me anything because I just locked myself in the bathroom.
So, I turn on the tap and speak to myself. I look in the mirror and say out loud, for the first time, “Adam Eli, you are gay . . .” I let that sentence echo a little in the bathroom, for the drama. Then I hear words not of my making, but out loud, in my own voice, address the mirror:
“. . . and it’s going to be okay.”
What does queer mean?
I am gay because I primarily experience same-sex attraction, and, by my own definition, that also makes me queer. Many people have their own definition of what queer means, and one is no more valid than another, but here is mine:
Queer: different, or other
If there are three blue chairs and one pink chair—the pink chair is queer. Queerness only exists in opposition to what’s perceived as “normal.” When it comes to gender and sexuality, our society’s “normal” is defined by one cisgender man and one cisgender woman who experience opposite-sex attraction and live comfortably in their gender roles. If you deviate from any part of that norm, welcome and pull up a seat. In my book, you are queer!
When describing our community, I always say LGBTQIAA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual, ally, plus). The most important of these symbols is the plus sign. The plus sign opens the door for everyone. Perhaps you do not identify with any of these letters. Perhaps how you feel or how you are has not been verbalized to the world yet. You are loved, and you are welcome here.
The word queer and the community it describes are both evolving—and that’s a good thing. I hope our community continues to expand and becomes more inclusive in ways that I cannot predict. I imagine, and hope, that one day my definition will be outdated.
When I was younger, I knew I was different because all my interests were “meant for” girls. I was obsessed with Disney princesses and had a huge crush on Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. If I could have pressed a button to become more like my female friends, I would have in a heartbeat.
I was resentful and confused. Uncomfortable with boys and forbidden to be one of the girls, I existed in the margins, in a space between spaces.
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