Doing It My Way

‘Black Women Need to Unlearn the Pattern of Martyrdom’

Activist Adrienne Maree Brown discusses how to make revolution irresistible and what Black liberation looks like for Black women

Christina M. Tapper
ZORA
Published in
8 min readJul 30, 2020

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A closeup photo of Adrienne Maree Brown against the sky.
Adrienne Maree Brown. Photos: Anjali Pinto

Adrienne Maree Brown moves in many spaces. That’s because the writer, activist, social justice facilitator, doula, and singer is deeply invested in transforming communities and worlds. Brown, the author of two groundbreaking books, Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds and Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good, is using her robust gifts to support and center people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, and Black liberation.

Based in Detroit, Brown is also the co-host of the How to Survive the End of the World podcast and an Octavia Butler scholar. She touts the acclaimed Parable of the Sower author as a guiding light in her work, and in this period of time we find ourselves in. “I’m really grateful that Octavia Butler left us the offering of ‘God is change,’ and the instruction to get in the right relationship to change, because that teaching resonates so much for this moment,” she says.

In a recent conversation with ZORA, Brown discusses finding and protecting pleasure, making revolution irresistible, and what Black…

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ZORA
ZORA

Published in ZORA

A publication from Medium that centers the stories, poetry, essays and thoughts of women of color.

Christina M. Tapper
Christina M. Tapper

Written by Christina M. Tapper

Rule breaker, champion of women and education, and recovering sports journalist.