Temper - by Autumn Brown (Paperback)

About the Book

A transformative guide that shows readers how to "temper" their bodies and spirits for the resilient practice of freedom within a collapsing world, from co-host of the podcast "How to Survive the End of the World" Autumn Brown.

Book Synopsis

Begin the journey to freedom, even when the way is uncertain

"Every page in Temper sizzles with ancient truth and brand new, desperately needed hope. The world is on fire--it's true. Temper is our Emergency Exit."--Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

"Temper is challenging and heartbreaking, mystical and invitational, ancestral and glorious."--Dr. Resmaa Menakem, New York Times bestselling author of My Grandmother's Hands

Freedom isn't a distant, political goal, but rather something we can practice right now. Drawing on the ancestral wisdom of Harriet Tubman and other fugitives, the lineage of Black Feminism, and the discipline of martial arts, Autumn Brown teaches us how to temper our bodies and spirits for this resilient practice of freedom―exactly where we are.

In this urgent and soulful book, Brown teaches you to:

- Shift from a fugue state of trauma-induced dissociation to a fugitive state of alertness and agency to navigate the ever-changing world.
- Stop the exhausting attempt to control your environment and start the practice of conditioning for the unknown.
- Discover how your deepest sources of pain can connect you with ancestral wisdom.
- Experience how falling apart together can create a sense of life-saving connectedness.

Autumn writes, "We ask ourselves, with every choice we make, how are we building capacity, fortitude, strength, intuition, and resilience that births a future freedom we could all live and thrive in?" Step onto the fugitive path and discover the truth: you were made for this crossing.

Review Quotes

"Every page in Temper sizzles with ancient truth and brand new, desperately needed hope. The world is on fire--it's true. Temper is our emergency exit."--Glennon Doyle, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed

"Temper is a template for keeping our souls intact while we navigate all that this moment serves up and all that is to come. Autumn Brown's wisdom and dedication to this work shines through in every page."--Chani Nicholas, New York Times bestselling author of You Were Born for This

"Temper is challenging and heartbreaking, mystical and invitational, ancestral and glorious."--Resmaa Menakem, MSW, LICSW, SEP, New York Times bestselling author of My Grandmother's Hands

"Autumn Brown is the Zen Harriet Tubman, and this book is our North Star. We learn that getting free is much harder than we think yet more possible than we imagine."--Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams

"Autumn Brown's advocacy for fugitivity, lostness, humility, and love-based practices, provides a primer on soul activism. Read this book and feel the ground shifting beneath you."--Francis Weller, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow

"In this moment of polycrisis, the medicine that is this book reminds us that if we are lost, then the antidote is to remember that we have always been free, even in an unfree world."--Lama Rod Owens, author of The New Saints

"Listening to what the body has to teach, to the power of Black Feminist resistance and fugitivity, to the wisdom of the land and Indigenous knowledge, to the wisdom held in martial arts, and to her experiences in supporting groups to come closer to their shared liberation, Autumn Brown offers frameworks, reflections, and practice that lift up both the softness and the hard edges of being free."--Susan Raffo, author of Liberated to the Bone

About the Author

AUTUMN BROWN is an artist, organizer, and theologian dedicated to political education and liberatory practice. Drawing on her decades of experience organizing for social change, and training community organizers and faith leaders, Autumn encourages people to harness their innate capacity for healing to overcome the trauma of oppression. She is co-host of the How to Survive the End of the World podcast with her sister, adrienne maree brown. Autumn lives in Minneapolis with her three brilliant children.