When We Are Kin - by Kyle T Mays

Book Synopsis

Offering a bold critique of the limitations of the reparations and land back movements, When We Are Kin envisions a Black and Indigenous future rooted in real solidarity, a future that exists beyond the confines of the liberal imagination.

Current advocates of reparations for slavery and land back often fail to scrutinize racial capitalism and settler colonialism, instead accepting that their destinies will be forever tied to US empire. But as scholar Kyle T. Mays insists in When We Are Kin, we can and should demand a kind of repair that goes beyond a white supremacist idea of what justice can be.

In a series of short essays, Mays traces the history of alliances between Black and Indigenous movements; outlines the limitations of certain demands for reparations, including cash payments, that do not fundamentally critique racial-settler capitalism; and interrogates contemporary land back initiatives that displace Black residents. Along the way, he asks, What does solidarity look like between Black and Indigenous peoples in the United States? Can we find ways to co-belong and co-resist on Turtle Island?

Drawing on the Anishinaabe philosophy of mino-bimaadiziwin (the good life), Mays argues that we can resist as kin only when we center the land in building our collective futures.

Review Quotes

Praise for An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States:

"Nuanced and illuminating"--Booklist

"This book reveals uncomfortable truths about the dehumanizing legacies of both capitalism and colonialism while forging a path of reconciliation between the Black and Native communities. Mays offers a solid entry point for further study. An enlightening reexamination of American history."--Kirkus Reviews

"Accessible and informative ... Mays's colloquial voice enlivens the often-distressing history ... This immersive revisionist history sheds light on an overlooked aspect of the American past." --Publishers Weekly

"Required reading to comprehend the deep historical relationship between the Indigenous peoples who were transported from Africa into chattel slavery and the Indigenous peoples who were displaced by European settler colonialism to profit from the land and resources, two parallel realities in search of self-determination and justice."--Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

"You will never think of the peoples' history the same way after reading An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States."--Robin D. G. Kelley