Yassmin turned 25 after her memoir YASSMIN’S STORY was published. It was a book of an already extraordinary life and youthful, untarnished by life, free-wheeling vision. And then she was attacked, publicly and viciously, from so many parts of the Australian media and citizenry and lost almost all of her paying, and voluntary work.
In TALKING ABOUT A REVOLUTION, Yassmin will explore resistance, transformation, and revolution. Comprising previously published pieces, essays and speeches, as well as a number of new essays specifically written for this collection, the book is in two halves: the first, the ‘Private and Public Self’, and the second ‘Systems and Society’.
Why is this book needed? Well, there is not a single Black, Muslim woman in the English-speaking publishing world with the types of experiences and grounding that Yassmin has had. She went from a dynamic, optimistic, naïve, youthful grass-roots organiser and oil rig worker to taking on the heft of the Australian political and media establishment, to completely rebuilding a new life, away from family and friends, and with no employment, to London. In the UK she has been broadcasting on the BBC, consulting to multinational corporations, writing for stage and screen, and publishing successful books for young readers.
Part One, the ‘Private and Public Self’, includes essays on her crazy passions for cars, cryptocurrency and other unexpected things, as well as the personal challenges and grief around her activism and leaving Australia. She provides a hearty defence of hobbies (that are not turned into money-making side hustles), expands on the value and process of carving out a private life and self in an incredibly public facing world (linking to the concept of keeping her body private through hijab). Yassmin tackles the concept of identity when one is a forever migrant: by ancestry, and by choice. What does it mean to organise for social justice when untethered to place?
In ‘Systems and Society’, Yassmin shares how her thinking on activism, transformative change and justice has evolved. This section contains articles on cultural appropriation, the myth of the model minority and her incredibly popular TEDx talk on unconscious bias. She challenges and interrogates the contemporary social and political landscape: on how consistently tech companies are replicating the same inequalities (and inequitable structures) online as offline, on how to bring an ‘abolitionist’ lens to social justice work, on the value and challenges faced by younger generations of activists who are taught to work towards ‘empowerment’ rather than ‘power’.
In all these essays, the concept of revolution is ever-present.
