Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto

By Trisha Hersey. Little, Brown Spark, 2022.

This is a magnificent book, but it is not for everyone. If you are uncomfortable reading a book where the intended audience is people of colour, this is not the book for you. If you are uncomfortable with reflections on spirit and the non-material world, this is not the book for you. But if you would like to find out more about this accurately titled manifesto about the ways in which capitalism and white supremacy have wreaked havoc to the bodyminds, nervous systems and souls of all those who have these systems have encountered, read on.

As a white person, I rarely have the experience of not being centred, but Rest is Resistance explicitly centres people of colour, addressing this book to them. It is not a book *for* me, but it is still a book that I can learn from and grow because of. As I read, I reflected on the ways my participation in some systems have furthered the alienation from rest and recovery and community so many people of colour have experienced. I also found, through reading about this experience, the ways in which white supremacy and capitalism have left me more alone, more exhausted, and more isolated than I would be in the absence of these systems. I also found the writings about the Divine and a greater purpose in this book to be very enjoyable, and prompted deep reflection from me.

As I said, this book is not for everyone. If you want to explore the concepts of alienation and labour and their impact on health from a solely materialist perspective, I've already reviewed Laziness Does Not Exist. But there is so much here, in Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto, that, if your curiosity is at all piqued by my description, I encourage you to pick it up, even if it is a bit outside your comfort zone. Remember that outside the comfort zone is the growth zone, and there's so much benefit to spending some time in that zone, every now and again.

For more about the book, and Trisha Hersey's work more generally as The Nap Bishop, check out The Nap Ministry here.