Book Review: The People's Project

Saeed Jones and Maggie Smith, eds., The People's Project: poems, essays, and art for looking forward. New York: Washington Square Press/Atria, 2025. ISBN: 9781668207024. 

Genre: politics, current affairs

Subgenre: anthology, essay, poetry

Format: small hardback

Source: Hutchins Library, Berea College 

 

This small book is a collection of essays and poems on what people can do given the 2024 United States elections. This is basically a collection of advice, strategies, and calls for hope and inspiration for the Hard Times. 

The book features 27 items including essays, poems, and one art piece. It features a very diverse group of authors. The pieces call forth various emotions ranging from sadness to anger, yet there are notes of hope, assuming folks do the necessary work. For me, that is the catch: are people willing to do the necessary work?  

The book as a whole is a short and easy read. Most of the pieces are relatively short, yet they are moving and powerful. These pieces may stay with you after reading the book. 

I'd recommend this book for public libraries. Some academic libraries, especially those with strong social justice interest and curricula may want to add it as well. 

4 out of 5 stars. 

 

Additional reading notes: 

Start with not abandoning yourself: 

"What does it mean to abandon yourself? It means to pretend you don't know what you know, don't hear what you hear, don't see what you see. In other words, to gaslight yourself. To stay quiet and compliant. To make nice. To compromise your values to keep the peace, which is not peace at all" (13). 

That is part of why I ended my politics/social issues/activist material moratorium. After the regime part one came to power in 2016, I needed a serious break. I was burned on politics, etc. But in 2024 I could no longer stay silent and pretend to be ignorant, or at least tuned out partially given a good librarian can never really tune out completely. So I am reading again books like this book, and sharing what I read and learn. It is my small contribution for the good of the cause. 

And by the way, once you set the intention and work to not abandon yourself, make sure you do not abandon others. 

 

On taking care of yourself: 

"For those of us who are constantly under attack, contributing requires prioritizing ourselves on purpose. When everything is set up to diminish you and insist that you diminish yourself, defending yourself will only speed your destruction. Our time and energy are better spent on whatever will allow us to embody a proactive stance more often than a defensive posture" (34).   

 

Qualifies for the following 2026 Reading Challenge: 

  

Book Review: Trejo

Danny Trejo, with Donal Logue, Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood. New York: Atria Books, 2021. ISBN: 9781982150822.

 

Genre: memoir and autobiography

Subgenre: Hollywood, actors, celebrities

Format: e-book galley

Source: NetGalley

 

I've been looking forward to reading this book since it was first announced. Danny Trejo, actor likely best known for the character of Machete and for his role in Spy Kids, tells his own story with some assistance from his friend Donal Logue. It is a moving and powerful tale of his life in crime to redemption to Hollywood. The odds were definitely not in his favor. However, with a strong faith, perseverance, and a promise to help others along the way Danny Trejo beat the odds to become a Hollywood icon and entrepreneur. This memoir combines humor, pain, and redemption in a book that once you start reading you will find hard to put it down until you are done reading. 

The book has 35 chapters in addition to a prologue and an epilogue. The story runs from the 1960s and his youth to the present day. It is an engaging, powerful, and as I said, at times very moving book. 

Trejo starts the story with his youth. Learning the ways to be a man (not always in a good way. He later writes in the book about having to deal with and unlearn toxic masculine behaviors) and how to survive in the streets and in prison. Those were at times very dark times, yet Trejo draws lessons from those experiences and shares them with his readers. He may not have intended by the way, but this part of the story is also a bit of a prison survival guide. One you hope you never have to call upon. Early on we see Trejo was resourceful, a trait that would help him get out of prisons and addictions. 

Throughout his memoir, Trejo shares moments of insight and realization. These lessons helped steer him to a better path. For example, as he served one of his stints in San Quentin, he realizes: 

"Everything that had happened to me was the result of decisions and choices I made. I always had good information I choose to ignore" (65). 

Insights like that along with his resolution to finally change eventually lead him to his success. It was a long, arduous road to that success full of pain, suffering, a lot of hard work, and a setback or two, but he refused to stay down. 

When he resolved to help others get out of addictions, it was his turning point. He knew then his redemption lay in helping others. Sometimes he succeeds, sometimes he does not, especially if someone just does not want to be helped. But once he took the path of helping others he was on his way to healing himself. This is one of the most powerful parts in the book, and offers a great message to readers.

Hollywood work came gradually from small bit parts and then working his way up. As Trejo explains it, he already knew how to act since childhood. Having to hide emotions or pretend he felt a certain way or not in a dysfunctional home really prepares one for Hollywood acting. Point he makes is that the transition for him was natural, but he was also open to learning from other actors and movie people. 

Trejo is a good storyteller. His narrative is powerful and engaging. It is moving and interesting as well. For readers seeking an inspiring story of crime and healing, it's here. For readers who are fans of Hollywood, Trejo has plenty of interesting stories and anecdotes on films and film people he worked with and met over time. For readers who enjoy a good memoir this is definitely a great one. 

Overall, this is an authentic memoir with raw power and mucho corazón. I am sure it took a lot for Trejo to share some of the things he shares, but I am glad he did. He offers a powerful story that is unique and yet it also conveys universal lessons for us all. For me, this is an inspiring book and a great read that I am glad to recommend to all readers. This is a book I would gladly put in readers' hands. On a final side note, I was glad to see recently that my local public library did order a copy of the book.

5 out of 5 stars. 

 

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Additional reading notes: 

 

When society has lost a child: 

 

"I wasn't scared of being busted, I wasn't scared of being locked up, and when a kid loses fear of consequences, that's when society has lost them" (15).

 

On the appeal of bad boys: 

 

"The bad boy appeal diminishes when the person is actually bad. It's all very sexy and mysterious until you have to deal with the reality" (24).

 

A very basic lesson: 

 

"In life, you have to know who you are fucking with. . . " (44).

 

On prison: 

 

"Prison is a terrible waste of the best years in a person's life, when they otherwise could be part of society, contributing, raising kids, working, providing jobs" (53). 

 

On meeting Charlie, the blond gay boy he protected: 

 

"That moment is when I first realized that people are who they are. That there are people among us who don't fit into any box and it's not a conscious decision they make it, it just is" (59). 

 

On toxic masculinity, learning it: 

 

"If I even did anything around my dad or uncles that wasn't considered manly, I was called a sissy. It was as humiliating as it was intended to be. I was taught to hate anything they considered feminine. It was a lesson I learned too well" (110). 

 

The good in helping others: 

 

"But, as I've said many times: everything good that's ever happened in my life has come as the direct result of helping someone else and not expecting anything in return" (120). 

 

On doing B-movies: 

 

"People ask me if I mind doing B movies and the answer is, every time I do a movie and my involvement helps it get made, that means people are getting paychecks that assist their family in putting food on the table. Plus movies are what they are: the people you meet, the conversations you have, the life that goes down while you are making them, that is gold" 160). 

 

 

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This book qualifies for the following 2021 Reading Challenges: 

Booknote: The Liberal Redneck Manifesto

Trae Crowder, et.al., The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin' Dixie out of the Dark. New York: Atria Books, 2016. ISBN: 978-1-5011-6033-7.

Genre: nonfiction
Subgenre: humor, rednecks, US Southern Culture, politics, liberals
Format: hardcover
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

Like many out there, I thought that redneck and liberal was an oxymoron, but Trae Crowder and friends show the concept is possible. Crowder, Forrester, and Morgan set out to show that a redneck can be a liberal, and in the process, they lay out some much  needed, even a bit harsh, truths for their redneck brethren. They don't totally destroy Southern stereotypes (let's be honest: the South HAS worked hard for that bad reputation), but they take steps to show how they can be changed. They write with humor, compassion, and some good knowledge. The book is worth reading because the South has a lot of ugliness and shameful things, but they also have a lot of good and things of pride.

The book is arranged into 12 chapters, and it covers a broad range of topics from food to mamaws and papaws to music to booze and pills. We see the good, the bad, and the truly ugly. In addition to the regular content, each chapter may have some light footnotes, asides, and each other does "porch talks," where they expound on some topic close to their hearts. This is a serious book, but there is plenty of humor throughout, and there are a few moving moments as well. The authors are on a mission to educate rednecks but yankees we well.

The book is a pretty easy read; it has a light pace, so you can read it pretty quickly. Do not be fooled. It may be humor, but the authors give you plenty to think about. I'll add that instead of some stuffy academic treatise on race and class, our faculty book club here might consider picking this up and chilling out a bit. Overall, the book was a very good read.

4 out of 5 stars.

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Additional reading notes. This book had a lot of good lines I wanted to jot down. This is just a small sampling:

On the claim the Mr. Crowder is not unique (I admit that I have a hard time believing it given where I live now, but I am willing to listen. In the meantime, those plenty others, what the hell are they waiting for to rise and be counted?):

"Because that's another thing: I am not some redneck unicorn. I'm not special. There are plenty of liberal-thinking, intelligent country folk out here, and we're tired of people either not knowing or not caring that we're down here, trying to fight against the ignorance and the hate and doing it from the front lines, by God. It's time we made our presence known" (3).

Part of Crowder's motivation for writing the book. And while I get it, he has his work cut out for him and  his team given how the South consistently votes for the worst this country offers. Keep in mind this book came out in 2016, just before the Pendejo In Chief got elected, in large part by those same rednecks. I wonder how the authors would answer to that, and it better not be another "aw, we need to  understand those poor white people"  piece like the many we have seen in the press already.

Part of why the South, rightfully so, deserves the reputation it gets:

" At the same time that people were plagued by these economic issues, white Southerners just could not stop being buttholes. It's something we continue to struggle with. Race relations were. . . not ideal during the postwar years, with white Southerners constantly trying to pass new laws that would effectively treat free blacks the same as they were treated as slaves. Black Southerners, shockingly, were not altogether down with that. This led to constant tension and racial strife (and some pretty sweet music), often erupting in violence. Take all these factors together, and you have a region that's going through some pretty serious shit, and the simple fact is that the South has never fully recovered to this day" (40).

Maybe step one is stop being racist buttholes. But we also have to consider how wealthy upper class whites enabled this, getting poor whites to look down on blacks, mainly for easier exploitation of both groups. It's both about race and class. (This is a point made very clear also in the book White Trash, which I recently read, and I will review soon). Having said that, yes, time to drop the racist bullshit overt and subtle.

On religion and Jesus, which the authors describe as a "salve for the destitute:"

"The point is that sending a message to  people mired in poverty to just give up (and let God take care of  it) is counterproductive at best and dangerous at worst" (52).

Another reason religion is so bad is it leads Southerners to keep voting against themselves. If you ever wonder why those people consistently vote for Right Wing politicians who prey on the poor, you will find that their religion plays a big part, and those politicians know it. So why do they vote as they do?

"Well, because of Jesus. That's why. It may seem like an oversimplification, but that's about the size of it, really. Sometime in the mid-twentieth century, the right wing initiated the frankly brilliant strategy of anointing itself the Party of the Lord. And it worked. Republicans now claim to represent the moral high ground, 'family values,' a 'traditional way of life,' and all that bullshit. Poor people hear these assholes spouting the same kinds of things that they hear their pastor spouting on Sundays, and bam, there you have it. Votes cast and fates sealed, just like that. And when you look at it this way, maybe the Lord is more harmful to poor people than the bottle" (61). 

This is exemplified recently in how the Pendejo In Chief got the evangelical vote, not to mention so many Christians defending politicians like Alabama's pedophile judge Roy Moore (who barely was not voted in, but it was mostly because black women in the state worked to keep him out. Most whites were fine with him). Religion really can be lethal. So, what is the suggested solution?

"Put down the Bible for a minute and pick up some different books. That would be a pretty good start. That and stop buying scratch-offs" (63). 

Booknote: The Tibetan Art of Positive Thinking

Christopher Hansard, The Tibetan Art of Positive Thinking: Skillful Thought for Successful Living. New York: Atria Books, 2005. ISBN: 9780743483261. 

Genre: nonfiction
Subgenre: spirituality, self-help
Format: trade paperback
Source: Berea branch of the Madison County (KY) Public Library

I managed to finish reading this, and I am not quite sure what to make of it. I can say that this was not as interesting or good as I expected it to be. While the book offers some positive affirmations and common sense, it can also seriously stretch credulity. A weakness of the book lies in the personal anecdotes that the author tells to promote how positive thinking can work. Some of these stories sound more like happy miracles; so and so had positive thoughts and suddenly things changed, or maybe the change was not sudden but it was fairly swift. You see this in the segment on bullying, which I found to be a bit simplistic and idealistic. As a survivor of workplace bullying, I can assure you that simply being nice to the bully and simply using "skillful thinking" to redirect that negative energy is not going to make the bully go away. In the end, a lot of this book read more like a magical hocus pocus wishful thinking act.

The book does feature some decent meditation exercises that could be helpful for things like reducing stress and countering pessimism. They are often simple meditations that can be done in 10 minutes or so in the morning or while on a walk. I feel that if the cutesy stories were taken out and the meditations kept, the book could have worked out better.  It would have made the book shorter too.

Bottom line: this is a book I do not recommend.\

1 out of 5 stars.

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Some additional reading notes. Though as I mention in my review above, I do not recommend the book overall, one or two ideas caught my eye enough that I wanted to jot them down to ponder one way or another.

On anger:

"Anger comes into being when a person is overwhelmed by the world and feels powerless to change it. This sense of powerlessness grows in intensity and creates anger that becomes part of an individual's reactions to the world, both externally and internally. Anger is unskillful self-recognition, a burst of intense energy that creates a sense of awareness" (29).

One of the book's key ideas is that every person experiences nine key moments in life. The idea is to be aware of the thought energy behind the moment so you can act on it to create blessings, happiness, peace, so on. The key nine moments are:

• Birth
• Family
• Love
• Success and Failure
• Meaning
• Happiness
• Acceptance
• Independence
• Death

Family is not the usual conception of family members but rather a broader communal idea that likely involves at least empathy. This is something seriously lacking in society today:

"In everyday life many people close themselves off from others, diminishing their interaction and reducing their quality of thought. Many opportunities to experience the power of family pass us by when we are closed this way. Opening up to family thought energy brings people together and cuts through prejudice. It creates a feeling of goodness, sharing, and togetherness. It teaches us the value of people in their own right-- not for what they can do for us or for what they have, but for what they are" (52). 

On acceptance, something that over time I keep working at. I feel I've gotten a bit better at it in recent years:

"Acceptance is not submissive; it is wise and dynamic because it gives you the courage to know when to accept things, events, and people and to know when you have no power to alter them" (66). 

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This book qualifies for the following 2016 Reading Challenges: