The Soul of Activism A Spirituality for Social Change by Shmuly Yanklowitz
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

128 Pages
Publisher: Changemakers Books / John Hunt Publishing
Release Date: November 4, 2019

Activism, Self-Help, Positivity

Wow, what an amazing book. There are many spiritual books and activist books but none that put the two subjects together. There is a statement that spoke loudly to me. “And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right. (Kindle location 129). As an activist, sometimes it is difficult to remain balanced. The book is easy to read and has exercises for the reader to do. They are as simple as spending five minutes writing down and exploring thoughts, anxieties, fears, hopes and dreams.

I appreciated it at parts and sometimes I found a bit like a series of slogan.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

This book mainly consists of a set of homilies, liberally quoting the sayings of sages from ages last, elucidating the principles by which a spiritually motivated activist may out their principles into action, along with tips and exercises which the reader can try out for themselves at the end of each chapter.
If there is one thing this book recognises, it is that in a world of trolling, popularist and fake media, integrity will be hard to come by. As a white and educated male, this rabbi also urges the reader to be mindful of how much power and privilege they may appear to have when engaged in activism and to allow minorities to speak for themselves. In fact writer does tend to assume readers will tend towards monotheism in discussing God for example, but that probably couldn't be helped.
Being an activist can be frustrating and disappointing, maybe even dangerous work, so might only be commonsense to advise looking for sources of sustenance beyond the demos and slogans.