White American women are no monolith. Yet, as Women's March National organizer Jenna Arnold has learned over the past few years criss-crossing the US in conversations with white women about their identity and role in the country, we do possess common characteristics— ones that get in the way of us becoming more engaged as citizens. We're so focused on checking off our to-do lists, or so afraid of getting it wrong, or so busy trying to sidestep conflict, that we are actively avoiding the urgent conversations we need to have.
Raising Our Hands is the reckoning call for white women. It asks us to step up and join the new front lines in the fight against complacency—in our homes, in our behaviors, and in our minds.
In these pages of Raising Our Hands, Jenna peels back the history that's intentionally been kept out of our textbooks and the cultural norms that are holding us back, so we can finally start sincerely listening to the marginalized voices and doing our part to work toward equity.
The American white woman is a powerful force—an essential participant—to mobilize alongside the rest of Humanity on behalf of the world, and we can no longer make excuses for why we don't have time or don't know enough. Raising Our Hands provides the tools we need to be the full, productive participant the world requires.
Jenna has uplifted marginalized voices embodying a crucial sentiment of Malcolm X’s: it is white people’s responsibility to bring other well-intended white people to the social justice work of our time. Raising Our Hands is the urgent answer to our request.
Angela Rye
Political analyst and commentator
The author is distributing her proceeds to organizations focused on supporting marginalized communities. Some include:
