Love and Liberation

16 hours ago
2 min read

“The moment we choose to love, we begin to move toward freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others” bell hooks

Valentine's day is a day we take to celebrate the love in our lives, but frequently we find ourselves focusing on the love in our individual relationships rather than love we seek from community and society. As feminist theorist bell hooks reminds us, love is not a feeling we are struck by, or something we are lucky to fall into, but rather a political action that enables us to dictate the conditions of our society.

When we fail to foster love and care within our communities, we empower the state and its infrastructures of injustice to exploit vulnerable populations. Incarceration is the antithesis of love. It allows us to lock community members away rather than extending the supportive love they need to be successful members of society. Prison replaces transformative care and mutual aid with systemic violence.

Love encourages us to prioritize care and connection over domination. In a culture of control and hierarchy, the philosophy of love as action provides an alternative framework to approach relationships and community with. It reminds us that we are part of a community and society much larger than our interactions, and that it is our job to extend care and love to members of this community who lack connection and support.

Taking the time to volunteer at Books to Prisoners is a wonderful way to share love with our incarcerated peers. Receiving books from us not only provides an escape from the horrors of prison, it reminds those behind bars that they have not been forgotten or left behind by the outside world. It provides them with human connections and reminds them that there is still love and care for them in a society they have been shunned from.