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A Guide to Self-Defense and Building Our Collective Power
by Rana Abdelhamid
Grounded in her experience as a blackbelt, self-defense instructor, and globally recognized organizer, Rana Abdelhamid offers a bold, urgent roadmap to a safer world.
Abdelhamid wants every woman and survivor of gender-based violence to be able to defend themselves, and every community to build collective safety. What if we didn't accept that it's unsafe to walk home alone as a fact of life, but instead went out and created safe spaces for ourselves?
Through thousands of training sessions, she's seen firsthand the strength we carry in our bodies, no matter our background or circumstance. Her revolutionary framework for finding that strength starts with emotional healing, then teaches physical self-defense and economic safety, and finally equips readers with organizing strategies to fight the systems that enable violence in the first place. A rallying cry and a practical guide, Get Home Safe will leave readers, regardless of strength, identity, or income, knowing they can fight back and reclaim power.
"Though the task Abdelhamid takes on is daunting, she provides a surprising amount of clear, usable strategies (including a lucid guide to physical self-defense with tips on breaking free from wrist grabs and headlocks), and the links she draws between individual and communal healing offer a potent corrective to the isolation and shame that gender-based violence can breed. This empowers and informs." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"With this book, Rana Abdelhamid has given us mujeres a glorious, one-of-a-kind blueprint on how to gather with one another and reclaim the power that is buried in our bodies, hearts, and minds. Get Home Safe is activist storytelling at its best: personal narratives grounded in political life with clear guidance on how to transform our day-to-day lives and our communities. It is the book I wish I'd had when I was fifteen. I'm so thankful it is here now." ―Daisy Hernández, author of Citizenship and co-editor of Colonize This!
Get Home Safe, Rana Abdelhamid weaves together a guide for those who have never experienced violence, those facing it currently, and those coming through the other side. It is a necessary and timely addition to the self-help and feminist canon." ―Mikki Kendall, author of Hood Feminism
This information about Get Home Safe was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Rana Abdelhamid is the founder and executive director of Malikah, a non-profit organization dedicated to building safety and power for marginalized communities through self-defense education, financial literacy, and mental health resources. As a community organizer and social entrepreneur, her work centers on addressing issues of violence and discrimination faced by underserved communities. Her passion for social impact was sparked by her experiences as a survivor of a hate-based attack and as a child of immigrants growing up as a Muslim woman in New York City.
Abdelhamid served as the youngest board member of Amnesty International USA for six years. In 2022, she ran for U.S. Congress to represent her home district, mobilizing thousands of people around issues of housing and healthcare access. Her work is widely recognized, with accolades including the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, a NYC Council Proclamation, and the Truman Scholarship. She has been featured in outlets such as CNN, NBC News, and Teen Vogue. Rana holds a BA in political science and economics from Middlebury College and a master's degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School.
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