Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change

The Wake Up: Closing the Gap Between Good Intentions and Real Change

By Michelle Mijung Kim

This informative guide helps allies who want to go beyond rigid Diversity and Inclusion best practices, with real tools to go from good intentions to making meaningful change in any situation or venue. 2022 NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS GOLD WINNER 2022 NATIONAL ANTIRACIST BOOK FESTIVAL SELECTION 2021 PORCHLIGHT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN BEHAVIOR BOOK OF THE YEAR As we become more aware of various social injustices in the world, many of us want to be part of the movement toward positive change.

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Book Information

Publisher: Hachette Go
Publish Date: 09/28/2021
Pages: 288
ISBN-13: 9780306847202
ISBN-10: 0306847205
Language: English

What We're Saying

June 01, 2022

Pride Month Booklist

By Gabbi Cisneros

Through both joyous celebrations and more difficult work and learning, we can strive to become better allies or LGBTQIA+ community members. We see you, and we read you. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

December 30, 2021

In the lead up to announcing the Porchlight Business Book of the Year on January 13th, we are going to share excerpts from each of the eight books on the shortlist for the award. Today, we have an excerpt from the Personal Development & Human Behavior book of the year, The Wake Up by Michelle MiJung Kim. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

December 16, 2021

We didn't get everything we were hoping for out of 2021, but we got a lot of great books! READ FULL DESCRIPTION

December 07, 2021

Our Communications & Publicity Manager, Emily Porter, dives into the Personal Development & Human Behavior Longlist selections. READ FULL DESCRIPTION

November 18, 2021

"The authors who make up this year’s Porchlight Business Book of the Year Awards longlist gift us with a feast of new ideas to explore and, even more valuable, a renewed sense of possibility.” READ FULL DESCRIPTION

Full Description

This informative guide helps allies who want to go beyond rigid Diversity and Inclusion best practices, with real tools to go from good intentions to making meaningful change in any situation or venue. 2022 NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS GOLD WINNER
2022 NATIONAL ANTIRACIST BOOK FESTIVAL SELECTION
2021 PORCHLIGHT PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN BEHAVIOR BOOK OF THE YEAR

As we become more aware of various social injustices in the world, many of us want to be part of the movement toward positive change. But sometimes our best intentions cause unintended harm, and we fumble. We might feel afraid to say the wrong thing and feel guilt for not doing or knowing enough. Sometimes we might engage in performative allyship rather than thoughtful solidarity, leaving those already marginalized further burdened and exhausted. The feelings of fear, insecurity, inadequacy are all too common among a wide spectrum of changemakers, and they put many at a crossroads between feeling stuck and giving up, or staying grounded to keep going. So how can we go beyond performative allyship to creating real change in ourselves and in the world, together? In The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim shares foundational principles often missing in today's mainstream conversations around "diversity and inclusion," inviting readers to deep dive into the challenging and nuanced work of pursuing equity and justice, while exploring various complexities, contradictions, and conflicts inherent in our imperfect world. With a mix of in-the-trenches narrative and accessible unpacking of hot button issues--from inclusive language to representation to "cancel culture"--Michelle offers sustainable frameworks that guide us how to think, approach, and be in the journey as thoughtfully and powerfully as possible. The Wake Up is divided into four key parts:
  • Grounding: begin by moving beyond good intentions to interrogating our deeper "why" for committing to social justice and uncovering our "hidden stories."
  • Orienting: establish a shared understanding around our historical and current context and issues we are trying to solve, starting with dismantling white supremacy.
  • Showing Up: learn critical principles to approach any situation with clarity and build our capacity to work through complexity, nuance, conflict, and imperfections.
  • Moving Together: remember the core of this work is about human lives, and commit to prioritizing humanity, healing, and community.

The Wake Up is an urgent call for us to move together while seeing each other's full and expansive humanity that is at the core of our movement toward justice, healing, and freedom.

About the Author

Michelle MiJung Kim (she/her) is a queer immigrant Korean American woman writer, speaker, activist, and entrepreneur. She is CEO and co-founder of Awaken, a leading provider of interactive equity and inclusion education programs facilitated by majority people of color educators, where she has consulted hundreds of organizations and top executives across various industries, from technology to nonprofits to government agencies to universities.

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