Songs My Mother Taught Me is Williams' exploration of the role of the artist in these times by answering the question: what radicalized you? He answers by examining how his role models--writers and artists, from Amiri Baraka to local musicians in Brazilian bars to Palestinian hip-hop heads--have responded to imperialist violence, oppression, and genocide.
The simplest, most straightforward prose of his career. A demystification of the mystic himself, he tells the story of his own radicalization and how it came to be ... Guided not by anger, rage or bitterness but by love, adventure and curiosity.
The book works as both a memoir and a manifesto, challenging artists to 'process the social and political indoctrinations of your upbringing' ... A powerful rallying cry.
