Choose Love, Not Power
Tony Campolo
Regal Books, 2009, 224 pp., $14.99, RegalBooks.com
We Fight to Win: Inequality and the Politics of Youth Activism
Hava Rachel Gordon
Rutgers University Press, 2010, 248 pp., $23.95, RutgersPress.Rutgers.edu
For students who have strong convictions regarding social justice issues, here are two books that bring insight and balance. Although We Fight to Win is not a Christ-centered book, Gordon discusses the frustration adolescents experience when they seek a political voice. It includes unvarnished, offensive language in the direct student quotes and may anger the politically conservative.
Though it may have a hidden liberal political agenda, value comes from the insight gained from the perspective of the students who resent being politically tokenized and want to be treated as more than puppets by their teachers. Gordon offers insight regarding the barriers, frustrations and successes of students who seek to gain a political voice and credibility.
Campolo’s book is a re-release of his 1983 book The Power of Delusion. The update brings the timeless truth in his early book into a 21st century context. Teenagers are challenged not to let anyone look down on them simply because they’re young (
Whereas We Fight to Win assists adolescents in gaining a voice and political power, Choose Love, Not Power is a wonderful call to bathe activism with service and the love of Christ. I would not recommend reading Gordon’s book without Campolo’s.
