Ruha Benjamin is an internationally recognised writer, speaker, and professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, where she is the founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab. She is the award-winning author of Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code and editor of Captivating Technology, among many other publications. Her work has been featured widely in the media, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, The Root, and The Guardian.
Longlisted for the Porchlight Business Book Awards, Personal Development & Human Behavior Category This is an openhearted, multilayered work that vibrates with ideas on ways to make a new world out of the interlocking crises of COVID-19 and racial capitalism. Progress may be a 'tear-soaked mirage,' as Benjamin writes, yet her book is far from devoid of a sense of humor or hope, full of ways to 'live poetically' while remaking the systems that have failed us. * New York Magazine * Heartbreaking, inspiring, and hopeful. . . .Benjamin's approach is undoubtedly radical. ---James M. Jones, Science A powerful, urgent plea for individual responsibility in an unjust world. * Kirkus Reviews, starred review * An emotional and thought-provoking wake-up shout to put an end to systemic discrimination. . . . [and] a rich and engaging space for collective healing. * Library Journal * Compelling . . . . The final pages of Benjamin's Viral Justice are a testament to human resilience, to finding meaning in little acts, imbuing beauty in the mundane, and growing a garden from a seed. ---Mehr Tarar, Stanford Social Innovation Review There's no one better to light the way out and guide us in building a just future than Ruha Benjamin. ---Karla J. Strand, Ms. Magazine Benjamin's choice to weave personal stories of childhood and motherhood with action and theory made it easier to see how I fit into the narrative she was crafting. ---A. Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, Yes Magazine A unique and inspiring intervention, that comes at just the right moment. ---Ros Williams, Ethnic and Racial Studies