Demand the Impossible!

“Demand the Impossible is more than a book, more than a manifesto. It is a torch. Bill Ayers’ vision for a humane future is incendiary—fire that incinerates old logics and illuminates new paths. If we do not end the violence of militarism, materialism, caging, dispossession, debt, want, ignorance, and global warming, our very survival is impossible. Read aloud.”
—Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Freedom Dreams

“With the beautiful idealism of a young radical and the sage wisdom of an elder, Bill Ayers is making trouble again, and we should all be grateful. In Demand the Impossible Ayers troubles the waters of staid political practices, insisting that we close our eyes for a moment and think creatively about what a better world might look like, and then open our eyes wide and organize boldly to make that world a reality. This is an elegant and provocative manifesto for our time, one that honors the social justice organizing currently in motion.”
—Barbara Ransby, author of Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement

“Bill Ayers has produced a portrait of two worlds. One is a dystopia, recognizable as the world in which we live, the other a world that capitalism describes as a fantasy—a world reconstructed around values that place the advancement of humanity and the sanctity of the planet above the accumulation of wealth and power. The two portraits stand in dramatic contrast and make Demand the Impossible both illuminating and compelling. This manifesto is radical less in its rhetoric than in its daring to actually go to the roots of the barbarism of the capitalist system. Demand the Impossible is to be read and then shared widely. It can serve as a motivator for those of us engaged in the long battle for justice and social transformation.”
—Bill Fletcher, Jr, author of Solidarity Divided

“In his many years of practicing and theorizing pedagogy, Bill Ayers has proven himself a master teacher. Now, Demand the Impossible is a brilliant and accessible distillation of techniques and knowledge crafted into a powerful manifesto for our times, expanding the horizon of our expectations.”
—Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author of An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

“Bill Ayers is the philosopher of the revolutionary spirit. These are despondent times, and yet, as Bill muses – history can surprise us. In preparation for that surprise, Bill has written a smart and inspirational manifesto.”
—Vijay Prashad, author of The Poorer Nations

“Bill Ayers’ Demand the Impossible is a strong shot of inspiration for anyone searching for deep social transformation. It is a heartfelt, upbeat manifesto in favor of activism as an antidote to despair. Chock-full of personal stories, real facts and concrete examples packaged in exquisite writing, Demand the Impossible will open your mind to possibilities you never thought existed. Ayers will get you off your seat and into the street, fist raised, heart full, reaching for the spectacular.”
—Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink and author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control

Demand the Impossible is just what the world needs right now, a manifesto that challenges us to imagine bigger, love harder, create more expansively, and struggle toward a liberatory future in spite of our deepest doubts. Bill Ayers wakes us up and shows us that even the most entrenched, most permanent-seeming institutions—the military, the prison, the police, capitalism itself—are no match for the creativity and determination of the “universal family” and the “better angels of ourselves.”Demand the Impossible is a call to abandon the ill