I Am Not Your Enemy
The award-winning book from Michael T. McRay
WINNER, BEST BOOK IN SOCIAL CHANGE
AMERICAN BOOK FEST, BEST BOOK AWARDS, 2020
Violent stories surround us.
Brutal beginnings, horror-filled middles, despair-inducing endings. We need better stories: stories forged in the furnace of conflict, narratives that kindle compassion and ignite hope. In the pages of I Am Not Your Enemy, writer Michael T. McRay visits divided regions of the world and interviews activists, peacebuilders, former combatants, and clergy members about their personal stories of conflict, justice, and reconciliation. In Israel and Palestine, Northern Ireland, and South Africa, he hears from grieving parents who comfort each other across enemy lines, a woman who meets her father's killer, and a young man who uses theater to counter the oppression of his people.
In a time of heightened alienation and fear, McRay offers true, sacred stories of reconciliation and justice, asking what they can teach us about our own divided states. Must violence be met with violence? Is my belonging complete only when I take away yours? Will more guns, more walls, more weapons keep us safe?
We need stories that cultivate empathy and tell the truth. We need stories to save us from our fear.
Stories to transform a divided world.
"Michael McRay gets poignantly to the heart of the matter. This is a book about the varied faces of grief, love, and reconciliation. It is incisive, smart, and acutely necessary for our times."
— Colum McCann, winner of the National Book Award
“This book is a muscle, an ache, a practice of asking the troubling questions at the heart of peace."
— Pádraig Ó Tuama, host of Poetry Unbound
“McRay…has prepared the path for us to start [the] journey in finding wisdom again in stories as opposed to fear.”
— Ishmael Beah, from the foreword, international bestselling author of A Long Way Gone
