Testimonials

What People Say About Paul’s Work

Along with endorsements from widely read writers, teachers and activists—Alice Walker, Howard Zinn, Jim Hightower—this page includes comments from workshop participants and readers of Paul’s work. We invite your feedback for posting on this page.

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“This earnest and practical book will serve as a primer for the millions of men and boys who have begun to recognize that the stopping of male violence is, as author Paul Kivel writes, truly Men’s Work.” —Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple


Uprooting Racism is a uniquely sensitive, wise, practical guide for white people struggling with their feelings about race.”

—Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States


After more than 200 years, a book has finally emerged that validates Thomas Paine’s concerns about Christian hegemony. Living in the Shadow of the Cross shows readers of all faiths how the ruling elite turned a doctrine of love into a doctrine of discovery that has ultimately kept us from embracing the spiritual wisdom of Indigenous cultures that Paine and other founding fathers of the U.S. saw as incompatible with Christian orthodoxy. This book is a must-read if we are to break through the illusions that continue to keep our collective heads in the hegemonic sands that are contained by Christian seas. Our very survival may require such an awakening as Kivel offers here.

—Four Arrows (Don Trent Jacobs, Ph.D., Ed.D.), author, Teaching Truly, Primal Awareness and Unlearning the Language of Conquest.


“I am a recovering alcoholic and addict. … Nothing in recovery has touched me like Men’s Work. I’ve been able to release feelings of inadequacy, my need to control, sexual inhibitions that interfered with far more of my life than I ever thought, and anger and resentments that enabled me to carry on the violence and hurt many lives.”

—Inmate, Bowling Green, Florida


Uprooting Racism hits at the heart of one of America’s most complex problems—systemic white racism—which holds all colors and races in bondage. This is a great book, written with insight and courage.”

—Morris Dees, Southern Poverty Law Center


“I found your book [Men’s Work] so helpful, so powerful, and empowering … The exercises brought me to a whole new level of understanding and allowed me to face myself and my world of violence in a way that it has never been explored.”

—Inmate, Alberta, Canada


“Paul Kivel has done it again with You Call This a Democracy?, exploding another myth about our troubled land.”

—Jim Hightower, author of Let’s Stop Beating Around the Bush


“Making the connections between systems of oppression is one of the keys to the freedom of everybody, and You Call This a Democracy? helps move that analysis forward.”

 “End of Capitalism” review


“[In Living in the Shadow of the Cross,] Mr. Kivel takes a hard look at Christianity’s history and its fundamental role in and continued domination of American culture and politics. To his credit, even readers well versed in critiques of Christianity will find new and notable material here…Mr. Kivel’s tone—much more humane than the Oxbridge atheists, for example—and his copious footnotes to some otherwise hard to fathom injustices both historic and current make this a readable and important book. ”

-Maria Theresa Stadtmueller, New York Journal of Books


“[I Can Make My World a Safer Place] is respectful, caring and wise. Paul Kivel really understands young people.”

—Patty Wipfler, Director The Parent’s Leadership Institute.


“Boys Will Be Men is a wonderful, hands-on book that raises all the issues…and offers sound, practical advice on how we can raise our sons to become the kind of men needed for a multicultural and democratic society.”

—Patricia Chang, former president and CEO of the California Women’s Foundation


“[Helping Teens Stop Violence] … provides insight, skills, and inspiration for creating youth–adult alliances that facilitate youth leadership and the creation of just, safe, and healed communities.”

—Sharon Turner, regional director, STAND! for Families Free of Violence.


“[Making the Peace contains] … a thoughtful, sensitive, and user-friendly curriculum. A wonderful, needed addition to the field of violence prevention.”

—Linda Lantieri, national director, Resolving Conflict Creatively Program