Social Justice for the Sensitive Soul, Dorcas Cheng-Tozun. Minneapolis: Broadleaf Books, 2023.

Summary: How highly sensitive persons can also contribute to social justice efforts in ways consonant with their personalities.

Susan Cain began an important conversation with her book Quiet (review) about the distinctive contributions to the world that introverts can make. This book goes further, considering a related personality, the highly sensitive person (HSP) characterized by their depth of processing, by being more quickly overstimulated, by their emotional sensitivity, and their ability to sense the subtle. The world of social justice activism often seems like the last place for such persons because of its confrontative nature and the wrenching realities of injustice. Burnout can occur with the most resilient and especially among HSPs like the author, as she discovered in her own social justice efforts.

This led to a journey of discovering the unique ways highly sensitive people can contribute to social justice efforts, not as warrior kings but as priestly advisers. She contends that Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King, Jr. are examples of people with this personality who made a difference. The key, she believes, is self-understanding combined with an expanded awareness of the ways people may contribute to social justice efforts beyond standing at the barricades with a megaphone.

The first part of her book explores more of what it is like to be a sensitive person and the unique gifts of conscientiousness and care for others coupled with deep empathy. Priestly advisers “observe, listen, consider, gather, plan, and generate.” Their thoughtfulness often leads to the recognition of the pathways to achieve social justice aims and not simply protest injustices. This requires shedding the “activist ideal” to practice the self-care that enables the sensitive person to keep showing up. They develop a resilience rooted not in bouncing back quickly but in holding onto one’s identity and purpose. As they understand their own value, they also learn to value the complementary strengths of less-sensitive collaborators.

The second part of the work focuses on considerations and questions, the most important of which is to listen to our lives, what we are learning from our experiences about what we do well, what we care deeply about, and how we can live and work sustainably. Cheng-Tozun then explores several kinds of questions we might consider: the what questions, the who questions, the when (in terms of life situation) questions, and the where questions. In each, she offers a number of very specific questions for consideration.

Finally, in part three, she describes some of the vital roles in social justice movements in which sensitive persons can make singular contributions. She discusses:

• Connectors: those able to forge vibrant relationships and alliances based on deep empathy and trust.
• Creatives: the use of various artistic abilities to capture the imagination of people for social change.
• Record Keepers: the archivists and those who document injustices, making the pleas for justice harder to ignore in the face of evidence.
• Builders: these include the designers, inventors, and engineers and others who can leverage technology in ways that serve the most needy.
• Equippers; the trainers, mentors, coaches, and teachers who prepare skilled advocates, as was the case with the Highlander School which equipped Rosa Parks and many others for social justice work.
• Researchers: the academic researchers who pursue socially relevant research on everything from gun violence to environmental justice.

In her conclusion, Cheng-Tozun speaks of the power of hopeful sensitives, those who understand where their gifts and the world’s needs meet. She writes:

“This hope is not abstract and aimless; rather, it is measured and thoughtful, compassionate and directed. Hopeful sensitives have the tools and the energy to create specific, implementable plans and visions for themselves and for the greater good of their communities. They will always keep human beings at the core of their actions and choices” (p. 190).

What is powerful about this book is Cheng-Tozun’s quiet yet clear voice offering the vision that social justice work requires all kinds of people and sensitive persons need not be marginalized or marginalize themselves. She gives permission for sensitive persons to be who they are, to care not only about injustices but for themselves, recognizing that such a gift results in the release of compassion, creativity, insight, and innovation. The questions she asks to help with self-understanding and the examples of the ways sensitive people contribute argues for getting this book and putting it alongside your copy of Quiet, as its constructive sequel.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewer Program.