Rest is Resistance | A conversation with Tricia Hersey and Osayi Endolyn

Buy the book here! 

Buy the audiobook here! 

About The COMPOUND

The COMPOUND is a workplace that moves away from the mainstream concept of what a office should look like. The space should make you want to loosen up that tie, kick off your shoes and get work done all at the same time. The COMPOUND is focused on comfort, productivity, and community. Learn more here!

About the Book

What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace –– feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit.  In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted. Our worth does not reside in how much we produce, especially not for a system that exploits and dehumanizes us. Rest, in its simplest form, becomes an act of resistance and a reclaiming of power because it asserts our most basic humanity. We are enough. The systems cannot have us.  Rest Is Resistance is rooted in spiritual energy and centered in Black liberation, womanism, somatics, and Afrofuturism. With captivating storytelling and practical advice, all delivered in Hersey’s lyrical voice and informed by her deep experience in theology, activism, and performance art, Rest Is Resistance is a call to action, a battle cry, a field guide, and a manifesto for all of us who are sleep deprived, searching for justice, and longing to be liberated from the oppressive grip of Grind Culture.

About the Author

Tricia Hersey is a Chicago native who has called Georgia home for the last 12 years. She has over 20 years of experience as a multidisciplinary artist, writer, theologian and community organizer. She is the founder of The Nap Ministry, an organization that examines rest as a form of resistance and reparations by curating spaces for the community to rest via community rest activations, immersive workshops,  performance art installations, and social media.  Her research interests include Black liberation theology, womanism, somatics, and cultural trauma. She is the author of the upcoming book Rest is Resistance: A Manifesto which will be published in October 2022.  You can learn more about her work and the book at thenapministry.com

About our Conversation Partner

Osayi Endolyn is a James Beard Award-winning writer and storyteller on food culture. A consultant, producer, and cultural commentator, her approach explores the nexus of food and identity. Her work is featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Time, Eater, Food & Wine, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure, the Wall Street Journal, and the Oxford American. Her celebrated essays appear in the collections Black Food, Women on Food, and You and I Eat the Same. Osayi’s commentary is featured on the Sporkful podcast, Netflix's Chef’s Table and Ugly Delicious, and Hulu's The Next Thing You Eat. She is the writer of Ghetto Gastro Presents: Black Power Kitchen, and with Marcus Samuelsson, she wrote the bestseller The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food. Her own narrative on American restaurants and dining culture is forthcoming.