Our Common Read unites the CUNY Law community around a single powerful text, chosen to complement our hands-on approach to legal education, spark campus-wide discussions, and inspire our pursuit of justice.
This signature initiative by the Office of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management kicks off at the start of summer and extends beyond incoming student orientation to include the campus community of all students, faculty, and staff in a series of related events. Designed to foster inclusive dialogue across disciplines and connect our community, the Common Read explores themes of social justice advocacy. We invite you to join this opportunity to bridge classrooms, perspectives, and experiences.
2025 – 2026 Selection
Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto
by Tricia Hersey
“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.” Hachette Book Group
About the Author
Tricia Hersey
Tricia Hersey is a multidisciplinary artist, theologian, escape artist and founder of The Nap Ministry. She is the global pioneer and originator of the “rest as resistance” and “rest as reparations” frameworks, and collaborates with communities all over the world to create sacred spaces where the liberatory, restorative, and disruptive power of rest can take hold. Tricia’s work is seeded within the soils of Black radical thought, somatics, Afrofuturism, womanism, and liberation theology. She is a Chicago native who believes in daydreaming, porch sitting, and poetry.
Upcoming Events
Discussions and events for the entire CUNY Law community will be announced throughout the year and listed here.
Previous Common Reads
Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want
by Ruha Benjamin
“By using viral justice, we can connect the dots between various types of harm; from police violence to viruses, dissecting stressors and oppressors that lead to premature death. The only way we can change things is if we join together as a collective and, through small acts, create our own viral justice.”
“Part memoir, part manifesto, Viral Justice is a sweeping and deeply personal exploration of how we can transform society through the choices we make every day. […] A passionate, inspiring, and practical vision of how small changes can add up to large ones, Viral Justice details how transforming our relationships and communities helps us build a more just and joyful world.” Princeton University Press
