Be the Change with Meg Stone, author of The Cost of Fear, in conversation with Shameka Gregory
When:
Sunday, Jun 29, 2025 5:00p -
6:00p
Sunday, Jun 29, 2025 5:00p -
6:00p
Where:
Porter Square Books
1815 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140
Admission:
FREE
Hosted by:
Categories:
Lectures & Conferences, Social Good
Event website:
https://www.portersquarebooks.com/event/be-change-meg-stone-author-cost-fear-conversation-shameka-gregory
PSB's June Be the Change event features Meg Stone, author of The Cost of Fear. Shameka Gregory will join Stone in conversation. This event will take place on Sunday, June 29 at 5pm at Porter Square Books (1815 Mass Ave. Cambridge, MA 02140).
Porter Square Books will be donating 20% of sales from 5-7PM on June 29 to IMPACT Boston. IMPACT works to prevent violence and abuse by giving people the tools to protect their safety and advocate for healthy relationships and sexual respect in their communities and society. Learn more about them here!
Our Cambridge store offers validated parking in the lot on Roseland St. behind Lesley's University Hall. See parking details below.
To RSVP for this event while we migrate our website to a new platform, please use this link.
*Please note that you will not receive a confirmation email. However, we will send a reminder email one day before the event. Please check your spam folder if you do not see the pre-event email reminder. Better yet, add [email protected] to your safe sender list to avoid PSB event emails going to spam!
ABOUT THE COST OF FEAR
A violence prevention expert helps targets of gender-based violence discern fact from fiction around what keeps us safe and support social change
Personal safety shouldn’t mean living in fear, nor should it come at the expense of political progress.
Questionable advice to avoid violence, like “don’t go shopping alone,” comes mostly from the police or other men in authority. But gender-based violence is often enacted in the most intimate spheres of our lives, not when we’re out grocery shopping. To stop this violence, we need strategies that are just as intimate.
In The Cost of Fear, nationally recognized violence prevention expert Meg Stone helps readers separate fact from fiction. It’s full of practical, research-based strategies that readers can use to keep themselves and their communities safer. Increased safety comes from developing the skills to resist coercive control, especially from people we know or people in authority, not from complying with rigid rules or avoiding homeless people on the street.
This deeply researched book draws timely connections between personal safety and political change—from Latina organizers in California working to stop sexual violence against night shift janitorial workers to teenage girls who call out double standards.
Work to change laws and change people’s minds is essential, but without practical strategies, the change is incomplete. The Cost of Fear will show us how we can make safety choices that expand our worlds and contribute to the fight for social justice.
PRAISE FOR THE COST OF FEAR
“Intriguing . . . This is sure to stir debate.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Stone provides a practical, deeply needed resource that expands rather than diminishes the world for women.”
—Booklist
“The Cost of Fear delivers a compelling critique of the shortcomings of conventional safety practices. Through meticulous evidence-based research and personal stories, Stone suggests more effective strategies for eliminating gender-based violence.”
—Wendy Rouse, author of Her Own Hero
“Meg Stone offers her incredible knowledge with love and compassion, an essential guide for resistance-based self-defense training. Drawing from her decades-long experience, Stone empowers you to build mental resilience and vital techniques for developing situational awareness to defuse gender-based violence quickly for your safety. The Cost of Fear is a must-read for people of all genders and ages, regardless of their fitness and experience levels.”
—Rev. Irene Monroe, co-host of All Rev’d Up on Boston Public Radio
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Meg Stone is the Executive Director of IMPACT Boston, an abuse prevention and empowerment self-defense organization. Her writing has been published in Huffington Post, Newsweek, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Dame, and Ms. She has received numerous awards for her work over the past 30 years. Meg lives in Cambridge, MA, with her partner Mal and a shockingly large collection of musical theatre cast albums.
Shameka Gregory is a west coast native and has spent her life studying people. She gained an early expertise by navigating the everyday complexities and personality quirks of growing up in a family of 9. She moved to Boston in 2004 to formalize her studies and holds degrees in psychology and clinical social work from Boston University and Boston College. She is a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) and is now the Coordinator of the Domestic and Gender Based Violence Prevention Initiative for the city of Cambridge. Previously she served in different roles at Transition House which is an organization dedicated to ending domestic violence. She spent 9 years serving her community through that organization. Shameka also owns and operates a private practice, Worth in Christ, LLC. Shameka takes every opportunity to learn from the people around her and greets life with practicality and joy. She is devoted to the continued growth, development and healing of her community and herself.
PARKING
Porter Square Books: Cambridge Edition offers validated parking in the lot on Roseland St. behind Lesley's University Hall. Roseland Street is accessible by Beacon Street and Mass Ave. When you arrive at the lot, use the screen on the kiosk to get a ticket.
When you're ready to leave, ask for a validation barcode at the cash register. (No purchase necessary.) Parking is free on weekends and weekday evenings from 6PM-7AM. From 7AM-6PM on weekdays the first 45 minutes are free.
Upon exiting the lot, scan your ticket and choose "validation." Then scan the barcode your received from us. If you have an additional charge, you will be prompted to pay after scanning your barcode.
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