The Truths We HoldMy American Journey
Review posted October 3, 2024.
Penguin Audio, January 2019. 9 hours, 26 minutes.
Review written October 1, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review
I have a history of becoming a fan of female politicians after I read their books. It worked for Elizabeth Warren and Katie Porter, and now for Kamala Harris. In all three cases, their writing reveals a heart for public service that can't be faked. Instead of contempt and disdain for those who get left behind in America, for whatever reason, these leaders ooze empathy and understanding - and a determination to call to account the powerful forces that messed up the lives of ordinary Americans.
In Kamala Harris's case, her fight against the big banks was especially impressive. Yes, I'd heard about that as a political line. But getting the full story - how all fifty state attorneys general were meeting just after she'd been elected to that office in California, and they were prepared to settle for $2 billion and immunity for the banks against further prosecution - was truly impressive. She initiated a full investigation, met with actual people who'd been defrauded and lost their homes, and eventually got a settlement ten times bigger that went much further toward helping the people who'd been harmed.
Her life story helps the reader understand all that empathy. She was brought up by a single mother who was a cancer researcher but eventually died of cancer. Her mother purchased a home when Kamala was in high school, and was tremendously proud of that achievement, which gave Kamala all the more compassion for the folks who lost their homes during the recession.
This book was written in 2018 in the middle of Donald Trump's presidency, so it was a politically different world than what's out there now, but I did especially like the ending of the book, all about policy changes we need to have happen -- and all of that grounded in compassion and empathy for ordinary Americans.
I haven't heard her lately saying anything about Universal Basic Income and Medicare for All, but I love that those things are on her radar. (She mentions a pilot program happening with UBI, and there's much discussion about how the healthcare system is broken, but we mustn't go back to a time when people could be denied healthcare for having preexisting conditions.) Actually I appreciate that she's politically savvy enough to go for changes that are politically possible, but will still help ordinary Americans.
I put this audiobook on hold as soon as Harris got the nomination, and my hold finally came in. Even though it was written six years ago, it showed me the heart of this smart and dynamic politician and made me trust that she truly is working to make lives better for ordinary Americans and to bring those who would harm them to account.