Review of Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence, by Derald Wing Sue

Race Talk and the Conspiracy of Silence

Understanding and Facilitating Difficult Dialogues on Race

by Derald Wing Sue

Wiley, 2015. 282 pages.
Review written January 22, 2022, from my own copy, purchased via amazon.com
Starred Review

I read this book for a Racial Reconciliation Book Discussion Group hosted by my church, but never got a link to the zoom meeting. Still, I’m glad I read the book, and only wish I had gotten to see the leaders try to model the principles found here.

It’s hard to talk about race in America. This book explores the many reasons why that is so, with different reasons for white people and people of color, and lots of misunderstandings coming into play. And because misunderstandings come up and because we don’t want to appear racist, the end result is that we avoid talking about race at all — and so eliminate hope of learning to overcome those misunderstandings.

This book was written well before all the manufactured outrage about “critical race theory,” but the principles found here shed light on why that’s become such a hot button issue.

A lot of the book explores why it’s so hard to talk about race and the different perspectives and cultural expectations from white people, Black people, and other people of color. Each chapter starts with examples where someone needed to talk about race and it was difficult.

The end of the book gives strategies for teachers and facilitators to help people through this difficult topic. A lot of it involves addressing the emotions underlying words so that people feel heard, but aren’t allowed to sidetrack the discussion. The author had some pertinent examples where arguing the content of someone’s remarks only got things more heated, but inquiring about their emotions helped them feel heard and then more equipped to consider the feelings of others.

All the same, I’m not sure I absorbed this well enough just reading about it. I’d like to see it modeled. This would be a good book to use in a workshop. And even as I say this, if the book discussion group had happened, I admit I was hoping to listen and learn more than to participate, because Race Talk is difficult.

But even apart from the helpful tips at the end for putting into practice, this book gives a good overview of issues that come up in discussions about race and how they look different for different groups. So reading the book will help you gain understanding and empathy for those other perspectives, which is a good place to start.

This was written for college professors, and the tone is academic. But it’s packed with helpful information to go beyond being afraid to talk about race.

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Review of The Daycare Myth, by Dan Wuori

The Daycare Myth

What we Get Wrong About Early Care and Education
(and What We Should Do About It)

by Dan Wuori

Teachers College Press, 2024. 125 pages.
Review written January 2, 2025, from my own copy, ordered via Amazon.com.
Starred Review
2024 Sonderbooks Stand-out: #2 More Nonfiction

I read this book very quickly at the end of 2024, because I was quite sure it would end up being a Sonderbooks Stand-out, and I didn’t want to wait a year to highlight it.

Dan Wuori has run my favorite account on Twitter for years, and now he’s on Facebook and Bluesky as well. His daily posts (my favorite way to start my day) include an adorable video of a baby or toddler – and then Dr. Wuori explains how the video shows the brain development going on in the child.

And that’s what’s going on in this book, too. Dan Wuori is a spokesperson for babies’ brains! He explains that the years from prenatal to three years old are the most important in a human’s life because our brains are wiring to learn.

And what is the Daycare Myth? It’s the pervasive tendency to downplay this importance and treat places that tend babies and toddlers as only needing to meet their outer physical needs. When the truth is, they are learning centers and need to provide a stable environment for those tiny brains to make the neural connections that are so vital.

That the early years are for caring – and not education – is a notion long (if mostly inadvertently) perpetuated by policymakers. Even those seeking to advance investments in early childhood are prone to framing their arguments around a desire that children “come to kindergarten ready to learn” – as if this is when and where learning begins.

This book is short, and it starts by effectively making the case, using research results, that those first years are vitally important for brain development, and investing in education for those years will pay off abundantly as those children grow older.

All of the ideas in this book are based around “The Three Simple Truths of Early Development”:

(1) Learning begins in utero and never stops.

(2) The period from prenatal to age 3 is a uniquely consequential window of human development during which the fundamental architecture of the brain is “wired.”

(3) Optimal brain development is dependent on stable, nurturing relationships with highly engaged adults.

This is a book on policy, but all along, the author makes a bipartisan case. The benefits of investing in early childhood education will pay off for all of us. He’s not talking about government taking it over completely – and shows why that wouldn’t actually work. But there are things that government can do to help, and things both political parties can and should get behind.

And all of it is based on his strong case that early childhood education is a public good.

We are already paying for the repercussions of not investing in it. It will benefit everyone if we give our attention to this time that makes the most difference in people’s lives.

The chapter titles give you an idea of the flow of Dr. Wuori’s argument:

(1) Daycare Doesn’t Exist

(2) Something for Everyone: The Bipartisan Case for Early Childhood Investment

(3) America’s Failing Child Care Market

(4) How Not to Solve the Child Care Crisis: Imperfect Solutions and Policy Pitfalls

(5) A Wholesale Transformation of America’s Early Childhood Landscape

And that chapter about solutions has some great ideas and even some case studies of states with “promising practices” as they tackle the problem.

Now, you might think I have no skin in the game – my kids are grown adults. But I do remember what it was like, and it feels like I only recently got out of the debt we got into when we tried to get by with me working only part-time so I could be with our kids. (Technically, I suppose it was more recent things, but let’s just say that this set us back.)

And he does talk about all the scenarios. It’s a public good to support babies’ brain development in stable, nurturing relationships, whether that’s at home with their own parent or in an early education setting. In an appendix at the back, he gives ideas for reaching out to elected leaders, especially for parents and professionals.

Bottom line: Read this book!

More than any partisan book I’ve recommended on my website, I hope that people of all political persuasions will give thought to the ideas Dr. Wuori presents and implement as many as they can. Let’s use public policy to promote this public good.

As Dr. Wuori puts it:

As we wrap up our conversation, I want to take just a moment to reiterate why I wrote this book and what I hope it might help to accomplish. If you take nothing else away from our time together, let it be this: The early years are uniquely consequential – and infinitely more impportant than our nation’s public policy might lead you to believe.

tcpress.com

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Review of A Return to Common Sense, by Leigh McGowan

A Return to Common Sense

How to Fix America Before We Really Blow It

by Leigh McGowan

One Signal Publishers (Atria), 2024. 294 pages.
Review written December 11, 2024, from my own copy, purchased via Amazon.com
Starred Review

Well, I wish I’d read and reviewed this book before the election, because I feel pretty confident that electing Donald Trump was “really blowing it” as mentioned in the subtitle.

However, the principles Leigh McGowan puts forth here still apply, and I hope we can use them as a beacon to work toward better times.

Leigh McGowan is the creator of the PoliticsGirl podcast – and she’s skilled at breaking down political ideas into clear language. She actually grew up in Canada, but has all the more faith in what America stands for because she chose it for herself.

The author was inspired to write this book by Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, written right before the American Revolution. Her writing is rooted in history, but also a deep passion for understanding how government works and how it should work. This paragraph from her Introduction will give you an idea of where she’s going:

Once again, America finds itself at a tipping point where it could go one of two ways. Once again, our leaders need the inspiration and courage to pick the harder, but more rewarding path. And once again, it will come down to the will of the people to determine our fate. If we choose to continue down this path of division and inequality, with hatred and misinformation impeding our progress, we’ll end up right back where we started, under some form of top-down rule. However, if we choose to address our flawed but inspired democracy now, I believe we can rebuild this nation on a stronger foundation than we began on. It’s my belief, as Paine argued all those years ago, that there’s only one right path, and if we fail to choose it, we’ll lose the opportunity to choose again. This time the choice isn’t between subjugation or independence, but democracy and plutocracy. We either continue to favor the wealthy and influential, while we strip citizens of their rights and shore up minority rule, or we get serious about living up to the ideals we’ve sold to the world.

She roots her book in history, including “America 101” sidebars about how our government works. And then she bases the rest of the book on “The Six American Principles.”

So, how do we build this better, stronger nation? What are the fundamental building blocks we can all agree make America, America? What do we, the citizens of this nation, believe are the bedrocks of the United States? Drawing on our founding documents, and important moments in our country’s history, I propose the Six American Principles. Six things that we, the people, no matter our politics, persuasion, or background, can agree on. Six ideals we can use as guideposts to not only find our way out of the mess we’re currently in, but to set a course for a future of which we can actually be proud. If we start here, we start strong.

Here are the Six American Principles she proposes:

1. America is a land of freedom.

2. Everyone should have the opportunity to rise.

3. Every citizen should have a vote, and that vote should count.

4. Representatives should represent the people who voted for them.

5. The law applies to all of us.

6. Government should be a force for good.

Of course, there’s lots to say about each of these principles, and that’s what takes up the bulk of the book. What does “freedom” mean? And who actually gets it? There are a lot of history sidebars in the section that talks about that. What does it mean to have the opportunity to rise? And what does it mean for your vote to count? And how do legislators represent people? There’s lots of background here about how our representatives are chosen and how elections work – and ideas for improving that.

The principle I resonated most with is “Government should be a force for good.” I guess that’s because, as a librarian, I work for local government. And I very much believe that the lives of everyone in the county are better because of that work. Here’s how Leigh McGowan introduces that section:

It’s easy to criticize government, and candidly, there’s plenty that deserves criticism. However, government is something we cannot live without. There is so much the government does that we don’t even consider. From local governments sending workers to remove that tree that fell across your street to Homeland Security stopping a potential terrorist attack. From weekly garbage pickup, to workers in our national parks, to government scientists approving the quality of our vaccines and baby food. If you call the police, that’s the government. If you need the fire department, it’s paid for by the government. If your state has a natural disaster, it will be the government who foots the bill to clean it up. Do you use public school? Government. Is mail delivered to your home? Government. Do your streetlights come on, and traffic lights work? That’s the government. Government plays such a huge and essential role in our modern society that we couldn’t live without it, yet we spend so much time complaining about it when we could be engaging with it to make it better.

Ronald Reagan inflicted a great wound on the country when he said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the Government, and I’m here to help.” As president of the United States, Reagan used his authority as head of the government to undermine how essential government really is. The government should help its people, and if you don’t believe that, then what are you doing in government?

And she goes on to suggest ways the government can be a greater force for good in our lives.

Obviously, with me, Leigh McGowan is preaching to the choir. I agree with almost all of her views, and I appreciate her passion. But I also appreciate her no-nonsense, plain-spoken way of explaining what can be murky. She’s done her research, and to me, she makes politics and government easier to understand.

Now, it’s easy to feel discouraged after the 2024 presidential election. But I still appreciate the way she encourages us all to do our part and make this country a better place:

What I’ve noticed while positioning myself in this “warrior for democracy” space is that I’ve struck a nerve, not just with the people who tell me I’m an idiot, or a communist, or hate it when women speak, but with important and powerful people. People with real influence and the ability to make change. People who, despite what we see on TV, in formal tweets, or what their general by-the-book demeanor may suggest, really do care about what’s happening in this country and are passionate about fixing it. I say this because I want you to know if you speak up, if you vote, if you organize, that you will be heard. That there are people who recognize you are unhappy, and they are out here attempting to work within the system to fix it. Please know you have not been abandoned, and the louder and clearer we are about what we want and are willing to fight for, the more confidence and courage those people will have to make the changes this country truly needs.

Thank you, PoliticsGirl, for making politics and government and history so much clearer. Thank you for this vision of a government that is a force for good. And thank you for encouraging all of us to work to make that vision a reality.

SimonandSchuster.com

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Review of Poverty, By America, by Matthew Desmond, read by Dion Graham

Poverty, By America

by Matthew Desmond
read by Dion Graham

Books on Tape, 2023. 5 hours, 40 minutes.
Review written October 3, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

First I have to apologize. I know that I grasp more details of an information-packed book like this one when I read it with my eyes instead of with my ears, because my memory is very visually oriented. But at the same time, I had this book checked out in print for months and didn’t get to it, but when I put it in my audiobook queue, it was no problem. So I’m glad I heard all that information, but I won’t be able to cite much of it in my review, since it’s not there in front of me to quote from.

This book is a study of the Why of poverty. And unfortunately, it shows the way we who are financially better off are complicit. We like buying things for lower prices, never mind if it means that workers are exploited. And then there are zoning laws that keep multi-family housing out of upscale neighborhoods because the current residents don’t want to mix with the poor.

There are many more things pointed out in this book. Did you know that when you look at tax breaks, the well-off get vastly more government assistance than those below the poverty line? Things like the Mortgage Interest Deduction give more benefit to those who purchase a large home, and nothing to those who can’t afford a mortgage. (I know that after my Dad gave me a down payment for my condo, my cost of housing went down, helped by that tax deduction. But I never ever could have saved up for the down payment, because I was only getting further in debt every year. All that changed after the gift from my Dad.)

Another aspect is that on its face, the Earned Income Credit helps the working poor. But you can also think of it as subsidizing employers who offer low wages. All told, there are many, many factors keeping the poor at a disadvantage, and this book explores many I’d never thought about before, along with some I had.

But he also challenges the reader to look at the ways you benefit from the exploitation of the poor, and see what you can do to mitigate that. Don’t buy from companies that exploit their workers, for example. Look into the zoning laws in your neighborhood, for another. Support laws and politicians (on both sides of the political spectrum) that seek to benefit the least of these.

I did jot down some quotations I liked from the last chapter, knowing I wouldn’t remember them any other way. He was talking about the opposite of using the “Scarcity Diversion” to keep from implementing programs to help reduce poverty. He said we have an “Economy of Abundance” and a “profusion of resources.” Why do we treat scarcity as a given? And here’s a quotation I especially liked:

Wealth means having enough to share.

So if you want a book that will open your eyes to many injustices, as well as challenging you to see how you can help, pick up this book. It will certainly make you think.

matthewdesmondbooks.com

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Review of The Truths We Hold, by Kamala Harris

The Truths We Hold

My American Journey

by Kamala Harris
read by the Author

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.

kamalaharris.com

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Review of Stamped (for Kids), by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul

Stamped

(For Kids)

Racism, Antiracism, and You

by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul
read by Pe’Tehn Raighn-Kem Jackson

Hachette Audio, 2021. 2 hours, 22 minutes on 2 CDs.
Review written April 13, 2022, from a library audiobook
Starred Review

This is now the third iteration of this book, and the third I’ve read or listened to. First, Dr. Ibram X. Kendi wrote a big and long and scholarly book for adults called Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. Then Jason Reynolds “remixed” that content into a book for teens, called Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You. That was the first version I listened to. It was accessible and easy to understand, but had some powerful and thought-provoking content.

Now they’ve gone another step, and Sonja Cherry-Paul has adapted the content from Jason Reynolds’ book into an even shorter version that is easy for kids to understand. I like the kid narrator who reads the audiobook, making it feel like a kid talking with his friends.

I was happy to refresh my memory of these ideas. The authors give the history of racist ideas in America. They explain segregationalists, who believe Black people are inferior, assimilationists, who believe Black people can be good people if they work at it, and antiracists who believe that Black people are human and valuable and just as worthy as anyone else.

I also appreciate the explanation that most people aren’t just one thing all the time. They explain why ideas like the “Talented Tenth” are assimilationist, even when those putting forward the ideas are trying to be helpful. Even in this short and simple adaptation, we’ve got complex concepts clearly explained.

And make no mistake about it — this is a book about fairness and caring and seeing past discrimination. Kids who listen to this audiobook or read this book will be able to spot policies that treat any one class of people as inferior to others. Here’s to a new generation of antiracists!

jasonwritesbooks.com
ibramxkendi.com
Downpour.com

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Review of The 1619 Project, created by Nikole Hannah-Jones

The 1619 Project

A New Origin Story

created by Nikole Hannah-Jones
edited by Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman, and Jake Silverstein
read by a full cast

One World/Ballantine, 2021. 18 hours, 57 minutes.
Review written 2/4/24 from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I have intended to read this book since the day it came out. Putting it in my eaudiobook queue was the key to it finally happening.

And it was so much more than I expected. Instead of one continuous book of history, this is a collection that includes eighteen essays about the significance of slavery to every part of American life combined with thirty-six poems and works of fiction highlighting key moments in our history.

This audiobook is the work of multiple authors and multiple narrators, all coming together in one epic tale.

Because of the multiple authors, the book turned out to be a little repetitive, but I learned a lot as I listened, and repetition probably helped me to retain what I heard. 1619 is the date that the first slave ship came to Virginia. This book talks about how slavery shaped our nation from the beginning, and continues to affect us from Reconstruction to the present. The essays, stories and poems help the reader understand that’s not at all a far-fetched claim.

I can see why white supremacists would want to erase this work of history with its conclusions. My own eyes were opened to historical events I was never taught about in school.

You don’t have to agree with everything you’ll find here, but surely this powerful voice should be heard. Surely this side of our joint history, too, should be illuminated. This book isn’t about silencing white voices. But it is about acknowledging the impact of Black people who were brought to our shores against their will and became uniquely American.

1619 Project Website

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Review of Accountable, by Dashka Slater, read by Ariel Blake

Version 1.0.0
Accountable

The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed

by Dashka Slater
read by Ariel Blake

Macmillan Young Listeners, 2023. 9 hours, 12 minutes.
Review written April 18, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
2024 Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award Winner
2024 Capitol Choices Selection
Starred Review

I did not enjoy listening to this audiobook. But it completely deserves the recognition it’s won. This book is on an important and timely topic, and it is thoroughly researched and presented clearly and in great detail, with lots of nuance and with respect for the people involved. It gets you in the heads of all the kids, not simply the ones on one side of the issue, and you fully appreciate how complicated and complex the matter is.

The subtitle explains what’s in this book. A high school kid in a small California bay area town made a private Instagram account and invited thirteen of his friends to follow it. He posted “edgy” memes trying to get approval from those friends — and they got more and more racist, targeting mostly Black girls who attended their high school. The images progressed to pictures of nooses and other horribly racist content.

When the targets found out, it started a big scandal. But staff and administration didn’t really know how to handle it. Should those who followed the account but never commented receive consequences, too? The whole high school community got involved and the account followers — not only the account owner — were shamed and threatened. Eventually even the courts got involved – mostly as to whether the schools had violated their students’ first amendment rights in their response to the account followers.

But every single kid on either side of the event had their life disrupted by it. The girls who were targeted had visceral reactions, from not feeling safe at school to having nightmares and going into deep depression. But the perpetrators, no matter how remorseful they felt, seemingly had no possible way to live it down and get past it, so their lives, too, were dramatically affected.

But shouldn’t their lives have been affected? I like the author’s choice of title, because that’s the question: In what ways should 16-year-old kids be held accountable for terrible things they did when they didn’t fully understand how terrible they were? And what is the appropriate way to make them understand? And how can we bring healing to those who were harmed?

Before I listened to this audiobook, I didn’t begin to understand how difficult and complex answering those questions can be.

This book is a resource for administrators and teachers everywhere in the age of social media. But I’m especially glad that it’s written for teens and targeted to teens, because it’s also a cautionary tale and will surely save at least some kids from making similar mistakes.

dashkaslater.com

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Review of A Firehose of Falsehood, by Teri Kanefield, art by Pat Dorian

A Firehose of Falsehood

The Story of Disinformation

by Teri Kanefield
art by Pat Dorian

World Citizen Comics, First Second, 2023. 236 pages.
Review written March 15, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

Hooray! My favorite internet legal scholar has joined forces with World Citizen Comics, the makers of Unrig: How to Fix Our Broken Democracy, by Daniel G. Newman — another graphic novel laying out in clear, accessible language what’s going on behind the scenes in our political system. (I like both these books so much, I’m going to place a hold on the other books from this series that our library has.)

In A Firehose of Falsehood, Teri Kanefield gives us the long history of disinformation, going back to Darius I of Persia and Chandragupta Maurya of ancient India. And she shows us how disinformation — deliberate use of incorrect information — has been used in politics ever since.

Of course Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler are given as examples and how they deliberately used falsehoods to gain power. But we also have examples in America of how disinformation was used to support enslaving people. I had no idea about the “Great Moon Hoax” of 1935, where an influential American newspaper reported that reputable scientists had found unicorns and humanlike flying creatures living on the moon.

Then we get to Max Weber, an early twentieth century German philosopher, and his ideas about government. There was “traditional” (monarchies and feudalism), “rule of law” (what democracies were going for), and “charismatic leadership” (fascism). Teri Kanefield explains, helped by Pat Dorian’s art, how they all work, and the way a charismatic leader can use false information in his favor to gain power.

In discussing Hitler, she talks about his embrace of “The Big Lie.” Since normal folks may tell small lies, it’s hard for them to believe that a leader would tell an enormous lie. So the “masses” believe it. Hitler’s main Big Lie was that all Germany’s problems came from the Jews.

Next she talks about the Soviet Union’s “Active Measures” against Americans during the Cold War. The Soviets were better at disinformation than we were, and she tells about some conspiracy theories they actually got the majority of Americans to believe, using planted (fake) news stories.

An important goal of active measures is to get people in western democracies to lose confidence in their democratic systems and their democratically elected officials.

And the book continues on to modern times, yes, using examples from people such as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. She also talks about Russian continued efforts to disrupt United States politics, which is now much simpler than planting newspaper articles, as they can reach Americans with fake accounts on Facebook and other social media.

In talking about Putin, she explains the principle of the Firehose of Falsehoods:

The Firehose of Falsehood is a rapid and continuous stream of lies that overwhelms the listener. The liar exhibits a shameless willingness to tell contradictory and outrageous lies. It’s a way of undermining truth by making it impossible for anyone to focus on facts.

Liars have an advantage. The truth is often mundane, boring, nuanced, and too complex to fit into a sound bite. The liar, on the other hand, is free to invent. Invented stories can be designed to suit the needs of the moment, and can be catchy and easy to grasp.

But I appreciate that Teri Kanefield never leaves us in despair. She finishes up with a chapter about how to put on raincoats against the Firehose of Falsehood. Lots of ways to protect yourself from falling for the lies, as well as ideas to strengthen our democracy to stand against them.

After all, she reminds us that democracy will always be a challenge.

There will always be antidemocratic forces working to undermine truth, rule of law, and democracy. The fight for democracy and the corresponding fight for truth must be fought in each generation.

May we fight on!

terikanefield.com
worldcitizencomics.com
firstsecondbooks.com

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Review of Across That Bridge, by John Lewis

Across That Bridge

Life Lessons and a Vision for Change

by John Lewis

Hyperion, 2012. 180 pages.
Review written May 14, 2021, from a library book
Starred Review

I checked out this book after my pastor referred to it in a sermon. Racial issues are still front and center – maybe even more so than when the book was written in 2012, and John Lewis talks about dealing with them in a compassionate, nonviolent, and inspirational way.

The chapter titles give you a clue that this book is taking the high road: “Faith,” “Patience,” “Study,” “Truth,” “Peace,” “Love,” “Reconciliation.”

He starts the Introduction by telling who this book is for:

I have written these lessons on freedom and meditations on change for the generations who will take us into the future, for the dreamers young and ever young who should never get lost in a sea of despair, but are faithfully readying themselves for the next push for change. It is for the parents who want to inspire their sons and daughters to build a more just society. And, it’s for the sons and daughters who hear the call of a new age.

This book is for the people. It is for the grassroots leaders who will emerge not for the sake of fame or fortune, but with a burning desire to do good. It is for all those willing to join in the human spirit’s age-old struggle to break free from the bondage of concepts and structures that have lost their use. It is for the masses of people who with each new day have the chance to peel the scales from their eyes and remember it is they alone who are the most powerful agents of change. It is for anyone who wants to reform his or her existence or to fashion a better life for the children. It’s for those who want to improve their community or make their mark in history. This book is a collection of a few of the truths that I have learned as one who dreamed, worked, and struggled in America’s last revolution.

Most of this book is about the work Congressman Lewis did during the Civil Rights Movement. They were committed to nonviolent protest, even though their lives were very much at risk. And because of that commitment, he learned about lofty principles reflected in the chapter titles. Here’s a paragraph from the “Truth” chapter:

Even though we had been rejected by society, we believed that all people had the capacity to be good. We believed not only we, but the perpetrators of violence, were victims as well, who began their lives in innocence but were taught to hate, abuse, and draw distinctions between themselves and others. We held no malice toward them and believed in the power of the truth to penetrate that negative conditioning and remind people of their innocence once again. We focused on the end we hoped to see and kept our eyes on that prize. We could not waste time harboring bitterness or resentment. We knew that our focus had to be on what we hoped to create, not the indignities we were pressing to leave behind. Hating our aggressors was like looking back when we wanted to move forward. We had to use our energy to manifest our dreams, and entertaining animosity would have given more power to the status quo.

Although the issues were different in 2012 – He mentions the Occupy movement frequently – his words apply well to any social change that we want to bring about. Here is his encouragement to any protestor from any time period, in the final paragraph of the final chapter, called “Reconciliation”:

You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone – any person or any force – dampen, dim, or diminish your light. Study the path of others to make your way easier and more abundant. Lean toward the whispers of your own heart, discover the universal truth, and follow its dictates. Know that the truth always leads to love and the perpetuation of peace. Its products are never bitterness and strife. Clothe yourself in the work of love, in the revolutionary work of nonviolent resistance against evil. Anchor the eternity of love in your own soul and embed this planet with its goodness. Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won. Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice. And if you follow your truth down the road to peace and the affirmation of love, if you shine like a beacon for all to see, then the poetry of all the great dreamers and philosophers is yours to manifest in a nation, a world community, and a Beloved Community that is finally at peace with itself.

May those who work for justice and freedom heed these words for years to come.

HyperionBooks.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?

*Note* To try to catch up on posting reviews, I’m posting the oldest reviews I’ve written on my blog without making a page on my main website. They’re still good books!