Embracing a future for all

BOOK REVIEW

“Say It Louder! Black Voters, WhiteNarratives,andSavingOur Democracy” by Tiffany Cross Nonfiction, July 6, 2020

By Fred Fenton

LW contributor

In his inaugural address, President Joseph Biden said we must confront white supremacy. In her arresting poem for the occasion, Amanda Gorman wrote, “America is more than a pride we inherit. It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.” Stepping into America’s past requires an honest look at the history of race relations in this country. That story is brilliantly summarized in Tiffany Cross’ book “Say It Louder! Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy.”

Published in 2020, this slim book (just 230 pages) gives the reader an honest look at the Black experience in America and the revisionist accounts that have distorted and obscured it. A resident fellow at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and veteran cable news commentator, Cross combines an inspiring personal story with an account of media and political forces that have obscured the role and importance of Black voters.

But she does more than that. Cross also points the way forward for democracy by showing the potential impact of taking Black voters seriously and embracing a future for all. After reading each short chapter in this book, I paused to give thought to what I had just read. I found I was learning about not only mistakes of the past, but also opportunities for our future as a nation devoted to “liberty and justice for all.”

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