Rise up Confronting a country at the crossroads

The Reverend Al Sharpton began preaching and advocating for social justice very early in life, and he has never let up. Here he tells of working with and learning from the groundbreaking men and women at the forefront of the civil rights movement, politics, and entertainment since the 1960s. Baptist minister Sharpton, founder of the National Action Network and a prominent media personality, has consistently and eloquently raised the alarm about the damages done to the Black community through centuries of systemic racism. Written during the 2020 pandemic, a crisis that has laid bare the consequences of these inequities in our society, Sharpton's urgent call for necessary societal changes includes chapters on racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, voter rights, police reform, immigration reform, and environmental justice. His gratitude to those who taught him and the debt he feels continue to sustain his faith and commitment to his mission. By sharing his own personal struggles and experiences, Sharpton offers inspirational lessons for today's social justice activists and supporters of a just world--and for tomorrow's.

Civil rights activist Sharpton (The Rejected Stone) interweaves memoir and progressive polemic in this impassioned survey of contemporary American politics. Highlighting his experiences on the front lines of protests over police brutality, anti-immigration policies, and voter suppression, and frequently drawing lessons from Christian scripture, Sharpton weighs in on a wide range of contemporary political and social issues. He casts Donald Trump's presidency as a racist, knee-jerk reaction to the Obama presidency; laments the national response to the coronavirus pandemic; and defends former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick's national anthem protests as an important symbolic critique of racial inequality. Sharpton also expresses support for the #MeToo movement and the idea that Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden should pick a woman for vice president. Noting that Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies are much harsher than those of his predecessors, Sharpton calls for a broad, multiracial progressive coalition to restore Democrats to the White House in 2020. Lacing his analysis with anecdotes about his interactions with James Brown, Coretta Scott King, Nelson Mandela, and other luminaries, Sharpton makes a persuasive case that America has reached "a historical turning point that's testing our moral character and endangering all we have fought to gain." Liberals will be inspired by this well-informed call to action. Agent: Josh Getzler, HG Literary. (Sept.)

The outspoken civil rights leader sees a nation in peril. Baptist minister, former presidential candidate, and founder of the National Action Network, Sharpton mounts an impassioned call for activism. "The hardest job of being a preacher," Sharpton writes, "is to eulogize the life of someone who did nothing. And so I say, give me something to work with." The author believes that the U.S. is "at a historical turning point that's testing our moral character and endangering all we have fought to gain." A host of issues need bold solutions, he writes, including the criminal justice system, police brutality, health care, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration, climate change, and environmental racism. He derides those he calls latte liberals, "a form of liberalism that smacks of privilege and cocoons itself by staying out of touch with the messiness that often accompanies real hardship"; the Christian right ("not right Christians"); and those who seek only to hold onto power: "the higher up they are in the chain, the more they want to keep things quiet lest they lose the power that got them to that position in the first place." Sharpton unapologetically portrays himself as a showman who uses his personality as "a lightning bolt for good," and he cites James Brown, Jesse Jackson, Bishop Frederick Douglas Washington, Adam Clayton Powell, Shirley Chisholm, and, not least, his mother, who nurtured his belief in faith, activism, and responsibility. "If I walk over to you and knock you off your chair, that's on me," he writes. "But if I come back next week and you're still on the floor, that's on you." For potential activists, Sharpton offers practical advice: Identify priorities, start small, do your homework, and understand your opposition. As Chisholm once told him, "If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair." A fervent message in hard times. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.