If you needed more evidence of the brilliance of Stacey Abrams (I mean folks she graduated magna cum laude from Spelman, was a Truman Scholar at UT's School of Public Affairs, and THEN got a JD from Yale), then I'm not sure if this book will tip you over the edge, but it should.
Part memoir, part history of voting rights and restrictions, and part manifesto of how to fix the inequities of our voting and redistricting systems, Our Time is Now is a forcefully important book. It's infuriating to read about the many many ways the right to vote is restricted. When your plan to win elections by ensuring the already marginalized are less able to vote, then that's just wrong. In the wake of the 2020 election, we are seeing many states try to limit voting in ways that will only serve to disenfranchise Americans.
The rub is that while these schemes disproportionally affect the poor and minorities, its effects will be felt further away. And those able bodied humans who believe wrongly in their invincibility, may find themselves on the sorry end of this deal. Unable to access the ballot box due to infirmity. It should not be a radical idea to believe that the right to vote should be widely afforded to every citizen.
Abrams could have left the book there. Documenting the various ways that voters are disenfranchised. But that's not how she operates. Because she's here to make things better. And she lays out the steps for everyone to help participate in protecting the right to vote. She's a warrior. And she's in this fight for voting rights. And we're all (even those that disagree with her) better for it.
4/5 Stars.
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