Book Summary and Reviews of Represent by Michael Eric Dyson, Marc Favreau 

Represent by Michael Eric Dyson, Marc Favreau 

Represent

The Unfinished Fight for the Vote

by Michael Eric Dyson, Marc Favreau 

  • Critics' Consensus (19):
  • Published:
  • Sep 2024, 256 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Read about the electrifying and continuing fight for voting rights—and discover your place in it—in this dramatic exploration of American democracy, from renowned thought leader Michael Eric Dyson and widely celebrated author Marc Favreau.

One of the most important and least understood true stories of our nation, the fight for representation is an ongoing and epic quest to build the democracy sketched out in the Constitution but unfinished in the twenty-first century. With impeccable research and exhilarating prose, Represent tells the story of voting rights in the United States from the American Revolution up to the present day.

Each chapter takes on a new battle between the forces of people power and forces opposed to it. Readers will meet champions of freedom, including formerly enslaved revolutionaries, a Chinese American teenager, a Lakota Sioux activist, Black World War II veterans, a Mexican American student, and others who fought for their right to vote.

Drawing clear lines from then to now, Represent weaves this important struggle into a single American drama that will help readers understand our past, present, and future.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"This lively, accessible, and inspiring history deserves a wide readership. A concise, readable account of the struggle for equality, freedom, and democracy in the U.S." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"This relevant and inspiring account…shows how the past is not as far removed as one may think." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"In a direct style with riveting, often overlooked details, [Dyson and Favreau] trace the long and even violent fight for women's, Black, Latinx, Asian American, and Native American suffrage…[an] eye-opening narrative." —Booklist (starred review)

"Timely and important…highly recommended." —School Library Journal (starred review)

"A must read for every American, Dyson and Favreau introduce readers to some of the unsung heroes who have committed their lives to make democracy work for every citizen." ―The Root

"A vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and our children.  Without it, I would not have a historic spot in the United States Senate and we the people would not have a democratic framework in which to fight for the things that matter.  At a time when that basic right is under assault by those committed to power at any cost, Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau have written the indispensable book we need right now.  Represent is a monumental contribution to our country's perennial quest for justice and the right of every citizen to vote." —Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock

"Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau have written a compelling book that is a balm for our democracy. In story after story, Represent narrates the epic quest for the vote by a stirring variety of communities—Black, Mexican American, Native American, and women of all ethnicities. This brilliant book will inspire us to embrace a precious right that each generation must fight hard to preserve." ―Reverend Al Sharpton

This information about Represent was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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More Information

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of over twenty books, a widely celebrated professor, a prominent public intellectual, an ordained Baptist minister, and a noted political analyst. He is a two-time NAACP Image Award winner, and the winner of the American Book Award for Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. His book The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America was a Kirkus Prize finalist. He is the co-author of Unequal with Marc Favreau. He is also a highly sought after public speaker who is known to excite both secular and sacred audiences. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Marc Favreau is the director of editorial programs at the New Press, the acclaimed author of Crash,  Spies, and Attacked!, and coauthor (with Michael Eric Dyson) of Unequal: A Story of America, a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. He lives in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

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