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Rise Up:
Confronting a Country at the Crossroads
by Reverend Al Sharpton
c.2020, Hanover Square
Press
$27.99 / $34.99 Canada
288 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
You're beat down.
Tired, ready to rest, just
plain done. So much racism, so many politicians doing so
many things. You're wiped, laid low with no more go, and
you're not sure you have the energy for more of this. But
there's hope for the hopeless, a lift for the fallen, and in
Rise Up by Reverend Al Sharpton, there's
reason to keep on.
We are being tested. |
Rev. Sharpton
photo courtesy Michael Frost |
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It's happening now,
Sharpton says, in a way that we've never seen. We're poked
by haters every day, prodded by evildoers. The nation is at
a "crossroads" and work is being done to "make America
great" but not for everybody. This has to change.
Democracy, says Sharpton,
is not perfect but it really is the best of all political
practices. To make it work now, we need and "deserve" strong
leadership that isn't racist or homophobic, misogynistic, or
against immigration or voter's rights. It's what we must
have to preserve democracy – and yet, he says, in the last
four years, we've gone from a transformational leader who
embraced diversity to one that's transactional, and does
not. The former allowed a cultural shift that many in the
Black community enjoyed. With the latter, we seem to have
backtracked.
That came as no surprise
to Sharpton: he's known Donald Trump for decades, has met
with him numerous times on various projects. He knows him as
just a guy from Queens, a deal-maker, just another
politician Sharpton's acquainted with. He's known a lot of
politicians: King, Obama, Mandela, Clinton. Shirley Chisolm,
whom he sweetly calls "Mrs. C." He's known celebrities, too:
James Brown was like a father to Sharpton. Aretha Franklin
was a friend.
Moving forward, he says,
we must ask white allies to step aside and make room for
Black leaders in issues where Black lives are most affected.
Black activists shouldn't ignore the fight for LGBTQ rights
because they, too, are human rights – as are issues of
climate change. And as for staying "woke," remember that
waking up means getting up, too...
Let's start here: Reverend
Al Sharpton doesn't have very much good to say about Donald
Trump. If you're familiar with Sharpton, you already knew
this was coming – but Rise Up offers some background
that happened between the two, and they're great stories.
That's a lot of what
you'll get inside this book, in fact: stories, and they mix
in with Sharpton's observations and thoughts so well that
it's easy to be lulled into the telling. No worries: like
any good preacher does, he happily yanks your attention back
to the pulpit, to racism, voter's rights, and politics. True
to what you'd expect, Sharpton isn't shy, and he'll make
readers who are Black, White and Brown think, hard,
about today's issues.
Don't be surprised to see
a somewhat gentler version of Reverend Sharpton in this book
– gentler, but no less fierce. Don't be surprised if this
book sparks conversation and action. Now go: you've got
time, read it before the election, and Rise Up won't
let you down. |
