Book Study on Voting Rights: Join Church and Society's Pages for Progress
Join us this fall as we read and discuss "Give Us the Ballot" by Ari Berman.
Join our Pages for Progress book study
Church and Society invites you to join our Pages for Progress book study!
Book: “Give us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America”
Author: Ari Berman
Meeting Dates: October 16, October 23, October 30 (Fridays)
Time: 1-2:30 PM ET
Venue: Zoom
We will read and discuss “Give Us the Ballot” by Ari Berman, an exploration of the ongoing struggle for voting rights and the history behind one of America’s most fundamental democratic principles. Together, we will reflect on the past, examine the challenges facing democracy today, and consider what it means to ensure that every voice is heard.
Moderated by:
Aimee Hong, Assistant General Secretary of Programs
Rev. Kendal McBroom, Director of Civil and Human Rights
Book description
Countless books have been written about the civil rights movement, but far less attention has been paid to what happened after the dramatic passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 1965 and the turbulent forces it unleashed. Give Us the Ballot tells this story for the first time. In this groundbreaking narrative history, Ari Berman charts both the transformation of American democracy under the VRA and the counterrevolution that has sought to limit voting rights, from 1965 to the present day. The act enfranchised millions of Americans and is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. And yet, fifty years later, we are still fighting heated battles over race, representation, and political power, with lawmakers devising new strategies to keep minorities out of the voting booth and with the Supreme Court declaring a key part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. Berman brings the struggle over voting rights to life through meticulous archival research, in-depth interviews with major figures in the debate, and incisive on-the-ground reporting. In vivid prose, he takes the reader from the demonstrations of the civil rights era to the halls of Congress to the chambers of the Supreme Court. At this important moment in history, Give Us the Ballot provides new insight into one of the most vital political and civil rights issues of our time. (Back cover)
