“Our Time Is Now” Book Recommendation

As part of our Racial Justice Initiative, Indivisible OH 12 members are sharing relevant book recommendations. The latest is from Jackie Bird, who read Our Time is Now by Stacey Abrams.

If you have read the book or have questions, please join the conversation in the comments on the post in the Facebook group!

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OUR TIME IS NOW by Stacey Abrams

—Why is this book pertinent to racial justice?

Ms. Abrams gives the history of who could and could not vote from the beginning of our republic, and how over the years the tactics of voter suppression, discouragement and difficult barriers have changed but have always been there. She leads it right into August of 2020 (when this book was published) and the eve of the Presidential election.

Her book is prescient. A straight line can be drawn from this history to the ~300 voter suppression bills/laws introduced across the nation in 2021 as a result of the Biden win. Like their predecessors, these new laws predominantly and adversely affect people of color, certain ethnicities, the poor and those of certain religions (Catholics used to be “suspect,” now it’s Muslims).

—Why do you recommend this book?

She details her strategy to achieve victory: how she looked at data and made strategic decisions to alter the standard campaign playbook in spite of angst from party leaders, which resulted in huge voter turnout. The book is indexed and footnoted with citations to back her statements. She offers positive actions, even while acknowledging heavy headwinds.

—What surprised you most about this book?

Her strong recommendation to put heavy emphasis and attention on the intermittent voter as opposed to a major focus on likely voters. She has proven this is a fertile field to plow: encouraging this group to update registrations and get to the polls. (OH-12 does this, but from this reading perhaps the effort should be amped up even more.)

Easy, very interesting read; you will learn a lot and can put it to good use.