"NEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER A passionate new voice in American politics, United States Senator Cory Booker makes the case that the virtues of empathy, responsibility, and action must guide our nation toward a brighter future. Raised in northern New Jersey, Cory Booker went to Stanford University on a football scholarship, accepted a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, then studied at Yale Law School. Graduating from Yale, his options were limitless. He chose public service. He chose to move to a rough neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey, where he worked as a tenants rights lawyer before winning a seat on the City Council. In 2006, he was elected mayor, and for more than seven years he was the public face of an American city that had gone decades with too little positive national attention and investment. In 2013, Booker became the first African American elected to represent New Jersey in the U. S. Senate. In "United, " Cory Booker draws on personal experience to issue a stirring call to reorient our nation and our politics around the principles of compassion and solidarity. He speaks of rising above despair to engage with hope, pursuing our shared mission, and embracing our common destiny. Here is his account of his own political education, the moments some entertaining, some heartbreaking, all of them enlightening that have shaped his civic vision. Here are the lessons Booker learned from the remarkable people who inspired him to serve, men and women whose example fueled his desire to create opportunities for others. Here also are his observations on the issues he cares about most deeply, from race and crime and the crisis of mass incarceration to economic and environmental justice. Hope is the active conviction that despair will never have the last word, Booker writes in this galvanizing book. In a world where we too easily lose touch with our neighbors, he argues, we must remember that we all rise or fall together and that we must move beyond mere tolerance for one another toward a deeper connection: love. Praise for "United" "" An exceedingly good book, and an important book, and a reminder of what makes Booker an important and, through it all, a promising public figure. "PolitickerNJ" What sets Senator Booker s work apart from that of similar political books is that it seeks to elevate discourse rather than bring down opponents of the opposite partisan persuasion. This is a refreshing take, one that is truly worthy of study and contemplation. "The Huffington Post""
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Significant and memorable
Although I've known Cory for 14 years and have seen him speak probably a hundred times, this book was full of stories and ideas that revealed layers of history, beliefs and character that are new to me. Significant and memorable in ways similar to Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father and Jonathan Kozol's Amazing Grace, this book expertly interweaves stories with policy and statistical data that illustrate, on the one hand, how civil rights crusaders made possible Booker's life of opportunity -- and on the other hand, how centuries of structural racism and disinvestment in our most vulnerable communities show up daily in the lives, bodies, and, all too often, deaths of those who aren't so fortunate. It is at once a primer on social/economic/racial/environmental justice, and also a glimpse of the stories, data and history behind how one of today's great leaders came to believe in and stand for what he does. This book reminds me not just of why I've always believed in Cory, but also of why I, too, have felt passionately about understanding and leveraging my many privileges to ensure that every child has opportunities for a long, full life and that every human may live with dignity, safe from harm. Of course, I personally appreciated the mentions of community court and ReLeSe as these were the most meaningful and enduring projects I am grateful to have been part of (and my best acronym to date). All in all, the book wove together masterfully, was both authentic and well researched, from the heart and grounded in objective truth. Read more
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