Political Study

Has America really overcome its ugly past of racism and discrimination? You decide, as you read Mark Rosenkranz's interviews with eight different people, including Brian Swann (brother of the former Pittsburgh Steelers star Lynn Swann who was also the 2006 gubernatorial candidate for the state of Pennsylvania). Is it racism, or simply white male privilege? Either way, it is an issue that remains to be grappled with.

So Help Me God relates the compelling story of Chief Justice Roy Moore, including his controversial Ten Commandments displays, his refusal to obey an unlawful order of a federal court, and why the critical legal and political question of our time is, 'Can the state acknowledge God?'

The historical significance of Barack Obama's triumph in the presidential election of 2008 scarcely requires comment. Yet it contains an irony: He won a victory as an African American only by denying that he was the candidate of African Americans. Obama's very success, writes Fredrick Harris, exacted a heavy cost on black politics.

In The Price of the Ticket, Harris puts Obama's career in the context of decades of black activism, showing how his election undermined the very movement that made it possible.

When Sleepers, Wake! was released in Australia, it immediately became influential around the world. Now its author, the polymath and former politician Barry Jones, turns his attention to what has happened since - especially to politics, health, and our climate in the digital age - and to the challenges faced by increasingly fragile democracies and public institutions.

The dramatic inside story of the rise of women in elected office over the past quarter-century, from the pioneering founder of three-million-member EMILY's List - one of the most influential players in today's political landscape.

Curtis J. Austin chronicles how violence brought about the founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, dominated its policies, and finally destroyed the party as one member after another - Eldridge Cleaver, Fred Hampton, Alex Rackley - left the party, was killed, or was imprisoned.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is an idea that was seeded into the minds of nationalist Jana Sangh leaders when they began to envision India after Independence. Much like the very core the freedom struggle was built on, they saw India as a demographically, culturally and historically cohesive and unified nation—as Bharat.

Do you want the greatest political and societal challenges of the day to be addressed with thoughtful, reality-based solutions rather than with cherry-picked quotations from scripture? Do you want to shrink religion - especially fundamentalist religion - to the point that it plays no noticeable role in public life? Do you want right-wing religious leaders to be so unpopular that politicians avoid them rather than pander to them for endorsements? This book illustrates specific, actionable steps for facilitating fundamentalist religion's decline.

This deluxe book also honors the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment with illustrations by 100 women artists. She Votes is a refreshing and illuminating book for feminists of all kinds. Each artist brings a unique perspective; together, they embody the multiplicity of women in the United States.

Combining compelling data with anecdotal evidence, author Leena Al Olaimy sheds light on unorthodox and counterintuitive strategies to address social woes that groups like ISIS exploit. Using religion, neuroscience, farming, and even love, this book offers many inspiring examples and - for once - an optimistic outlook on how we can not just fight but prevent terrorism.

Every morning on CNBC's Squawk Box, Joe Kernen asks challenging questions. And at home he does the same with his young daughter, Blake. What are you learning in school? What TV shows do you like? What message did you get from that movie? When Blake was nine, her answers told Joe that she had already absorbed a distorted view of economics---from her school, pop culture (even animated movies!), and just about everywhere else.

By official count, more than one out of every six American children live beneath the poverty line. But statistics alone tell little of the story. In Invisible Americans, Jeff Madrick brings to light the often invisible reality and irreparable damage of child poverty in America. Keeping his focus on the children, he examines the roots of the problem, including the toothless remnants of our social welfare system, entrenched racism, and a government unmotivated to help the most voiceless citizens.

Social justice work is more crucial than ever, but it can be physically and emotionally draining. Longtime activist Denise Collazo offers three keys to help Latinas keep their focus, morale, and energy high. Doing the work of social change is hard. Waking up every day to take on the biggest challenges of our time can be overwhelming, and sometimes progress is hard to see. She understands that Latina and all women of color activists do their best work when they are thriving, not simply surviving.

On 6 February 1918, after campaigning for over 50 years, British women were finally granted the vote. In November 1919, the first woman MP, Lady Nancy Astor, was elected to the House of Commons. History was made. A hundred years on, it is time to reflect on the daring and painful struggle women undertook to break into a political system that excluded them.

Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in 1809. It looked like he would be a simple farmer, but Abe loved books and read anything he could get his hands on. In time, he became a successful lawyer and started getting attention as a politician. Known as a brilliant speaker, Abe impressed enough people to become the 16th president in 1861. Unfortunately, the country was heading for civil war. The issue of slavery divided the North and South, and soon President Lincoln faced the greatest emergency in American history.

Drawing inspiration from philosophy, history, and literature, Martha C. Nussbaum takes us to task for our religious intolerance, identifies the fear behind it, and offers a way past fear toward a more equitable, imaginative, and free society, through the consistent application of universal principles of respect for conscience.

En la prensa escrita y en la digital, en las redes sociales y en los medios tradicionales, un torrente de mentiras, propaganda e inexactitudes - motivadas por el afán de dinero, notoriedad o poder - se mezcla y confunde con el reporte de hechos reales. Jamás ha sido tan fácil ser engañado: a la censura y el espionaje se han sumado la sobreinformación y las fake news. En este escenario, que parece sacado de una distopía orwelliana, la ética periodística, la confirmación y el rigor parecen reliquias olvidadas.

Pay attention, people of faith. Dark clouds are gathering. The winds of intolerance are blowing. There’s a great storm approaching. American Christians are facing uncertain times. Our nation’s values are under assault. Religious liberty has been undermined. We live in a day when right is now wrong and wrong is now right. The vicious left-wing attack against the recent traditional marriage stance of Chick-fil-A should serve as a wake-up call to people of faith. It’s not about a chicken sandwich. It’s about religious liberty. It’s about free speech. It’s about the future of our nation.

Before he had turned 21, Michael Wear found himself deep inside the halls of power in the Obama administration as one of the youngest-ever White House staffers. Appointed by the president in 2008 to the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and later directing faith outreach for the president's 2012 reelection campaign, Wear threw himself wholeheartedly into transforming hope into change, experiencing firsthand the highs and lows of working as a Christian in government.

In Becoming King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Making of a National Leader, author Troy Jackson chronicles King's emergence and effectiveness as a civil rights leader by examining his relationship with the people of Montgomery, Alabama. Using the sharp lens of Montgomery's struggle for racial equality to investigate King's burgeoning leadership, Jackson explores King's ability to connect with the educated and the unlettered, professionals and the working class.