The Truths We Hold: An American Journey by Kamala HarrisMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am very much a political junkie, and so as soon as I saw this was available at the library, I requested it. I like what I know about Kamala Harris, but I don't know all that much, so, of course, I wanted to learn more.
I was a little worried this was going to read too much like campaign literature, but I actually found it very interesting and an enjoyable read - and I'm now an even bigger fan of Kamala Harris.
This book is a bit about her personal life, we learn some about her parents and her childhood and her education, but much more so about the work she'd done in her career as district attorney in San Francisco and Attorney General in California - and how her personal life has influenced the decisions she made at work.
Through her work, Harris has dealt, in-depth with topics such as crime, trafficking, immigration, the housing crisis, and health care. By reading this, I felt as if I gained a much stronger understanding of so many of these issues that are affecting the United States right now. Much more information that can be gained in tweets and soundbites on TV. She talks about how these issues affect the government, policy making, communities, and of course, individuals. One thing I liked most about the book is way it makes the political personal - we all hear, "this law does this and this" and in this book, it's explained in such a way to also show how these policies effect families, such as your neighbor who doesn't have a platform on the evening news.
Also, what I liked about this book is that while she does present issues that are having dire consequences on the U.S., she also presents ways to solve those problems. She has ideas, a vision. this isn't just complaining and pointing out what's going wrong. She backs up every problem with a way to fix it - and she's blunt about saying, this way may not work, but you won't know until you try - and nothing will change if you don't try to change it. As depressed as I often feel about the state of the world, this book provided a sense of hope.
I'm trying to make sure I write this as a book review, and not a review of Harris. So suffice it to say, I did enjoy the book. I think anyone interested in politics and wanting to learn more about what's happening in the United States would gain from reading this book, even if you don't consider yourself a Harris supporter. This book has a lot of good information in it. After reading this, I feel like I have a better understanding of what's happening with regard to immigration and the opioid crisis - both topics I hear about all the time but knew little about.
Also, since Harris announced her candidacy - there have been a lot of horrible things said about her on social media by people of both parties - and a lot of that is addressed - such as some of the laws she supported in California. It's easy to misinterpret things when you don't know the whole story. I felt better about supporting her after reading this.
This is a good book if you're interested in stories about people involved in politics, especially modern day politics - because Harris has been on the front lines for a lot of this. It's well-written, has a very thorough notes and index section - so if you're doubting any of this information, you can click on any of those links if you've got the e-version and read the full stories. I'm very glad I read the book - and I'm especially glad Harris is running for president - based on what I read in this book, she understand the law, knows how it works, and cares about the people she represents.
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