Desmond Meade and Stacey Abrams, author of Our Time is Now, Lead from the Outside and While Justice Sleeps are the 2021 General Assembly Ware Lecturers
"You may think the right to vote is a small matter, and if you do, I would bet you have never had it taken away from you.” Thus begins the story of Desmond Meade and his inspiring journey to restore voting rights to roughly 1.4 million returning citizens in Florida - resulting in a stunning victory in 2018 that enfranchised the most people at once in any single initiative since women’s suffrage.
Let My People Vote is the deeply moving, personal story of Meade’s life, his political activism, and the movement he spearheaded to restore voting rights to returning citizens who had served their terms. Meade survived a tough childhood only to find himself with a felony conviction. Finding the strength to pull his life together, he graduated summa cum laude from college, graduated from law school, and married. But because of his conviction, he was not even allowed to sit for the bar exam in Florida. And when his wife ran for state office, he was filled with pride - but not permitted to vote for her.
Meade takes us on a journey from his time in homeless shelters, to the exhilarating, joyful night in November of 2018, when Amendment 4 passed with 65 percent of the vote. Meade’s story, and his commitment to a fully enfranchised nation, will prove to readers that one person really can make a difference.
PROLOGUE
Love Has Won the Day
ONE
The Railroad Tracks
TWO
Searching for Purpose
THREE
Down on My Knees
FOUR
A Passion for the Law
FIVE
Back to School
SIX
Staying Sober
SEVEN
Community Service Is My Lottery Ticket
EIGHT
Advocacy on Another Level
NINE
David and Goliath
TEN
A Ballot Initiative?
ELEVEN
Law School
TWELVE
Wouldn’t It Be Great If I Made Dean’s List?
THIRTEEN
The Greatest Indicator of Citizenship
FOURTEEN
No Man Is an Island
FIFTEEN
Cooking Up Some Gumbo
SIXTEEN
Blood Is Thicker Than Water
SEVENTEEN
Let’s Rock This Thing
EIGHTEEN
The Home Stretch
EPILOGUE
Love Will Win the Day
Acknowledgments
"[An] appealing debut memoir . . . This poignant account soars.” - Publishers Weekly
“Desmond Meade is one of my personal heroes, and his story is an inspiration for all those who aim to build a radically more inclusive democracy.” - Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow
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