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The Truths We Hold

An American Journey (Young Readers Edition)

Author Kamala Harris
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Ebook
Penguin Young Readers | Philomel Books
5-1/2"W x 8-1/4"H
On sale May 07, 2019 | 304 Pages | 9780593113165
Grade 7 & Up
Reading Level: Lexile 1020L
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Adapted for young readers, Vice President Kamala Harris's empowering memoir about the values and inspirations that guided her life.

With her Democratic presidential nomination, her election to the vice presidency, her election to the U.S. Senate, and her position as attorney general of California, Kamala Harris has blazed trails throughout her entire political career. But how did she achieve her goals? What values and influences guided and inspired her along the way?
 
In this young readers edition of Kamala Harris’s memoir, we learn about the impact that her family and community had on her life, and see what led her to discover her own sense of self and purpose. The Truths We Hold traces her journey as she explored the values she holds most dear—those of community, equality, and justice. An inspiring and empowering memoir, this book challenges us to become leaders in our own lives and shows us that with determination and perseverance all dreams are possible.
Kamala D. Harris is the vice president of the United States of America. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, then was elected district attorney of San Francisco. As California's attorney general, Harris prosecuted transnational gangs, big banks, big oil, and for-profit colleges, and fought against attacks on the Affordable Care Act. She also fought to reduce elementary school truancy, pioneered the nation's first open data initiative to expose racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and implemented implicit bias training for police officers. The second Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate and the first female, first Black, and first Indian American vice president, Harris has worked to reform our criminal justice system, raise the minimum wage, make higher education tuition-free for the majority of Americans, and protect the legal rights of refugees and immigrants. View titles by Kamala Harris
From the Introduction

On July 4, 1992, one of my heroes and inspirations, former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, gave a speech that deeply resonates today. “We cannot play ostrich,” he said. “Democracy just cannot flourish amid fear. Liberty cannot bloom amid hate. Justice cannot take root amid rage. America must get to work. . . . We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred, and the mistrust.”
 
This book grows out of that call to action, and out of my belief that our fight must begin and end with speaking truth.
 
We cannot solve our most stubborn problems unless we are honest about what they are, unless we are willing to have difficult conversations and accept what facts make plain.
 
We need to speak truth: that there are forces of hate in this country—racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and anti-Semitism—and we need to confront them. We need to speak truth: that, with the exception of Native Americans, we all descend from people who weren’t born on our shores—whether our ancestors came to America willingly, with hopes of a prosperous future, or forcibly, on a slave ship, or desperately, to escape a painful past.
 
We need to speak truth about what it will take for all American workers to earn a living with dignity and decency. We must speak truth about who we send to jail in this country and why. We must speak truth about companies that make a profit taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us. And I intend to do just that.
Copyright © 2019 by Kamala Harris. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

About

Adapted for young readers, Vice President Kamala Harris's empowering memoir about the values and inspirations that guided her life.

With her Democratic presidential nomination, her election to the vice presidency, her election to the U.S. Senate, and her position as attorney general of California, Kamala Harris has blazed trails throughout her entire political career. But how did she achieve her goals? What values and influences guided and inspired her along the way?
 
In this young readers edition of Kamala Harris’s memoir, we learn about the impact that her family and community had on her life, and see what led her to discover her own sense of self and purpose. The Truths We Hold traces her journey as she explored the values she holds most dear—those of community, equality, and justice. An inspiring and empowering memoir, this book challenges us to become leaders in our own lives and shows us that with determination and perseverance all dreams are possible.

Author

Kamala D. Harris is the vice president of the United States of America. She began her career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, then was elected district attorney of San Francisco. As California's attorney general, Harris prosecuted transnational gangs, big banks, big oil, and for-profit colleges, and fought against attacks on the Affordable Care Act. She also fought to reduce elementary school truancy, pioneered the nation's first open data initiative to expose racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and implemented implicit bias training for police officers. The second Black woman ever elected to the U.S. Senate and the first female, first Black, and first Indian American vice president, Harris has worked to reform our criminal justice system, raise the minimum wage, make higher education tuition-free for the majority of Americans, and protect the legal rights of refugees and immigrants. View titles by Kamala Harris

Excerpt

From the Introduction

On July 4, 1992, one of my heroes and inspirations, former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, gave a speech that deeply resonates today. “We cannot play ostrich,” he said. “Democracy just cannot flourish amid fear. Liberty cannot bloom amid hate. Justice cannot take root amid rage. America must get to work. . . . We must dissent from the indifference. We must dissent from the apathy. We must dissent from the fear, the hatred, and the mistrust.”
 
This book grows out of that call to action, and out of my belief that our fight must begin and end with speaking truth.
 
We cannot solve our most stubborn problems unless we are honest about what they are, unless we are willing to have difficult conversations and accept what facts make plain.
 
We need to speak truth: that there are forces of hate in this country—racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and anti-Semitism—and we need to confront them. We need to speak truth: that, with the exception of Native Americans, we all descend from people who weren’t born on our shores—whether our ancestors came to America willingly, with hopes of a prosperous future, or forcibly, on a slave ship, or desperately, to escape a painful past.
 
We need to speak truth about what it will take for all American workers to earn a living with dignity and decency. We must speak truth about who we send to jail in this country and why. We must speak truth about companies that make a profit taking advantage of the most vulnerable among us. And I intend to do just that.
Copyright © 2019 by Kamala Harris. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

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