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The Truths We Hold

An American Journey

Author Kamala Harris
Read by Kamala Harris
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Best Seller
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Audio | Penguin Audio
On sale Jan 08, 2019 | 9 Hours and 27 Minutes | 9781984885722
Grades 9-12 + AP/IB
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The #1 New York Times bestseller

From Vice President Kamala Harris, one of America's most inspiring political leaders, comes a book about the core truths that unite us and how best to act upon them. 

"A life story that genuinely entrances." —Los Angeles Times

“An engaging read that provides insights into the influences of [Harris’s] life...Revealing and even endearing.” —San Francisco Chronicle

The daughter of immigrants and civil rights activists, Vice President Kamala Harris was raised in an Oakland, California, community that cared deeply about social justice. As she rose to prominence as one of the political leaders of our time, her experiences would become her guiding light as she grappled with an array of complex issues and learned to bring a voice to the voiceless. 

In The Truths We Hold, she reckons with the big challenges we face together. Drawing on the hard-won wisdom and insight from her own career and the work of those who have most inspired her, she communicates a vision of shared struggle, shared purpose, and shared values as we confront the great work of our day.
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.
“Its most memorable moments are those personal touches: Harris’s recollections of family, friendships and, above all, of her late mother, an Indian immigrant and cancer researcher who raised Harris and her younger sister . . . instructive for anyone trying to imagine a Vice President Harris.”
—Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post

"A life story that genuinely entrances." —Los Angeles Times 

“An engaging read that provides insights into the influences of Harris’s life.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“In an era when many of our current political memoirs are either looking back at the Obama years or are attempting to grapple with our current state of government unrest, it is exciting to see a highly respected and powerful woman of color and daughter of immigrants tell her own story and offer some hope for the future of our country.” —Bustle

About

The #1 New York Times bestseller

From Vice President Kamala Harris, one of America's most inspiring political leaders, comes a book about the core truths that unite us and how best to act upon them. 

"A life story that genuinely entrances." —Los Angeles Times

“An engaging read that provides insights into the influences of [Harris’s] life...Revealing and even endearing.” —San Francisco Chronicle

The daughter of immigrants and civil rights activists, Vice President Kamala Harris was raised in an Oakland, California, community that cared deeply about social justice. As she rose to prominence as one of the political leaders of our time, her experiences would become her guiding light as she grappled with an array of complex issues and learned to bring a voice to the voiceless. 

In The Truths We Hold, she reckons with the big challenges we face together. Drawing on the hard-won wisdom and insight from her own career and the work of those who have most inspired her, she communicates a vision of shared struggle, shared purpose, and shared values as we confront the great work of our day.

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.

Praise

“Its most memorable moments are those personal touches: Harris’s recollections of family, friendships and, above all, of her late mother, an Indian immigrant and cancer researcher who raised Harris and her younger sister . . . instructive for anyone trying to imagine a Vice President Harris.”
—Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post

"A life story that genuinely entrances." —Los Angeles Times 

“An engaging read that provides insights into the influences of Harris’s life.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“In an era when many of our current political memoirs are either looking back at the Obama years or are attempting to grapple with our current state of government unrest, it is exciting to see a highly respected and powerful woman of color and daughter of immigrants tell her own story and offer some hope for the future of our country.” —Bustle

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