Say it Louder!: Black Voices, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy

Political analyst Cross debuts with a hard-hitting take on how the underrepresentation of black voices and experiences in the mainstream media has impacted American democracy. Drawing on her own experiences as a TV commentator and founder of the news outlet The Beat DC, Cross calls out the “chattering class” of cable news pundits for refusing to label Donald Trump a racist and giving him “close to $2 billion worth of free media attention” during the 2016 campaign, and for being “painfully out of step” with issues that impact black people, such as police brutality, voter suppression, and the water crisis in Flint, Mich. She details episodes of racial violence in American history, including the “Red Summer” of 1919 and the 1965 “Bloody Sunday” crackdown on civil rights marchers in Selma, Ala., and argues that the media’s failure to “cover state-sanctioned violence against Black people with concern, nuance, and consistency” gave Russian operatives a wedge issue to exploit in 2016. Though the book’s various strands—autobiography, history, political commentary, media criticism—sometimes feel mashed together, Cross writes with eloquent rage and makes a convincing case that “empowering and employing” people of color in the media is essential to preserving democracy. This forceful call for change resonates. Agent: Mel Berger, WME. (July)