Some of the featured figures are in the trenches today, fighting for change.Ī few are lesser known. Wells, Malcolm X, Fannie Lou Hamer and, of course, the Reverend Dr. Some of these activists, heroes, and victims are known by all and have already been the subjects of excellent books for young people those include Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. UNEQUAL follows this history chronologically over twenty chapters, each featuring the story of a Black American. This is American history writing at its finest. Cover to cover, there is great research, great writing, and great storytelling. UNEQUAL is a heartbreaking and hopeful examination of systemic racism in America, from the end of the Civil War right up into the current pandemic. Remembering my son’s enthusiasm, I was excited to learn that Professor Dyson had co-written a book for tweens and teens with Marc Favreau, the noted history author and editor. Two decades ago, when my eldest was in college, he spoke passionately about the writings of Dr. “If America isn’t for everybody, it isn’t America.”

– Syl Johnson, “Is It Because I’m Black (1969) Looking back over my false dreams that I once knew Richie’s Picks: UNEQUAL: A STORY OF AMERICA by Michael Eric Dyson & Marc Favreau, Little Brown, May 2022, 368p., ISBN: 978-0-7595-5701-7 Well done Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau! Absolutely fantastic book!

We have to recognize and reckon with this history before we are able to fix it. This information is so important and necessary for progress to ever be made in this country. Per usual, as I always feel this way about all Michael Eric Dyson books, I wish this book was mandatory reading in all schools (the irony here is there is a chapter covering race and racism being banned in school curriculums all over the country). even when the information being covered was rage inducing. I particularly enjoyed the way this book was written - for a nonfiction book it was very engaging and really kept my interest. The authors did a great job laying the basic foundations of the history of racism in this country through chapters that had a main focus, making it easy to cover certain topics without having to go into exhaustive detail. If you've been following my reviews you know how much I absolutely love his work because Dyson tells the hard truths that need to be said and in an unapologetic manner.

But I expected nothing less going into this Michael Eric Dyson book.

Unequal by Michael Eric Dyson