About the Author

Mitch Landrieu was the mayor of New Orleans from 2010 to 2018. A Democrat, Landrieu served as lieutenant governor of Louisiana from 2004 to 2010. His father, Moon Landrieu, was mayor of New Orleans from 1970 to 1978 and a leading civil rights pioneer. Landrieu is the founder of the E Pluribus Unum Fund, which works to bring people together across the American South around the issues of race, equity, economic opportunity and violence, proving the American motto that "out of many, one," and we are better for it.

Reviews

One of Time magazine's "Best Memoirs of 2018"
Featured in Newsweek's "50 Coolest Books to Read This Summer"
Included in Esquire's "Best Nonfiction Books of 2018" "[Mitch Landrieu] has done something, in his speech and his book, that other politicians should emulate. He's tried to reckon with America's sins while offering an optimistic, big-hearted and deeply patriotic defense of cosmopolitanism as the source of American greatness."--The New York Times "[A] thought-provoking piece of political writing...Uncomfortable as it might be to think of our country's history...we have to do so, if we want to live within the truth. Landrieu has shown the way."--The Washington Post "Landrieu is an example of a politician who acknowledges that America's past isn't pretty, but he's also working to shift a damaged culture that he feels has been ignored for too long. This is an inspiring tale that is both political and personal -- urging readers to understand the country's past and the work that is needed to change the present."--Time "[A] compelling reconsideration of what it means to be a Southerner in contemporary America."--Esquire.com "A powerful manifesto."--Newsweek "A powerful, welcome manifesto in the cause of a new and better South--and a 'better America.'"--Kirkus Reviews "[A] timely message of racial reconciliation."--National Journal "Mitch Landrieu takes us on an extraordinarily powerful journey that is both political and personal. With a balance of humility and conviction, he recounts his path to a more profound understanding of racial justice and explains how this journey led him to remove the Confederate monuments in New Orleans. It's an important book for everyone in America to read, because it shows how intellectual honesty can lead to moral clarity." --Walter Isaacson, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Leonardo Da Vinci and Steve Jobs
Praise for Mitch Landrieu and his May 2017 speech: "The masterpiece we needed at the moment we needed it" --The New York Times "A remarkably compelling speech about race in America...stunningly eloquent" --CNN "Evocative" --POLITICO Magazine "Courageous, controversial and frankly long overdue" --US News & World Report "Eloquence, power and humility" --Chicago Tribune