Kansas Matters: America’s Social Faultline by Mark E. McCormick has a publication date of Juneteenth but is available to bookstores and libraries by early May. Review copies are available this month. ISBN: 978-1-958728-45-1 Paper ($24.99); ISBN: 978-1-958728-46-8 epub ($14.99)
Mark McCormick is a member of the Kansas Journalists’ Hall of Fame, a fellow at the Dole Center of the University of Kansas, former deputy director and communications director of the ACLU of Kansas, and a New York Times best-selling author with nearly thirty years of experience as a reporter, editor, and columnist, for five years at the Louisville, Kentucky’s Courier-Journal and for nearly fourteen years at the Wichita Eagle.. He was appointed by Kansas governor Laura Kelly to two state commissions and is a trustee of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. He was inaugural director of the Kansas Black Leadership Council and served as executive director of The Kansas African American History.
This collection of fifty short articles examines Kansas from three angles: the important history in danger of erasure, Kansans who have invested their lives in positive social change, and issues currently in the forefront in Kansas (and nationally), especially those where Kansas has taken a lead. McCormick writes pithy prose that reveals perspectives and factual information new to general readers. The history he reveals is often unknown to most Kansans and to those who view Kansas as only "fly over" country.
From its early experiment in multiracial democracy called Quindaro, to the key roles Kansas and Kansans played in the civil war, student-led sit-ins, affirmative action, and school desegregation, readers will find these short pieces surprising and enlightening. McCormick highlights ordinary people doing extraordinary things out of their commitment to justice. The final section of the book explores issues like the right to choose abortion, police/community relations, and the impact of bail bonds, as well as the unfortunate tenacity of Jim Crow behavior in the state legislature and policy formation.
McCormick is a beloved commentator on the state of the country. Here his views shine through the lens of Kansas, a state full of contradictions with a history of setting precedents the nation both political parties would follow.
Thirty photos illustrate and enhance the text.
Mark McCormick is a member of the Kansas Journalists’ Hall of Fame, a fellow at the Dole Center of the University of Kansas, former deputy director and communications director of the ACLU of Kansas, and a New York Times best-selling author with nearly thirty years of experience as a reporter, editor, and columnist, for five years at the Louisville, Kentucky’s Courier-Journal and for nearly fourteen years at the Wichita Eagle.. He was appointed by Kansas governor Laura Kelly to two state commissions and is a trustee of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas. He was inaugural director of the Kansas Black Leadership Council and served as executive director of The Kansas African American History.
This collection of fifty short articles examines Kansas from three angles: the important history in danger of erasure, Kansans who have invested their lives in positive social change, and issues currently in the forefront in Kansas (and nationally), especially those where Kansas has taken a lead. McCormick writes pithy prose that reveals perspectives and factual information new to general readers. The history he reveals is often unknown to most Kansans and to those who view Kansas as only "fly over" country.
From its early experiment in multiracial democracy called Quindaro, to the key roles Kansas and Kansans played in the civil war, student-led sit-ins, affirmative action, and school desegregation, readers will find these short pieces surprising and enlightening. McCormick highlights ordinary people doing extraordinary things out of their commitment to justice. The final section of the book explores issues like the right to choose abortion, police/community relations, and the impact of bail bonds, as well as the unfortunate tenacity of Jim Crow behavior in the state legislature and policy formation.
McCormick is a beloved commentator on the state of the country. Here his views shine through the lens of Kansas, a state full of contradictions with a history of setting precedents the nation both political parties would follow.
Thirty photos illustrate and enhance the text.
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