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Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator
Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator | Sofia Warren
2 posts | 2 read
You won the election… now what? Activist organizing meets government gridlock as a millennial New Yorker cartoonist follows a first-year senator on her unforgettable journey — from outsider to insider. In early 2018, cartoonist Sofia Warren was not paying attention to New York state politics. But that summer, her Brooklyn neighborhood began buzzing about Julia Salazar, a 27-year-old democratic socialist running for state senate whose grassroots campaign was inspiring an army of volunteers. When they beat the odds and won, Warren found herself wondering what would happen next. How does it work when an outsider who runs on revolutionary change has to actually do the job? So she decided to find out. Using the graphic memoir format, Radical: My Year with a Socialist Senator is a remarkable first-hand account of Warren’s experience embedded with Julia Salazar and her staff during their first year in office. From candid conversations and eyewitness experiences, Warren builds a gripping and intimate portrait of a scrappy team of community organizers battling entrenched power structures, particularly to advance Julia’s marquee issue of housing rights. At every key point during the year — setting up an office, navigating insider politics, public pushback, testy staff meetings, emotional speeches, protest marches, setbacks, and victories — Warren is up close and personal with Julia and her team, observing, questioning, and drawing, as they try to translate their ideals into concrete legislation. Along the way, Warren works toward answers to deeper questions: what makes a good leader? What does it mean to be a part of a community? Can democracy work? How can everyday people make change happen? All these themes are explored — with nuance, compassion, and humor — in Sofia Warren’s remarkable debut.
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willaful
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I appreciated this behind the scenes look at the first year of a state senator and her staff, successful organizers fighting a very corrupt system. Getting the right person in really is only the first step, and often they have so much less power than you'd expect. Government is so resistant to change, but this was largely a positive and encouraging memoir.

willaful P.S. The “no“ symbol means I DNF'd, so I considered this a full board. :-) 2mo
TheAromaofBooks Fabulous month!!!! 2mo
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HillsAndHamletsBookshop
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Pickpick

This was an interesting read, offering an enlightening glimpse into state level progressive political organizing. Cartoonist Sofia Warren spends a year following newly elected NY state senator Julia Salazar, a Democratic Socialist, in her first year in office. An honest yet hopeful and even inspiring read at a moment when our national political atmosphere feels particularly ominous.