BOOKMONGER
From activist to policyaker
Book details Jayapal’s progressive agenda
In 2015, Pramila Jayapal became the
and what continue to fi re her up.
fi rst South Asian American to serve in the
The fi rst section also includes her mete-
bicameral Washington s tate Legislature. At
oric rise in politics, and here Jayapal is
unable to avoid a self-congratulatory tone
the time, she was the only woman of color
serving in the s tate Senate.
in detailing actions that have netted her
Two years later, she was catapulted to
extensive coverage in the press.
the national stage when she was elected to
Congress, becoming the fi rst Asian Ameri-
can to represent Washington state at the fed- This Week’s Book
‘Use the Power You Have’ by Pramila Jayapal
eral level.
Jayapal was dubbed the “Godmother of
The New Press — 368 pp — $27.99
the Squad” — the squad being the four pro-
gressive women of color (Alexandria Oca-
sio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley
and Rashida Tlaib) who were elected to
The second section details Jayapal’s
“moral visions” relating to immigration,
Congress in 2018. Jayapal became co-chair
of the increasingly infl uential Congressional “Medicare for All” and the $15 mini-
Progressive Caucus in early 2019.
mum wage.
Jayapal has written a timely new book,
It is here that she also identifi es and
“Use the Power You Have: A Brown Wom-
dissects the “Three Supremacies” —
an’s Guide to Politics and Political Change.” white, corporate and individual — and
When working on this project, Jay-
talks about how important it is to tackle
apal couldn’t have foreseen the George
institutionalized inequities.
Floyd tragedy nor the social upheaval that
In the United States in 2020, she
reports, “60% of Americans do not even
his death has sparked, yet she does state
in these pages, “I believe that change is
have $1,000 in their savings accounts
not just coming, she is breathing down our
and 40% cannot afford a $400 emer-
neck.”
gency expenditure.”
Jayapal, a naturalized citizen, was born
Meanwhile, the CEO/worker pay
in India and came to the United States as
ratio has shot up over the last 50 years
a student when she was 16. She has been
from 20:1 to over 220:1.
active in immigration reform issues for
“If politics is the art of the possible,
years, beginning with her founding of an
then it is our job to change the limits of
immigration rights organization following
what is possible,” Jayapal writes.
the 9/11 attacks.
So she offers this “brown wom-
This book is presented in two parts. The
an’s guide” not only to women, immi-
fi rst seven chapters retrace her personal
grants and people of color, but also to
journey — from immigrant pursuing the
“allies of all stripes” to help make that
American Dream, to naturalized American
happen.
citizen scrutinizing the unvarnished reality
The Bookmonger is Barbara Lloyd
of how diffi cult it has become for millions
McMichael, who writes this weekly
of Americans to attain that dream.
column focusing on the books, authors
Issues impacting immigration, environ-
and publishers of the Pacifi c North-
mental justice and economic inequality are
west. Contact her at bkmonger@
what kindled her activism in the fi rst place
nwlink.com.
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