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Son of Birmingham

The youngest mayor in the modern history of Birmingham, Alabama, and a rising star in the Democratic Party weaves a memoir of a Southern Black man’s hard-earned life lessons, a family struck by gun violence, his determined public servitude, his forward-thinking government leadership, and his country’s ongoing fight against systemic racism from the Birmingham streets to all points of the urban South and beyond

At once a moving memoir of a Black kid and his family persevering in a city central to the Civil Rights struggle, yet still battling systemic racism and senseless gun violence, Son of Birmingham is also the inspirational story of modern history’s youngest Mayor of Birmingham and a progressive call-to-action to citizens across America—an appeal to servant leadership and responsive government for all people.

Informed by the street-wisdom of his generation’s Southern rap music; nurtured by family, friends, and faith; educated at the historically Black Morehouse College, Mayor Randall Woodfin has become a paragon of the strength, youthful hunger, and progress our nation clamors for right now. In Son of Birmingham, he walks readers through the streets of the urban South, the neighborhoods of his Birmingham then, now, and in the future. He brings to light the daily joys and struggles of fellow Americans and shows what spurred him to turn his Morehouse education and Capitol Hill experience to the city of his youth, armed with a vision of responsive government, public servitude, and what it will take to give all Americans—south, north, east, and west—equitable, inclusive, and prosperous cities where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential. His work earned him a keynote speaker role at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, as well as endorsements from President Joe Biden, Senators Bernie Sanders and Corey Booker, and Stacey Abrams.

Mayor Randall Woodfin is a proud son of Birmingham, yes, but his life story and leadership principles apply to all corners of a country fighting to be the best version of American it can be.

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