Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote

by Michael Eric Dyson, Marc Favreau

Read about the electrifying and continuing fight for voting rights—and discover your place in it—in this dramatic exploration of American democracy, from renowned thought leader Michael Eric Dyson and widely celebrated author Marc Favreau. One of the most important and least understood true stories of our nation, the fight for representation is an ongoing and epic quest to build the democracy sketched out in the Constitution but unfinished in the twenty-first century. With impeccable research and exhilarating prose, Represent tells the story of voting rights in the United States from the American Revolution up to the present day. Each chapter takes on a new battle between the forces of people power and forces opposed to it. Readers will meet champions of freedom, including formerly enslaved revolutionaries, a Chinese American teenager, a Lakota Sioux activist, Black World War II veterans, a Mexican American student, and others who fought for their right to vote. Drawing clear lines from then to now, Represent weaves this important struggle into a single American drama that will help readers understand our past, present, and future.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, History, Middle Grade, Historical, Audiobook

256 pages, Hardcover

Published September 10, 2024

About the author

Michael Eric Dyson is an American academic, author, and radio host. He is a professor of sociology at Georgetown University.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting. I learned some things that I don’t know I ever knew. It’s crazy to read and see similarities in our government from the 17/18/1900’s vs where we are today. So many died using their voices in our history for it to repeat itself.
🆘🇺🇸

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book while in DC with Teacher Leaders to hopefully include in my future classroom, and I finally got around to reading it! The authors do a wonderful job at discussing voting rights in a way that is not just accessible to students, but to all readers. I especially enjoyed how they detailed the history of the right to vote and placed emphasis on how this battle is still being fought. I can’t wait to introduce this text to students!

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy listen, very educating and interesting enough that I will be doing follow up research. I’ll likely listen to this multiple times

[LeeTravelGoddess · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!!

My brother recommended this to me as his current read and I learned more than I thought I would’ve ever learned. It’s crazy how some people go down in history… full of hate and disdain for something that will mean nothing in the end. Gerrymandering is wild and a testament to the ways in which some folks will always find a way to weasel their way into getting what they want for themselves; democracy was never the goal if you asked me. But I don’t think anyone did, Tuh!!!

Read this simple yet powerful book on the right to vote & the way America has attempted to bestow those rights at her discretion based on its leaders; it is a doozy!

[Shilo Quetchenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

We followed up a book about how US politics and elections work with this book about the history of the fight for voting rights in the US which worked out really well.

This is a fantastic exploration of the history of voting rights in the US, starting with the writing of the Constitution and ending with the current-day fight to protect and preserve the right to vote for all Americans.

A lot of the time, books imply that everyone could vote as soon as the US was formed, and this book does an excellent job pointing out how very untrue that is and how very long it took for the majority of people to be able to vote.

Each chapter moves forward in time, jumping between different groups fighting for the same rights. Black people, women, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian-Americans. The same fight being fought over and over again.

It is written in an incredibly compelling way that puts you right in the thick of the struggle and makes you care about each group gaining the right to vote.

Kiddo (10) was enthralled the whole time we read it and it gave him a lot to think about. It gave me a lot to think about too, as most of the information hadn't been taught to me in school, so we both learned a lot.

This should be required reading for every middle-school / high-school. Highly recommend.

*Thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing an early copy for review.

[Jo Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really succinct and digestible history of voting rights in the US including people and events that aren’t often taught. Followed by modern day attacks on voting rights and what we, as a nation and also as an individual, can do to help secure and protect voting rights for everyone.

[KatieL · Rating 3 out of 5]

Felt like being in my 8th grade Social Studies class (positive).
Didn't realize it was YA until I started reading it. A good introduction to the history of voting rights for younger readers.

[Fanchen Bao · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a quick but important read, especially for someone like me who has an interest in American history and politics yet still lacks sufficient context to connect the dots.

I know democracy is hard, but haven't realized it was THAT hard! It has always been a power struggle between the oligarchs (I am using this term loosely to refer to the small group of people with lots of resources) and the rest of the people. Given that it took centuries of progress and a lot of tear and blood to make the people's voice heard, I am disheartened to witness that the oligarchs is turning the tide now, even more devastated to see that a good proportion of the people are cheering for a future where they will be subjugated and deprived of fundamental rights.

And that is not all. More sad realizations include

* "We the people" in the constitution didn't really mean everyone in the United States.
* Elections are easily manipulated on a higher level (e.g., gerrymandering, stacking the courts) than any imaginary vote fraudsters could wildly dream.
* Voter ID law only makes sense if the process of obtaining one is easy and cheap. The reality is the exact opposite, which means the intention of the voter ID law is no different from poll tax and literacy test, a blatant tool to take voting rights away from less privileged people.
* ...and many more

The final realization, unrelated to the book but tightly coupled with the ongoing political turmoil in the United States, is that the Constitution is just a piece of paper. Without major political machineries respecting and enforcing it, it crumbles...just like a piece of paper.


Quotes to Think About

Only a small handful of women could vote -- and only in one single state. The New Jersey Constitution, passed in 1776, specifically referred to voters as "they," which meant men and women. Fourteen years later, state legislators went even further, referring to legal voters as "he or she." No other state in the young nation had singled out women as having the right to vote.

-- p4 I was surprised by this to be honest. But soon the follow-up question comes: then what happened?

In 1807, without warning, men shut the door on women voters in New Jersey. "Be it enacted," a new law said, that "no person shall vote in any state or county election for officers in the government of the United States, or of this state, unless such person be a free, white, male citizen of this state."

-- p5 There is your answer to the follow-up question.

The expansion of "universal manhood suffrage," the movement that helped propel Andrew Jackson to power, should have meant that all Black men could ride the new democracy wave. Instead, just the opposite happened. All of a sudden, Northern states imposed deliberately racial restrictions on who could vote -- eroding the rights of Black people even at a time when white people basked in a new era of expanded freedoms.

-- p21 This was before the Southern enslavers gained sufficient power and enacted by the North. Racism had no borders.

For Black people living in the North, the threat of slavery was not abstract. Southern enslavers conspired with patrollers (sometimes called "blackbirds") who stalked the streets of Philadelphia, New York, New Haven, and Boston. These terrifying men seized unsuspecting African American (deemed "runaways" even if they had been born free people in the North) and hauled them onto ships bound for the slave states. Many Northern governments allowed this kidnapping to happen openly.

-- p24 This was remarkably similar to what ICE is doing today to the Brown people (April 2025). People born in the United States, even children with medical needs, forcefully deported for reasons unbeknown to us and without due process.

In her remarks at the American Equal Rights Association meeting, Elizabeth Cady Staton poisoned the debate with openly racist opinions. How could America stoop to giving the right to Black men, she insisted, who were not equal to white women such as herself?

-- p50 In-fighting has been the tried-and-true tool of those in power to divert the anger of the mass. Back then, it was racism to divide the people who essentially asked for the same thing. Nowadays, it is racism still (we have really learned nothing for centuries!), left vs. right (there is no left and right among the elites; opinion politics is just a tool to divide us), citizens vs. immigrants, etc.

White Southerners commemorated the event as the Colfax Riot...For generations, textbooks, novels, and even movies (such as the 1915 silent file Birth of a Nation, which was the first movie ever shown in the White House) depicted Reconstruction as a time when Black people and their white allies ruled the South through corruption and violence. Black Louisianans, however, remembered the truth, and had their own term for what happened that night in 1873: the Colfax Massacre.

-- p56 to 57 Colfax Riot vs. Colfax Massacre, a good illustration of the fluidity of history telling.

Meanwhile, the history of Reconstruction was written by the same people who had plotted its downfall. For generations, and in some classrooms today, Americans have been taught that Reconstruction was a failure because Black Southerners were not ready for democracy and could not handle the responsibilities of government.

-- p62 to 63 This sounds exactly like what condescending racists would say to deprive Black people of equal rights.

"Discrimination! Why, that is precisely what we propose," declared a Democratic delegate at Virginia's constitutional convention. "That, exactly, is what this Convention was elected for -- to discriminate to the very extremity of permissible action under the limitations of the Federal Constitution, with a view to the elimination of every negro voter who can be gotten rid of, legally, without materially impairing the numerical strength of the white electorate."

-- p67 This is probably the most shocking, yet unsurprising, quote from the book. And the same actions are being conducted today without such blatant self-incrimination, such as voter ID law, gerrymandering, etc.

Part one was to charge voters money to cast a ballot in an election...Part two was putting in place literacy and other tests, which all voters had to pass before they could register to vote.

-- p68 We have poll tax today as well. The repeated attempts to ban mail-in vote and absentee vote, the in-person vote window being restricted to working hours, etc. are modern forms of poll tax. Literacy test, while sounding reasonable, is such a slippery slope that, once allowed, it can lead to unimaginable fuckery (something like "only those who can recite 100 digits of pie are allowed to vote", but only more sinister).

...according to US law, a woman always had to adopt the citizenship of her husband, whether she wanted to or not. As a citizen of another country, Inez knew that she could not vote in the United States,...

-- p102 Another trickery to strip people of voting rights. Part of the US history is all sorts of creativity to prevent people from voting.

Fifteen years after the Indian Citizenship Act, Native Americans still could not vote in Maine. As one man reported in the late 1930s, "the Indian aren't allowed to have a voice in state affairs because they aren't voters." before 1948, Native people in New Mexico were barred from voting because they did not pay state taxes as residents of reservations -- onto which they had been forced by the government in the first place. In 1956, the Utah Supreme Court decided that Native Americans could not vote because they were incapable of being good citizens.

Many Native people achieved the right to vote only very recently. South Dakota blocked Native Americans from voting by law until the 1940s, but in some counties, local courts and poll workers would not let Native people vote until as late as the 1970s -- a century after Zitkála-Šá's birth.

-- p114 The US government forced Native people to live on reservations and not pay state taxes. Later, the same government ruled that Native people cannot vote because they don't pay state taxes. This was blatant voter restriction, unconstitutional, yet since it was broken into two steps, I guess people were okay with it?

Over twenty million Americans -- nearly 10 percent of the voting-age population -- do not have official identification cards such as a driver's license or passport. The majority of these people are poor. Many -- like Floyd Carrier -- are elderly, born at a time, or in a place, when getting a birth certificate was not as common as it is today. A large percentage of them are African American, and an even larger percentage are Native American. Getting the documents to qualify for a driver's license, and then securing the license itself, can be expensive. For financial reason as well, voter ID laws function the way poll taxes did under Jim Crow, making it hard or even impossible for some people to vote because they cannot afford the cost.

-- p156 to 157 Voting ID law in its current form is poll tax, period.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode island ...

-- p178 This is just for fun. Imagine him as the President of the United States and the press secretary goes: The Whitehouse Whitehouse declare that... LOL

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An easy read, but a great account of the shame of our country trying to hold on to White Male Superiority How Blacks, Native Americans, Chinese and Women had to fight for equality! The sad vision how voting rights are under attack again.

[Teddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

learned so much!!

[Richie Partington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Richie’s Picks: REPRESENT: THE UNFINISHED FIGHT FOR THE VOTE by Michael Eric Dyson & Marc Favreau, Little Brown, September 2024, 256p., ISBN: 978-0-7595-5706-2

“Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
And how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?”
– Bob Dylan (1962)

Did you know that, in the earliest years of the nation, following ratification of the U.S. Constitution, women could vote in New Jersey? Whoops! BIG MISTAKE!!! – at least according to the selfish, white, propertied, so-called Christian men, who made sure that such a glitch was remedied:

“The first generation of Americans quickly learned just how precarious, how uncertain, their access to voting could be.
In 1807, without warning, men shut the door on women voters in New Jersey. ‘Be it enacted,’ a new law said, that ‘no person shall vote in any state or county elections for officers in the government of the United States, or of this state, unless such person be a free, white, male citizen of this state.’ In the next year’s elections, not a single woman could cast her vote. Women could not vote again in New Jersey for more than one hundred years.
Women in New Jersey learned a bitter truth about America’s shaky experiment in representation: No one could take it for granted. Ever.”

I, of course, can’t prove it. I can merely speculate how radically different America would be today–and how differently America would be seen and admired around the world today–had women, adults of various colors, and Native Americans been permitted to participate in choosing leaders during the decades–centuries–when they were barred from voting. Deep in my heart, I know (and you should darn well know, too) that the whole world would have been a far better and compassionate place today if those Americans hadn’t been screwed out of voting.

Despite the grave losses during the Civil War, and the subsequent enactment of the 15th Amendment,
“Poll taxes and literacy tests proved very effective at stopping Black people from voting…
In 1896, 130,334 African Americans were on the voter rolls in Louisiana; eight years later that number had dropped to 1,342.
In Mississippi, a state with a Black majority, only 8,615 African American men were registered to vote in 1892.
By 1910, only 4 percent of Black men in Georgia could vote.”

Professor Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau have crafted a saddening, maddening, jaw-dropping, nonfiction book for tweens and teens that surveys–in ugly, disgusting detail–how two-thirds of America’s adult population had to fight and fight and fight some more in order to gain the right to vote and make their voices heard, something that–in a more just and enlightened America–none of them would have had to struggle for.

REPRESENT introduces readers to scores of American heroes and heroines–Black and white, male and female–who were beaten, tortured, and often sacrificed their lives, for daring to speak up and demand that all sexes, colors, and ethnicities get to vote.

I hope that some middle school and high school American history teachers can obtain class sets of REPRESENT, have students read it, and then require them to choose one of the great Americans introduced in the book, and research/write about him or her.

Again and again, over the past 200+ years, America has fallen grievously short of the grand ideals expressed in our nation’s founding documents. And the fact is that one cannot fix something until one understands what is broken. The need to keep up the pressure on those who scheme–even today–to withhold the vote from vulnerable groups, is why I long for this well-written and researched book to gain as large a readership as possible.

Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com

[Marnie Diem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most Americans have a basic understanding of our nation's history: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II. Yet, the arduous journey toward universal suffrage is a chapter often overlooked. Represent by Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau is a powerful and essential read that shines a spotlight on a frequently overlooked yet pivotal chapter in American history: the relentless pursuit of voting rights. The authors masterfully unravel the complex tapestry of struggle, sacrifice, and resilience that has shaped our democracy.

The simple act of casting a ballot is a privilege hard-won through centuries of relentless activism, sacrifice, and courage. Represent introduces readers, young and old, to the unsung heroes who fought for this fundamental right. From Robert Purvis, a free Black man who championed voting rights in Pennsylvania, to the lesser-known figures like Robert Smalls, Lucretia Mott, and Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, the book paints a vivid portrait of a nation grappling with democracy and humanizes the fight for suffrage, making it relatable and inspiring. Represent is not merely a history lesson; it's a call to action. It challenges readers to confront the injustices of the past and to understand the ongoing battle to protect and expand voting rights.

This book is a vital resource for young people eager to understand the foundations of their civic engagement. It is equally essential for adults seeking to deepen their knowledge of American history and to appreciate the fragility of democracy. Represent is a compelling reminder that our right to vote is a precious privilege earned through the blood, sweat, and tears of countless generations.

Represent is more than a historical account; it's a stark reflection of the ongoing battle for voting rights. The book serves as a powerful reminder that the struggles of the past are deeply intertwined with the challenges of today. Issues such as voter suppression, gerrymandering, and the disproportionate impact of voting laws on marginalized communities are direct descendants of the systemic barriers that the book illuminates.

By examining the historical context, Represent equips readers with the tools to understand the current landscape. It underscores the importance of civic engagement and the need for continued vigilance in protecting and expanding voting rights. In a time when democratic institutions face unprecedented challenges, this book offers a crucial roadmap for understanding how we arrived at this point and what steps must be taken moving forward.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm grateful Little, Brown Books for Young Readers sent me an e-ARC through Netgalley. I was so excited to finish reading this before election season. This book was the push I needed to make sure that I am doing my civic duty on a community, state and national level. Represent digs deep into the history of democracy and voting in the United States of America. It teaches of the hardships that many people endured in their fight for a freedom that was promised. People of color and women in particular have been fighting this battle for a long time. I appreciate that Represent doesn't gloss over the dark times in our history, but brings them to light so that all can learn from them. All data is backed up in the source notes at the end of the book. There is also a section for things we can do to promote better democracy in our own time. I loved the different examples offered.

While this book is full of dark moments in our past, I think it is absolutely appropriate for young readers. This is a great book for middle school and high school readers. But I think anyone who can vote in the United States should read this. Your vote is your voice and countless people have fought so that you could have that privilege.

[Elisabeth Dubois · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Represent - The Unfinished Fight for the Vote" is a powerful exploration of the ongoing struggle for voting rights in the United States, tracing the battle for democracy from the American Revolution to the present day. Through Dyson and Favreau's meticulous research and compelling storytelling, readers are introduced to a diverse cast of figures who have fought for their right to vote—ranging from formerly enslaved individuals to WWII veterans and students. The book not only sheds light on pivotal historical moments but also connects us to current issues in voter representation, illustrating the unfinished work of American democracy. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the true depth of the fight for voting rights, how it continues to shape our nation today, and just what is at stake this election!

[Trina Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote! The book is not only easy to read but also incredibly informative, making it accessible for everyone, regardless of their prior knowledge about voting rights. The author does a fantastic job of weaving together historical context and contemporary issues, highlighting the ongoing struggle for voting rights.

What I appreciated most were the extensive source references throughout the book. It’s clear that a lot of research went into this work, and it really enhances the credibility of the information presented.

This book is a must-read for everyone. It emphasizes the importance of voting and sheds light on the courageous individuals who fought for our rights. Their stories serve as a powerful reminder of why we must continue to engage in the democratic process. I highly recommend it!

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important story for teens to read about how far we've come and how much more work we have to do to fight for the right to vote for everyone. Dyson & Favreau's approach to telling the story isn't simplistic as it is simplified and marches toward the insight any reader can understand that there is a never ending battle to be sure those that can vote, do.

Specifically mentioning disenfranchised groups over the course of history and the people who worked to bring it to light, the text follows a chronological organization throughout history (and provides a timeline at the end with the source notes). Useful in sections or as a whole as a text to better understand what most don't have a basic knowledge of after they graduate high school.

[Jessica Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick but thorough look at the history of suffrage and voting - and the history of those rights being stripped back, infringed upon, and in peril - in the United States. I listened to the audio so I may have missed out on graphics but I still found this to be incredibly compelling, timely and IMPORTANT. While the push to teach a full, unfiltered history of our country has been chugging along, it has met its own challenges and pushbacks and limitations, and this book fills in vital gaps. I wish I could hand it to every voting age person in the US right now; it's written for young adults, but that just makes it more accessible to all audiences.

[Karen P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library. To be honest I did not realize that was written for teens. You know what? That didn’t matter. I learned some history I didn’t know and was reminded of some I did know. It is not dumbed down nor does it get bogged down a lot of numbers and statistics. I think k it does have a bias, but it is a bias I am okay with. I appreciate the last two chapters that summarize some things that have been or are being considered to change voting, and a chapter that helps answer how can I get involved by listing organizations and their websites. It’s one thing to have information, it’s another thing to have some action ideas for how to use the information.

[Madeline · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong, quick little read. It nailed the scope and was full of research, and it was readable. There were a few phrases I found a bit simplistic—“people power,” something “heroes”— but I think that’s standard in YA nonfiction. Interesting facts: women could vote in New Jersey from 1789 to 1807, Black men who owned property could vote in northern states until the 1820s and 30s, and many Native Americans were excluded from voting until well into the 1960s. Also, good reminders—Citizens United is terrible and gerrymandering is too. It’s also a portmanteau of a bad politician named “Gerry” and “salamander.”

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The founding fathers created a brilliant blueprint for democracy, but one thing most of them agreed on is that people couldn’t be trusted with it.” (197)
This book was a crash-course in all the things I was supposed to remember from Civics…and didn’t . Now, I need to do some graduate-style research in the many things I’d like to further understand. Citizens United, Gerrymandering (named after a person?!), We the People amendment, and much more.
I learned so much and appreciate their words igniting a fire in me to learn more.

[Jordan Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful exploration of voting rights, advocates, and leaders. When we think about the expansion of voting as society progressed and changed, we don’t often think about how identities intersect. This intersectionality has lead to voting rights struggles since the expansion started.

This text does a great job of highlighting leaders from Black, Hispanic, Indigenous, Female, Asian American/ Chinese, and contemporary struggle perspectives. Great text to use for voting and voting history units/lessons/explorations. Call to action- continue fighting for voting access for all AMERICANS.

[Hannah McMurphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super informative, but written to be easily understandable! I definitely learned things I did not know before, and gave me a new perspective on "people power" and how democracy really wasn't set up with all people in mind. While I do think this book has an obvious political slant to it, I found it to be a great read that has motivated me to want to read more about this topic. The way the information is presented in this book is really accessible to students, and it would be a good one to use in government or history classes.

[Brandon Atwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean, he’s not wrong. But this wasn’t the ideal book for me. This reads like a middle school textbook mixed with an exhaustive Twitter thread. His rhetoric favors absolutes and some of these takes are too liberal for most voters.

This is also another instance of the summary not matching the book. I thought I was going to read more in depth instances of disenfranchised groups struggling and gaining their right to vote. This was not that.

[Amanda Shepard (Between-the-Shelves) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This is a comprehensive look at the history of voting in the United States up to the present day. Dyson does a good job making connections between history and what's happening in present day United States. The overall tone is accessible to teens, and those interested in history and politics will definitely be drawn to this book.

[Keandra Rhead · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

This was an easy read full of lots of information! However, the chapters didn’t flow together to my liking and the information was a lot of stuff I already knew. Still a great read for those interested in voting rights!

Edit: I just read other reviews and realized this was intended for young readers. I think it is would be great for its audience!

[Sarah Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read history of the fight for the vote with short chapters highlighting different groups and hero leaders. From Black to Women to Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans - gaining the right to vote has been a struggle. Targets the middle grade/YA reader, but good read for all.

[Benedict F. Shafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this well written book. I found it interesting and informative. Spanning as large series of time it told me facts that were previously unknown. I recommend this book to all who seek an intelligent and informative book to read.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

a YA book charting the progress of democracy in the US, that should be required reading for every teenager in the country. I personally liked better the parts of the book that I wasn't living through.

[Karla Kitalong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book for young voters. For me, the most useful content included profiles of several lesser-known activists and concise descriptions of certain legislative actions and Supreme Court decisions. The ending was more optimistic than warranted, given the outcome of the 2024 election.

[Janell · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good review of historical facts on voting and how many have fought for those rights. I believe some of his opinions at the end will be opened and full disclosure will take place in the near future.