What's My Name?: Black Vernacular Intellectuals Book

In the last paragraph of Section IV of the classic Civil Disobedience, Thoreau asserts the supremacy of the individual in relation to the State, and further insists that democracy is not the last step in the evolution of government, as there is still greater room for the State to recognize the freedom and rights of the individual. Thoreau concludes saying such a State is one he has imagined "but not yet anywhere seen." This work became a bible for the future international non-violence movement and other progressive movements. Krist Novoselic's Of Grunge and Government taps the same vein and conjures the same ideas of the hope for and promise of a more enlightened democracy. The down-to-earth language can reach any of those that know him from Nirvana while the closer look at instant-runoff voting (IRV) and full representation offer real grist for the political junkie to chew on.

{This review was published in Jam Rag, Nov. 2004}