Synopses & Reviews
Despite the abundant evidence from Obama’s victories proving that the U.S. population has fundamentally changed, many progressives and Democrats continue to waste millions of dollars chasing white swing voters. Explosive population growth of people of color in America over the past fifty years has laid the foundation for a New American Majority consisting of progressive people of color (23 percent of all eligible voters) and progressive whites (28 percent of all eligible voters). These two groups make up 51 percent of all eligible voters in America right now, and that majority is growing larger every day. Failing to properly appreciate this reality, progressives are at risk of missing this moment in history — and losing.
A leader in national politics for thirty years, Steve Phillips has had a front-row seat to these extraordinary political changes. A civil rights lawyer and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, Phillips draws on his extensive political experience to unveil exactly how people of color and progressive whites add up to a new majority, and what this means for U.S. politics and policy. A book brimming with urgency and hope, Brown Is the New White exposes how far behind the curve Democrats are in investing in communities of color — while illuminating a path forward to seize the opportunity created by the demographic revolution
Review
"Steve Phillips has provided a vital roadmap to a more hopeful, more inclusive America. Let’s pay attention to this important book as we gear up, in 2016, to use our votes to make real change." Van Jones, founder, the Dream Corps, CNN contributor, and author of The Green Collar Economy and Rebuild The Dream
Review
"Steve Phillips understands, honors, and illuminates how the transformational work of Dr. King fundamentally changed the composition of the country such that justice-making is possible now more than ever. Decades after Nixon’s cynical political calculation, the time is ripe for a new Southern strategy. This book helps point the way." Reverend Raphael Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Review
"Steve Phillips has been far ahead of the curve in understanding not only where America is but what America will be. Both the analysis and vision that runs through this book should be required reading for all policy makers and political leaders committed to ensuring our country works for all of us." Neera Tanden, president, Center for American Progress
Review
"In this compelling new book, Steve Phillips lays out the plain facts regarding why progressives must act now to turn America’s changing demographics into a political majority that could lead our nation for decades to come." Congressman Mark Takano
Review
"Steve Phillips has a deep understanding of how the civil rights movement changed America. His book sparks an important conversation about what increasing racial and cultural diversity will mean for American politics and policy." Senator Cory Booker
Review
“A passionate discussion of race and politics sure to inspire heated debate and, hopefully, proactive solutions.” Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Steve Phillips is not only an author writing about the potential of a ‘New American Majority.’ He is one of its gifted architects, an innovator with deep roots in electoral politics and a passion for connecting people of every race and background in common purpose. His energetic book, Brown Is the New White, is both a fascinating exploration of today’s rapidly changing demographic landscape and an opportunity to see the future through the eyes of one of America’s most engaging public servants and progressive political minds."
Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, Harvard University
Review
"A must-read for anyone seeking to make change happen, from small towns, to the halls of Congress, to the White House."
John Podesta, former Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton and former Counselor to President Barack Obama
About the Author
Steve Phillips is an attorney and the founder and chairman of PowerPAC+ and PowerPAC.org. In 1992, at the age of twenty-eight, he became the youngest person ever elected to public office in San Francisco when he won a seat on the Board of Education, where he went on to serve as president. He lives in San Francisco.