First, Best

September 1, 2023
The first Black mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, recounts the life lessons that led him to a career in electoral politics. Is Montgomery really the "capital of the South"? Perhaps not, given Richmond, Atlanta, and Nashville, but Reed isn't shy about making the claim while insisting that his city is prepared to go up against the bigger metropolises by taking their example and "building a more inclusive economy, an opportunity economy that gives everyone the chance to achieve their level of success in every way possible." Part memoir, part motivational treatise, and part political manifesto of a kind that often precedes a bid for higher office, Reed's book honors his father, Joe, a member of the "Moses Generation" that pioneered the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and beyond. One of the lessons his father imparted was that all politics is personal--i.e., that building relationships is part of the business, but maintaining them and not letting them go stale is even more important. "Of all crimes, the worst is ingratitude," he told his son. On the practical front, for Joe, this meant forging alliances as the leader of the Alabama Education Association with people who might not have seemed likely candidates for them, a lesson that the son has brought to his mayoral office by attempting the greatest inclusivity possible, building a new South that works from the premise that "diversity was a strength." Recounting lessons learned at his parents' side about making the best effort one can and expressing gratitude to those who marched against police dogs and batons back in the day, Reed ventures some operating principles of his own: Even when other parties seem unapproachable, leaders seek to build alliances and coalitions; leadership is more important than effectiveness ("The civil rights movement was resource-poor but leadership-rich"), and so forth. A readable, useful manual of practical politics wrapped in an inviting, anecdotal narrative.

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