Please join us in the bookstore for a conversation between New York Times National Political Correspondent Jonathan Martin and lawyer, political commentator, politician and author Bakari Sellers as they discuss Martin’s recent New York Times bestseller, This Will Not Pass.
These two remarkable men have their fingers directly on the pulse of the current state of politics in this country, and the conversation is sure to be engaging, informative and powerful. Please join us at 5:30pm for a refreshment before the program begins at 6pm. This is a FREE event, but RSVPs are strongly encouraged; please email rsvp@buxtonbooks.com to reserve your spot.
ABOUT THIS WILL NOT PASS:
The shocking, definitive account of the 2020 election and the first year of the Biden presidency by two New York Times reporters, exposing the deep fissures within both parties as the country approaches a political breaking point.
This is the authoritative account of an eighteen-month crisis in American democracy that will be seared into the country’s political memory for decades to come. With stunning, in-the-room detail, New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns show how both our political parties confronted a series of national traumas, including the coronavirus pandemic, the January 6 attack on the Capitol, and the political brinksmanship of President Biden’s first year in the White House.
From Donald Trump’s assault on the 2020 election and his ongoing campaign of vengeance against his fellow Republicans, to the behind-the-scenes story of Biden’s selection of Kamala Harris as his running mate and his bitter struggles to unite the Democratic Party, this book exposes the degree to which the two-party system has been strained to the point of disintegration. More than at any time in recent history, the long-established traditions and institutions of American politics are under siege as a set of aging political leaders struggle to hold together a changing country.
Martin and Burns break news on most every page, drawing on hundreds of interviews and never-before-seen documents and recordings from the highest levels of government. The book asks the vitally important (and disturbing) question: can American democracy, as we know it, ever work again?
ABOUT JONATHAN MARTIN:
Jonathan Martin is a national political correspondent for The New York Times and a political analyst for CNN. He joined the Times in 2013 after working as a senior political writer for POLITICO. His work has been featured in The New Republic, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. A native of Arlington, Virginia, Martin is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College.
ABOUT BAKARI SELLERS:
Bakari was born into an activist family. His father, civil rights leader Cleveland Sellers, instilled core values in him to continue in the tireless commitment to service. In 2005 Bakari earned a bachelor's degree in African-American Studies from Morehouse College. He continued his education at the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2008 earning a juris doctor. Bakari currently practices law with the Strom Law Firm, LLC in Columbia, SC where he heads the firm’s Strategic Communication and Public Affairs team and has recently added Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consulting to the list of services offered. Bakari made history in the 2006 South Carolina state legislature as the youngest African American elected official in the nation, at the age of 22. His political career did not stop there, in 2014 he was the Democratic Nominee for Lt. Governor in the state of South Carolina. Bakari has also worked for United States Congressman James Clyburn and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. His accomplishments do not go unnoticed within the Democratic Party. In 2008 he served on President Obama’s South Carolina steering committee. His ability to “reach across the aisle to get things done” has led to numerous achievements including being named TIME Magazine’s 40 Under 40 and “The Root 100” list of the nation’s most influential African-Americans in 2015, and HBCU Top 30 Under 30 in July 2014. Bakari has served as a featured speaker at various Political Events, Universities, and National Trade Organizations across the country, such as the 2008 and 2016 Democratic National Convention. Bakari is married to his wife Dr. Ellen Rucker-Sellers and father to twins Sadie and Stokely.