We've Got to Try

“Uplifting. . . . O’Rourke gets an A-plus on both the moral frisson of the long fight and the rightness of the cause. . . . The happy warrior from Texas is inspiring.” --The Washington Post Activist and political leader Beto O’Rourke blends history, sociology, and travelogue for a thrilling, inspiring case for how voting rights is essential to a productive and healthy democracy. In We’ve Got To Try, O’Rourke shines a spotlight on the heroic life and work of Dr. Lawrence Aaron Nixon and the west Texas town where he made his stand. The son of an enslaved man, Nixon grew up in the Confederate stronghold of Marshall, Texas before moving to El Paso, becoming a civil rights leader, and helping to win one of the most significant civil and voting rights victories in American history: the defeat of the all-white primary. His fight for the ballot spanned 20 years and twice took him to the U.S. Supreme Court. With heart, eloquence, and powerful