The audiobook contains
beautiful memories of Representative Elijah Cummings narrated by Laurence
Fishburne and Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, with a foreword written and read by
Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Included are the eulogies from his funeral delivered by
Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, Secretary Hillary Clinton, Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, Harry Spikes, Kweisi
Mfume, Bishop Walter Scott Thomas, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, Jennifer Cummings, Adia Cummings, and
James Cummings.
Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings was known
for saying “We’re better than this.”
He
said it in Baltimore, a city on the verge of explosion over police treatment of
citizens. He said it in Congress when microphones were shut down, barring
free speech. He said it when the President flaunted his power and ignored
the Constitution. He said it when the President resorted to bullying,
name-calling and feeding racial divisions. We are better than this. He
continued to say it until his final days last October. He said it because
he believed we must call out what is wrong and call on our better selves to
make things right.
In We’re Better Than This,
Cummings details the formative moments in his life that prepared him to hold
President Donald Trump accountable for his actions while in office. Cummings
powerfully weaves together the urgent drama of modern-day politics and the
defining stories from his past. He offers a unique perspective on how his
upbringing as the son of sharecroppers in a South Baltimore neighborhood, rampant
with racism and poverty, laid the foundation of a life spent fighting for
justice.
Cummings
was known for his ability to referee contentious members of Congress and reach
across the aisle for the sake of justice. Since his early days in politics,
Cummings proved his abilities as a leader and legal mind who could operate at
the highest levels of democracy, always working with – and for – the
underserved.
Part
memoir, part call-to-action, the book goes behind the scenes with the House
Democratic leadership, offering an eye-opening account of the relentless and
unprecedented obstructionism by both the President and GOP. Cummings’ final
words present a vital defense of how government oversight defines our
collective trust and makes the case that, even in the face of our nation’s most
challenging times, we must remain rooted in the politics of optimism.
