On the road with UNDIVIDED!

Join me!

Friends,

We’re about two weeks away from the launch day (Sept. 24th!) for my new book, UNDIVIDED: THE QUEST FOR RACIAL SOLIDARITY IN AN AMERICAN CHURCH. (And finally, it’s really here!)

I’m (nervous, but) excited for all the opportunities to discuss the book with you all in Washington DC, New York, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, London, Ottawa, and other locations forthcoming! The dates and details are above. I know everyone is busy (and apparently low-attendance book events happen to the best of us), but if you are in the area and inclined to show up, I’d love to see you.

Pre-registration for the DC event on September 24th is here…

…and pre-registration for the NYC event on September 25th is here!

Pre-order the book here or find out more from the last message, forwarded below.

Always with gratitude,
Hahrie

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// Begin forwarded message: //

August 14

Friends,

I am thrilled to share that my new book, UNDIVIDED: THE QUEST FOR RACIAL SOLIDARITY IN AN AMERICAN CHURCH, will be released from Knopf next month.

Working on this book stretched my mind and my heart in ways I couldn’t have imagined. It introduced me to a world of people fighting for racial justice in one of the largest, white-dominant evangelical megachurches in America. When I first heard about this work in 2016, the campaign manager—himself a veteran of many bitter political fights—told me it was “unlike anything” he had ever seen. He was right. The story surprised me at every turn—because of the way it demonstrated what becomes possible when we manifest the courage to fight for everyone’s dignity, the way it defied stereotypes about evangelicalism, and what it taught me about how communities can overcome some of the most intractable divides we face in America.

The book traces the journey of four congregants at the Crossroads church—two men, one Black and one white, and two women, one Black and one white—who were all part of a racial justice program called Undivided in 2016. Each character became animated to take on the work of anti-racism, but then had to grapple with the inevitable backlash that came with the work during the Trump era, and what that meant for how they understood themselves, their faith, and their communities. None of the characters, nor the church, followed a linear path from complicity to justice. And the work remains fragile. But none of them came away unchanged—neither did I.

Many of you know that I have spent my career trying to understand how to equip people to work together so we can all become architects of our own futures; working on this book taught me urgent lessons about the science of organizing, movements, and social change I didn’t know I needed to learn. And, along the way, it renewed my hope in the power of faith to heal our broken world, and the vital importance of organizing and politics, properly understood.

UNDIVIDED will be published by Knopf on September 24th. I was extremely grateful that Publishers Weekly named it to one of their 10 Noteworthy Nonfiction Debuts for Fall 2024, and wrote that it was, "Perceptive . . . Rigorously researched and richly nuanced, this deserves wide readership.” Kirkus called it "Inspiring: a key text for any reader seeking strategies for racial reconciliation.”

I hope you will consider reading (or listening to) the book! It would be especially valuable if you could PLACE A PRE-ORDER NOW—I have learned that the pre-orders really matter! And, if you were willing to spread the word to others about the book, I’d be very appreciative (share this post below, or see Instagram, X, BlueSky, LinkedIn, and Facebook). I also hope that I will get to see many of you on book tour—details about upcoming events in Washington D.C., New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Houston (and others forthcoming!) are on the book’s webpage at Knopf, or on my (mediocre) webpage here (stay tuned for updates!).

With gratitude,

Hahrie

P.S. I do not intend to send regular notes via this Substack (but I will send a few book updates!). If you want to unsubscribe, please do so using the link below.