Writers for Democratic Action, Book the Vote and indies across the U.S. present…

An Afternoon with Congressman Jamie Raskin

in conversation  WDA founding member Paul Auster

Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy

Friday, July 29, 2022, 1 PM (PT), 2 PM (MT), 3 PM (CT) / 4 PM (ET)

Join us for an in-depth conversation on voting, voting rights & the upcoming midterm elections with Congressman Jamie Raskin front and center and his searing memoir a vital reminder of the ongoing struggle for the soul of American democracy and the perseverance that our Constitution demands from us all.

On December 31, 2020, Tommy Raskin, the only son of Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin, tragically took his own life after a long struggle with depression. Seven days later on January 6, Congressman Raskin returned to Congress to help certify the 2020 Presidential election results, when violent insurrectionists led by right wing extremist groups stormed the U.S. Capitol hoping to hand four more years of power to President Donald Trump. As our reeling nation mourned the deaths of numerous people and lamented the injuries of more than 140 police officers hurt in the attack, Congressman Raskin, a Constitutional law professor, was called upon to put aside his overwhelming grief—both personal and professional—and lead the impeachment effort against President Trump for inciting the violence. Together this nine-member team of House impeachment managers riveted a nation still in anguish, putting on an unprecedented Senate trial that produced the most bipartisan Presidential impeachment vote in American history.

Now for the first time, Congressman Raskin discusses this unimaginable convergence of personal and public trauma, detailing how the painful loss of his son and the power of Tommy’s convictions fueled the Congressman’s work in the aftermath of modern democracy’s darkest day.  Through it all, he reckons with the loss of his brilliant, remarkable son, a Harvard Law student whose values and memory continually inspired the Congressman to confront the dark impulses unleashed by Donald Trump.

Congressman Jamie Raskin has proudly represented Maryland’s 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017. Prior to his time in Congress, Raskin was a three-term State Senator in Maryland and the Senate Majority Whip. He was also a professor of constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law for more than 25 years. Congressman Raskin is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and a former Editor of the Harvard Law Review.

Paul Auster is the bestselling author of 4 3 2 1, Winter Journal, Sunset Park, Invisible, The Book of Illusions, and The New York Trilogy, among many other works. He has been awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, the Prix Médicis étranger, an Independent Spirit Award, and the Premio Napoli.

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WRITERS FOR DEMOCRATIC ACTION presents the DEMOCRACY BOOK CLUB: Unthinkable: An Afternoon with Jamie Raskin and Paul Auster