So if you happen to be reading these words, odds are that the news program that you’ve watched today as you’ve made your coffee or lounged on your couch contained at least one story about the chaos of the current federal government. Your newspaper has headlines of the roughshod rhetoric of President Donald Trump, and you’re wondering how things have gone this awry in just a little over two months. 

 

For me, I refer back to the lessons I internalized during his first term. One of those was to dig in my heels and be more intentional with what I read and listened to. In looking at nonfiction titles to dive into to begin the year, I wound up discovering that one of my favorite news personalities, Ali Velshi of MSNBC, released a book. I watch his show when I can on the weekends, because he’s one host who strives to tell the entirety of the story to his viewers which isn’t something that some media producers seem to allow without a slant being presented. 

 

The book, Small Acts of Courage, is a family memoir and a look into how people can tap into what is right and dedicate themselves to social justice simply and earnestly. The book doesn’t shy away from laying out the seriousness of the topic and the danger that journalists face, as he opens the prologue by writing about the night in May 2020 when he was shot with a rubber bullet while covering the uprising in Minneapolis, Minnesota after the murder of George Floyd by former police officer Derek Chauvin. That becomes the anchor for his story of obtaining his American citizenship, which he viewed lightly at first in a flashback moment, leading to a striking paragraph as he recalled the night of his being shot: 

 

“That was the moment when I finally became a citizen in the deepest sense of the word, because that was the day I understood how invested in this place I truly need to be. One day, I’ll find out who shot me, and when I do, I’ll go and I’ll thank them, because what they did was open my eyes. They woke me up. They changed my entire outlook on democracy. That rubber bullet told me, “You’re in this fight. You’re not watching it anymore. You’re in it, whether you want to be or not.”

 

Small Acts of Courage is remarkable, as Velshi recounts the journey of his ancestors from India to South Africa, where his great-grandfather would wind up as a student of Mahatma Gandhi at his first ashram, or sanctuary. That decision would be the major factor that altered his family’s trajectory, and embed within them a sense of ethical duty to others and a responsibility to do right in the world, with his father ultimately becoming the first Muslim to be part of Canada’s provincial government.

 

The way Velshi writes everything out shows a keen sense of pacing. You get invested quick in learning about his family (and how the surname Velshi came to be), and his skills in laying out the context for his family’s journey in apartheid-era South Africa as Indians to being in a newly independent Kenya to becoming Canadian citizens is unpacked neatly with deep and honest reflection. 

 

There are moments, for me, when Small Acts of Courage felt conversational and matter-of-fact. One of those moments is when he talks about the fact that the patriarchal system of his background (Velshi’s family follows Nizari Isma'ilism) didn’t fully allow women like his mother to have their own political careers. He rightfully sees it as an issue, and states that part of his intent in writing the book is to change the narrative to illustrate the obstacles they faced and how newer generations have begun to make change. Another moment I appreciate is how he talks about Gandhi with nuance, taking care to talk about his early indifference to the plight of indigenous Black South Africans early on.

 

Above all, what I appreciate the most in Small Acts of Courage is how much Velshi’s writing highlights just how much people have a personal responsibility to help defend and preserve democracy. It can’t be left solely to others to do the heavy lifting. It takes accountability and community. He lays out how Canada’s own political system based on multiculturalism, while not perfect, has lessons that we in the U.S. can truly reaffirm. Lessons a good deal of us have forgotten. There’s a healthy sense of appreciation for what democracy means to identity, and how when government works as it is supposed to, it can be taken for granted. But it shouldn’t be. If you’re in the mood for a great memoir and something to inspire you to do good for your community and country, pick up Small Acts of Courage. Consider it a way to mend the fabric of what you believe in, page by page