Now What? - by Gene R Nichol (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Commentator Gene Nichol offers inspiration and ideas for blazing a progressive path forward in North Carolina, a decidedly purple state.

In the 2024 election cycle, there was good news and bad news for North Carolina progressive politics. The people elected a Democratic Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, and managed to obtain a tiny toehold with the General Assembly. However, Trump prevailed in the state and nationally--leaving a large number of progressives with a lot of political energy and no place to go. So, what now? What next? Gene Nichol writes to those who are well aware of the issues that North Carolina and the country at large now face. This book tackles the all-important question of how progressives can continue to move the state forward, tackling the opposition and their own flagging spirits.

Review Quotes

"The changes in North Carolina are shocking and depressing. Gene Nichol was either in the ring or agitating from a front row seat. He knows this sad story because he was there. The war is still raging. And he's still fighting."--John Grisham, author of The Guardians and The Firm

"Gene Nichol has become the Tar Heel State's progressive conscience."--Rob Cristensen, longtime North Carolina political reporter, columnist, and author of Southern News, Southern Politics: How a Newspaper Defined a State for a Century

"The 'core, absolutist principle' of North Carolina's Republican lawmakers is to 'cut taxes for the richest Tar Heels, ' concludes Gene Nichol in Now What: How North Carolina Can Blaze a Progressive Path Forward. In his probing analysis, Nichol deftly exposes the Republican Party's assault on democratic governance, their success in funneling billions into private schools, their refusal to address the needs of our most vulnerable citizens, and their opposition to measures that respond to the existential threat of climate change. But the very fact that they rely upon 'pretext, sham, and outright lies' to conceal policies they know are unpopular gives progressive North Carolinians an opportunity to respond with 'aggressive truth telling.' As Gene Nichol shows us: relentless truth telling can galvanize progressives and citizens across the state. Read it, and take heart."--Dan T. Carter, author of Unmasking the Klansman and From George Wallace to Newt Gingrich

About the Author

Gene R. Nichol is a law professor, commentator, and author of Indecent Assembly: The North Carolina Legislature's Blueprint for the War on Democracy and Equality (Blair) and The Faces of Poverty in North Carolina: Stories from Our Invisible Citizens. He was director of the UNC Poverty Center until it was closed by the UNC Board of Governors for publishing articles critical of the then governor and General Assembly. Since 2015, his research has been supported by the North Carolina Poverty Research Fund. He lives in Chapel Hill, NC.