Rep. Cori Bush, the first Black woman elected to Congress from Missouri, will share her path to politics in a memoir, The Forerunner, this fall.
According to a release from publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Bush will write about growing up in St. Louis, where she has worked as a nurse, pastor, and community organizer. In 2014, Bush participated in the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by police. The experience moved her to enter politics, and after failed bids for the U.S. Senate in 2016 and the House of Representatives in 2018, she won the House seat for the state’s 1st Congressional District, defeating a 10-term incumbent, in 2020.
Since her election, Bush has been affiliated with the “Squad,” a group of progressive members of Congress that includes Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley. In the release, Bush said The Forerunner would discuss her experience with domestic and sexual violence, and address issues of income and racial inequality that drove her to run for office.
“If telling my story helps others in positions of power better understand how their decision-making affects regular, everyday people, people like me, then my own self-exposure is worth it,” Bush said in the release. “I’m sharing my truth because I feel an urgency to put my mind, my body, and my reputation on the line to make sure our communities get what we need. I hope being open about my own journey will help ease others’ pain.
The Forerunner is scheduled for publication on Oct. 3.
Mark Athitakis is a journalist in Phoenix who writes about books for Kirkus, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and elsewhere.
