East Baton Rouge Parish Library

Basic Brown, my life and our times, Willie Brown

eng

autobiography

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index present

non fiction

Basic Brown

180690011

Willie Brown

my life and our times

In Basic Brown, this product of rural, segregated Texas and the urban black neighborhoods of San Francisco tells how he rose through the civil rights movement to become the most potent black politician in America through his shrewd understanding and use of political power and political money. He adapts the lessons he has learned so they can be used by anyone -- black, female, male -- intent on acquiring political power. And this master of the political deal demonstrates why deals are not enough, and that political power grows only when public good is being done. Willie Brown shows how some of the most far-reaching and socially advanced legislation in American history -- like gun control, legalized abortion, gay rights, and school funding -- was carried out under his guidance and on his watch, and tells of the ingenuity, the political machinations, and the personal perseverance that were required to enact what now seems to many to be obvious legislationThese are stories of breathtaking, sometimes hilarious ruses and gambits that show that even the most high-minded legislation needs the assistance of the skills of a shark, which is what Willie Brown often sees himself as. Basic Brown is a compendium of insights and stories on the real forces governing power in American political life that will leave you looking at politics anew. It is also the inspiring and funny story of the rise of a gawky teenager in mail-order shoes and trousers who rose to entertain royalty and schoolchildren, superstars and supersize egos, the saintly and the scholarly, while working to transform and open American politics. If you ever wanted to learn how to be slick, a shark, a do-gooder, and a man of your word, Willie L. Brown, Jr., is the storyteller for you

Willie Brown, who are you kidding? -- Willie Brown is not kidding -- Consensus and power -- Sex scandals and the socializing politician -- The power of clothes : don't pull a Dukakis -- Black politics and racism today -- Women in American politics today -- Asking for money is part of the business -- My solution to the campaign finance mess -- Should one politician call the cops on another? -- A black teenager arrives in San Francisco -- Phil Burton, Herb Caen, Jesse Unruh and me -- My own family life -- Gay rights : how some historic legislation was really made -- Starting on my rise to power -- Stabbed in the back on the way up -- The assassinations of George Moscone and Harvey Milk -- Loyalty and betrayal on the way to the top -- Elected speaker -- Old-time money scams -- "An offer like that could land us both in jail" -- My money raising principles --Tricks the FBI played to try to get me -- TGun control; Nelson Mandela's California allies; and saving kingdergartens -- Sustaining speakership : most magnificent moment -- The godfather and the father of the house -- Why would you want to be mayor? -- Running for mayor -- Slick Willie : da mayor -- A mayor is actually supposed to solve problems -- The selfish : the killer dynamic of city politics -- Traction and no traction : muni and homelessness -- Restoring the city's crown jewel -- A football stadium and a sado-masochistic birthday party -- Schemers scorned -- Sacred cartel -- A mayor makes friends with warlords as well as with nice people -- The scared days and an urban legend -- The political life -- What is a politician?