MARCUS HARRISON GREEN - READYING TO RISE;ESSAYS

Writing is a tool of exploration, and readers of Marcus work get the benefit of his deep dives into family relationships, mental health, racial dynamics and many other parts of life that people leave largely unexamined because looking too closely feels perilous. Readers who go along with Marcus on his fearless journey in Readying to Rise may be inspired to look more closely at themselves and the world.

Jerry Large, former Seattle Times columnist

In this invigorating collection of essays and speeches, celebrated orator and columnist Marcus Harrison Green calls readers to act upon the claims of our collective conscience. Readying to Rise made me feel seen but not scolded. By combining personal stories with political insights, Green forges a path for those willing to engage with this world that so direly needs our efforts.

Kristen Millares Young, journalist, essayist & author of Subduction

Long before Americas reckoning on racism and historical injustice, Marcus Harrison Green was busy peering into the nations psycheand examining his own. These incisive essays, some outward looking and others tenderly personal, show why his vision of journalism as a force for social good is so suited for our times. Marcus wears his heart on his sleeve, as everyone in his beloved South Seattle knows, but as a Black man in a nation thats only beginning to see the dignity of those whove been rendered powerless, hes under no illusions about the hard work that will be required for this country face its sins and at last, make us all feel at home.

These are of the chronicles of a nation wrestling with whether to reach for the best of itself, a man bearing his soul and a journalist coming to terms with his calling.

Tyrone Beason, Journalist, Los Angeles Times

After Marcus decided to leave a successful, lucrative career in finance in Los Angeles, he returned to Seattle. This is where I met him, eager and ready to be a journalist. I was a news director at a public radio station in Seattle. Marcus sent me an email expressing his interest to be a volunteer reporter. I will admit, I was skeptical. If only I could count the amount of emails I received regularly from folks who confessed their love of radio and their desire to be on the air. The desire to be on the air being the key point. People wanted to be a radio reporter but rarely did they want to do the unglamorous job of reporting. This was not Marcus. He was earnest and very serious about wanting to do the work. I invited him to my office to meet.

From the start, I was rooting for Marcus. He was a published author of a novel, A Year Without April, when we met. It was clear his writing skills were superb. But it was more than his writing, it was his ambition to use the power of his pen to evoke change and make a difference in the world. Marcus knew he wanted to tell the stories of his home, his love, his muse: South Seattle. It was that singular mission and focus that has served him and the community he serves well.

Just Outside Utopia [the earlier title of this book] is an apt metaphor for the life Marcus has lived thus far. He has long seen himself as an outsider, someone on the margins who can experience a sprinkle of goodness but never fully able to grasp it because of the many isms that linger in every corner, ready to steal his joy at any moment. Racism. Sexism. Ableism. Life has been bittersweet. Knowing this seems to make Marcus push even harder in pursuing truth and justice like it is oxygen.

Many people spout the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Life is a journey, not a destination. For most of those who say it, I often wonder if they fully embrace the meaning and live by the mantra. Marcus is one of the few people who I have met who embodies the message and lives life by those words.

When you read his impassioned essays, you can see why. Marcus has a vision for a world unseen but not unattainable. His power lies in his ability to manifest this vision through his words (and actions). He lays bare the problem and offers many solutions, chief among them: love. But do not mistake this love for an easy love. For to demonstrate this love truly means transformation.

I could not be more different than Marcus. I, a non-practicing, spiritual Christian who believes in God. Marcus, a non-practicing agnostic who does not believe in God. Yet, this is why our friendship or rather our kinship has endured. It is the ability to be different but still see and celebrate one anothers humanity. It is this very simple act that Marcus is challenging us all to do daily and wholeheartedly.