Gene R. Nichol Books

The book focuses on the personal narratives of North Carolinians living in poverty, highlighting the struggles faced by over 1.5 million residents, including a significant number of children. Gene R. Nichol shares insights from extensive interviews conducted since 2012, aiming to shed light on the often-overlooked realities of poverty. In a new afterword, he presents updated data and emphasizes the need for societal commitment to address and ultimately eradicate poverty, which he identifies as a critical challenge requiring collective action beyond political divides.

North Carolina had a big, unfortunate headstart on now-common attacks on democratic institutions--the lessons learned as NC makes its way out of the chaos can benefit other states. Attacks from the radical right will plague the entire nation for the foreseeable future, and now is the time to seek out the causes and find the path to remedy them. In his most personal book yet, Indecent Assembly author Gene Nichol, takes on, unsurprisingly, race, religion, poverty, higher education, constitutionalism, movement politics, the meaning of North Carolina proper. He forecasts the future of democratic promise in the state, the South, and the United States. This book is not reportage, but rather a cri de coeur, with inspiration and aspiration for the next generation. Nichol discusses the path forward and the range of solutions that may play out in North Carolina and elsewhere, with an engaged cross-section of the citizenry.