Cooking with Grease : Stirring the Pots in American Politics

Rating:
Summary: A Great Read
Review: I started reading this book and could not put it down. It is a very interesting read and gives an insight on how important voting is. Every true (and I mean EVERY!!) patriot should read this book. I have always watched her on CNN and wondered what was behind her; now i know. To Donna, you are simply the greatest of all time!!!!

Rating:
Summary: An insightful, easy read.
Review: In addition to a fascinating story of her life history, and what makes her tick, Donna Brazile's book gave a fascinating accounting of the stolen election of 2000 from which so many of us are still reeling. It gives voice and details to so many who feel that the FL issue was not pregnant chads, but voter suppression and intimidation.
I think African Americans, as a group, understand the importance and value of participation and democracy more than anyone else in our society. History has proved that the more the inclusion, the more prosperity for the society. Wish we didn't have to learn the same lessons over and over again. Let's hope things will improve in the next election cycle, though we will have a real challenge with the new voter machines. No matter what, she's right on target to focus on voter education. This book teaches much about our election system and process.

Rating:
Summary: All Politics Is Local, Hot, Spicy & Greasy
Review: In Cooking With Grease, Donna Brazile shows she can bring home the political bacon on a local and national level, using her God given ability to connect with and organize people from all walks of life for a favorable political and social end. From her humble beginnings in Louisiana, when at the age of 9 she became involved in grassroots organizing for a city councilman, to the apex of her career as campaign manager for Al Gore, Brazile championed "family values" without ever using the phrase. Brazile's story of politics and power is interwoven with stories about her religious beliefs, intimate details of her family relationships and glimpses of the family lives of politicians with whom she worked.

For anyone seeking to understand this highly regarded and complex woman, Cooking With Grease will give you an eye opening view of her. Her rise to political power begins with the matriarchs of her family, her grandmother and mother and creshendo's with the patriarch, her father. Her absolute affection, loyalty and devotion to Rev. Jesse Jackson caught me by surprise, but is noble.

I liked the book because it really affirmed Tip O'Neil's saying that all politics is local. Brazile and others like her add a litle spice everynow and then and help keep the Democratic party well seasoned.

Rating:
Summary: Political Gumbo
Review: The 2000 Presidential election was a devastating experience for the Democratic Party and for the country. Voting irregularities and dirty politics blazed the trail to the White House for George W. Bush. As the Democrats struggled to recover from an election that was ultimately decided by the United States Supreme Court, Donna Brazile, the manager of the Gore-Lieberman campaign, pondered her political future. She had made history as the first black person to head a major presidential campaign, now it was time to pick up the pieces and decide what was next in her life. Ultimately she would turn to her humble beginnings for support and guidance.

Donna Lease Brazile was born December 15, 1959, in New Orleans, Louisiana, one of nine children in a poor working class family that was low on money but rich in pride and intelligence. She started her illustrious political career at the age of nine and never looked back. Donna went from registering people to vote in her neighborhood to planning marches to have Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday declared a national holiday. However, her key role has been twofold: to get out the black vote during elections and to make sure that the black vote is not taken for granted by the Democratic party. She takes the political process very seriously and wants to bring the same keen awareness to others.

COOKING WITH GREASE: Stirring the Pots in American Politics by Donna Brazile is the true story of an enterprising and determined woman whose passion for politics and for her people propelled her to lead a major campaign. She is a great storyteller and the fact that each chapter was named after a tasty New Orleans dish made reading this book even more enjoyable. I am very inspired by the author's story and I am much more motivated to become a part of the political process.

Reviewed by Simone A. Hawks
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers