One morning in rural Alabama, Michael’s granddaddy unexpectedly dons a fancy suit. Now, Granddaddy was ordinarily a man who wore coveralls and work clothes, and it wasn’t a church day, either, so Michael knew that something really special must be happening. He put on a necktie, himself, for whatever the occasion.

This was the civil rights era in the South, and the occasion, as it turned out, was voting day–the first one that Granddaddy–or anyone in Michael’s family–was allowed to vote. Michael’s teacher said that a law had just been passed making it so. But, as he soon learned, in the South of the 1960s, the journey toward racial justice was long. 

It is, in fact, a journey we’re still on.

On this week’s episode, Granddaddy’s Turn: A Journey to the Ballot Box. Published by Candlewick Press, this award-winning book, written by Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, and illustrated in vivid watercolors by James E. Ransome, was published in 2015 and shares one family’s struggle for voting rights in the civil rights era South. Today, we’ll walk with Michael and his granddaddy to the polls, exploring how this story can shine a light on an important period of American history–and on the promise of one voice, one vote, through the discussion of this book. 

Host Sarah DeBacher is joined by fellow registered voters, Susan Larson, who hosts another book-loving podcast “The Reading Life”, children’s book author and public scholar, Freddie Evans and philosophy professor and author of multiple books on teaching philosophy to the youngest among us, Thomas Warternberg.

We will also hear from Crystal, in conversation with her two daughters, 10 and 6-year-old Bow and Arrow, and from a grandmother, Carmen, who, along with her 8-year-old granddaughter, Alexiah, and her younger bestie, Leilani, talk about Granddaddy’s Turn.