Author Talk: CNN's Abby Phillip on Jesse Jackson's Legacy
The Author Series welcomes CNN anchor and author Abby Phillip for a special visit celebrating her new book, A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and the Fight for Black Political Power (2025, Flatiron Books). Focusing on Jackson's presidential runs in 1984 and, especially, 1988, Phillip highlights how Jackson built an unlikely coalition that showed how Black political power could be consolidated. Joining Abby in conversation is fellow acclaimed journalist Amna Nawaz.
His experience working under Martin Luther King; his organizing the SLCC’s Operation Breadbasket in Chicago and beyond; and his roots in the deep South combined into two astonishingly impactful presidential campaigns. Appealing to the working people of urban enclaves like that of Chicago, young people on college campuses, and Black people across the South, he created the modern Democratic coalition—one that has been used by all major Democrats seeking national success from Obama to Biden to Harris.
Copies of A Dream Deferred will be available from Detroit's own 27th Letter Books!
About The Speakers:
Abby Phillip anchors NewsNight with Abby Phillip on CNN. She’s also worked at The Washington Post, ABC News, and Politico. Throughout her career she has covered multiple presidents, campaign finance, lobbying and several presidential campaigns. Phillip was named to the Time 100 Next List in 2021 and she was a recipient of the National Urban League’s Women of Power award. Phillip was raised in Maryland and is a graduate of Harvard University. She lives in New York City with her husband, daughter, and pup Booker T.
Amna Nawaz is an Emmy and Peabody-award winning journalist who currently serves as Co-Anchor and Co-Managing Editor of the PBS News Hour.
In addition to anchoring PBS News’ flagship national news broadcast – where she regularly interviews officials and thought leaders on the biggest stories of our time, Nawaz has hosted PBS podcasts, a primetime arts show, and documentaries on everything from America’s childcare crisis to global plastic pollution to life after incarceration.
Her reporting ranges from politics and foreign affairs, to immigration and education, to culture and sports. She has anchored the show from the U.S. Southern border, Israel after the October 7th attacks, and Kyiv, Ukraine, after interviewing President Zelenskyy.
Prior to joining PBS, Nawaz was anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s livestream coverage of the 2016 presidential election. She also hosted a podcast and reported a documentary on the Texas county with the highest rate of support for Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Before ABC, Nawaz was a foreign correspondent and Islamabad Bureau Chief for NBC News, where she regularly reported on the war in Afghanistan and the broader region.
She lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband and their two daughters
This is NOT a ticketed event. Seats will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please register to receive important updates about Abby's visit.
Questions? Email msummers@detroitpubliclibrary.org!
| Date | Sunday, October 26, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Time | 2:00pm - 4:00pm |
| Location | Main |
| Age Group | Adults |
| Category | Author Events, Community & Advocacy |