On the same day Malcolm Toussaint rocks Chicago by sneaking his racially inflammatory column into the Post's early edition, a pair of white supremacists abduct the African American journalist. Toussaint's kidnapping is a precursor to the duo's deadly intentions toward Barack Obama during his presidential victory speech in Grant Park.
Caught in the crossfire by Toussaint's infraction is his white editor, Bob Carson. Because Toussaint illicitly used Carson's computer and password to insert his article on the newspaper's front page, the managing editors fire both men. Determined to confront his malefactor, an irate Carson believes Toussaint is avoiding him when his calls go unanswered. But then Toussaint's Corvette is found totaled and abandoned. When another Post journalist is assaulted in the parking garage, the entire staff goes on full alert.
As Carson and Toussaint endure the day's treacherous ordeal, they each recall a time 40 years earlier, when they were idealistically entrenched in the civil rights movement. Alternating between 1968 and Election Day 2008, Before I Forget author Leonard Pitts, Jr., deftly explores the volatile complexity of race relations over four decades in the United States. He pokes and prods at the country's scabs, knowing that without air they will never heal.
Grant Park is layered, insightful and passionate. Pitts's subtly explosive language grips readers with the delicate subject matter and earnestly implores them to understand that "[race] has always meant something and it always will." The scars will remain, but stunningly powerful examinations like Grant Park can be the salve that helps heal open wounds. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts