American Identity in Crisis: Notes from an Accidental Activist

By: Kat Calvin

Narrated by: Chanté McCormick

A trailblazing activist’s passionate and incisive look at why she started a movement to ensure that 26 million Americans have access to the IDs they need to escape poverty and live healthy and productive lives

American Identity in Crisis weaves together three remarkable stories: the making of an activist in the wake of the 2016 presidential election; the fight against the onerous rules that are being used to keep vulnerable and targeted populations from participating in all facets of American life -from obtaining jobs and housing to going to the polls- and how we can solve a problem that impacts millions of American adults.

Kat Calvin ties all of these threads together in profound ways. In American Identity in Crisis, she takes us on a cross-country tour as she and her team uncover one of the biggest secrets in America and learn how to solve it. We meet veterans, the unhoused, and senior citizens, and learn the story of the fierce advocate who insists on recognizing their humanity and seeing them as souls who are resilient and striving for change.

Told in a voice that is strong and vulnerable; funny and fearless, confident and self-deprecating, American Identity in Crisis is a defense of human dignity and everyone’s right to have access to the pursuit of happiness.

Profoundly Significant

A book with the subject of "proof of identity" could easily become a snooze fest, but Kat Calvin handled this subject with wit and humor as she takes you along her journey towards her own understanding. Her deep commitment and selfless determination to exposing the challenges millions of Americans face just to get something as basic as a government ID are shared in this fascinating book, filled with stories and humor as well as the nitty gritty numbers. The list near the end is truly sobering. This book opened my mind and expanded my understanding of what is going on in this country regarding something as simple yet fundamental as our right to vote, and for many, just the right to "be". Read it. Share it. Everyone should know.