After the successful release of his thought-provoking and inspiring 2023 book, Fiery Conscience, which documents his decades of speaking truth power, and provides an effective blueprint for bold and courageous leadership, Bankole Thompson, the nationally acclaimed Detroit journalist and standard-bearer for economic justice issues, is set to release another book in the summer.
The new book, HOPE: On The Mountain Of Fear, will examine critical issues relating to economic justice and American democracy and provide a roadmap for how to achieve equality. Meant to inspire people to think seriously and engage on the issues of inequality, Thompson’s book, is a compendium of highly insightful, analytical essays, and powerful transformational stories expertly written by diverse individuals from around the country and centered around the theme of poverty, democracy, and freedom. One of the essays in the book is a tribute to the economic justice legacy and impact of the late Pope Francis, whom Thompson greatly admired and has written and spoken about during his 12-year reign as leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church.
The common thread of distinction in the book is that each chapter will meticulously give the reader a strong sense of resilience and provide meaningful and broader array of possibilities, real life examples, and solutions to give people reason to be hopeful during a period of great challenge and difficulty.
The book, Thompson’s didactic and hopeful literature, will be released in July of this year. His work sits at the intersection of journalism, history, and social change as a truth-teller, a historian of the present, and a force for justice and equality in our time. As the founder and dean of the anti-poverty think tank, The PuLSE Institute, through his work as a twice-a-week opinion columnist at The Detroit News, as host of the weekly podcast, Bankole’s Nation, Thompson has tackled some of the most pressing issues of our time—racial and economic justice, democracy, and leadership. His fearless approach to journalism is a reminder of the fact that words have power, that truth matters, and that everyone has a role to play in shaping the narratives that define our communities.
Thompson’s work over the years has challenged people to not only listen but to engage, think critically, and to act boldly in addressing the myriad of economic justice issues facing underserved communities.
“This book is meant to inspire and give people hope so they don’t have to live in a constant state of fear. The history of every struggle for equality in human history is rooted in the firm belief that one has to be hopeful to continue to challenge the status quo and to bring much needed social impact,” Thompson said. “As we face the profound issues of freedom and morality affecting the human condition today, this is not a time to be neutral. The poet Dante Alighieri warned us about the consequence of being neutral during a period of moral crisis.”
Thompson added, “That is why I felt the need to strongly come out with a book that examines the significance of the landmark issues we are dealing with in this dispensation and to provide a vision and solution that are hopeful. Because we must remain hopeful despite the dreadful consequences of economic injustice.”
His previous book, Fiery Conscience, was not only featured by Forbes, but is also listed in the Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York, considered the premier repository on the global Black experience.
Sister Simone Campbell, leader of the historic “Nuns on the Bus” campaign, and one of the leading anti-poverty champions in the modern American Catholic Church, and a social justice advocate has followed Thompson’s work over the years.
“In the midst of these turbulent times in our nation, we need Fiery Conscience more than ever. We are all called to speak out for the sake of truth and struggle together across divides to realize a justice that includes all. Bankole Thompson does just that and his witness can nourish our spirits,” said Campbell, recipient of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Thompson was the first African American newspaper editor in the nation to conduct a series of exclusive sit-down interviews with former President Barack Obama and wrote a pair of books on Obama.
A member of the National Press Club of Washington D.C., where he’s led discussions on topical issues affecting the nation, Thompson is a sought after speaker and public intellectual who has addressed and keynoted leading institutions such as Brown University, Dillard University, American Jewish Committee, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission among other leading institutions. He writes and speaks about public leadership, corporate social responsibility, equity, inclusion and political economy.
In August of 2023, Dr. Bernard LaFayette Jr., a veteran civil rights leader and one of the last remaining top lieutenants of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who currently serves as the Chairman of the National Board of Directors of the historic Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), tapped Thompson to sit on the National Board of SCLC, the signature civil rights group Dr. King founded, and which played a major role during the Civil Rights Movement. Thompson’s appointment made him the first journalist in American history to sit at the highest decision making body of the civil rights group that Dr. King led and infused his personal legacy into.
In 2015, the University of Michigan Bentley Historically Library, officially established the Bankole Thompson Papers, a comprehensive digital and physical collection to document his work for students and for posterity. The Bentley houses the papers of every Michigan governor.
