A Prayer for America

When Congressman Dennis Kucinich delivered his speech, “A Prayer for America,” to the Southern California chapter of Americans for Democratic Action, it electrified the whole country. In his speech, Kucinich — a 2004 presidential candidate — warned against an America that had discarded the constitutional liberties integral to its identity: “Let us pray that our nation will remember that the unfolding of the promise of democracy in our nation paralleled the striving for civil rights. That is why we must challenge the rationale of the Patriot Act. We must ask why should America put aside guarantees of constitutional justice?” A Prayer for America collects Kucinich’s essays and speeches. It represents his holistic worldview and carries with it a passionate commitment to public service, peace, human rights, workers’ rights, and the environment. His advocacy of a Department of Peace seeks not only to make nonviolence an organizing principle in our society, but to make war a thing of the past. A Prayer for America includes an introductory essay from Kucinich that reflects on his political journey from his election as the youngest mayor of a major American city to his role as a dynamic, visionary leader of the Progressive Caucus of the Congressional Democrats.