According to recent surveys and studies, race relations in the United States are the worst they've been since the 1990s, and many would argue that life for most minorities has not significantly improved since the civil rights era of the 1960s. For so many, the dream of true equality has dissolved into a reality of prejudice, fear, and violence as a way of life. John M. Perkins has been there from the beginning. Raised by his sharecropping grandparents, Perkins fled Mississippi in 1947 after his brother was fatally shot by a police officer. He led voter registration efforts in 1964, worked for school desegregation in 1967, and was imprisoned and tortured in 1970. Through it all, he has remained determined to seek justice and reconciliation based in Christ's redemptive work. "Justice is something that every generation has to strive for," he says. And despite the setbacks of recent years, Perkins finds hope in the young people he has met all across the nation who are hard at work, bringing about reconciliation in God's name and offering acceptance to all. Dream with Me is his look back at a life devoted to seeking justice for all God's people, as well as a look forward to what he sees as a potentially historic breakthrough for people of every race.
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Short Review: I have read just about everything that Perkins has written. This is a good addition to what he has previously written, although he also hits a number of themes he is known for as well.
This should be thought of as near end of life thoughts from an elder, similar to John Stott's Radical Disciple or Jimmy Carter's A Full Life: Reflections at 90. There isn't a lot of autobiography here, if you don't know his story already, I would read either his memoir Let Justice Roll Down or his biography (now out of print) by Stephen Beck.
The best sections are about Spencer and how his loss impacted both John Perkins and his family personally and how that impacted their ministry corporately. There is an openness and rawness in these sections that I think is important to see.
I also really like the fact that he questions his own tactics openly. He knows he had good goals, empowering people, teaching about Christ, reconciliation, etc. And he knows he serves a good God. But how he approached things (like encouraging his children to be the first to integrate schools) he is open about the fact that he is not sure he made the right decisions all the time. That openness is very helpful.
Perkins is also a good bible teachers. So I like to hear him preach.
Because he has the history he has, his words are convicting because they are not abstract. Perkins has done the work that he is encouraging the reader to do, and more.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/dream-with-me/
