Twelve Years, Three Books, and a Question We Can’t Avoid

By Sharline Chiang

Twelve years ago—almost to the day—I sat in a Chinese teahouse in Berkeley, Imperial Tea Court, waiting to meet a man in politics I wasn’t sure I was up to snuff to work with.

It was the spring of 2014. I was a new mom with a toddler at home, trying to find my way back into the workforce. Before that, I had been a journalist and later a communications director for a few nonprofits. I knew how to tell stories. I knew how to write, edit, and shape ideas. But politics? That wasn’t my lane.

“The manifesto progressives need right now”

A writer friend had connected us. “He’s working on a book,” she told me. “It could be the manifesto progressives need right now.” The man’s name was Steve Phillips. He was based in San Francisco and looking for a book coach—someone to help refine his thinking, sharpen his arguments, and wrestle the manuscript into form.

I was nervous. I had done my homework. Steve had a long, serious history in politics—from being a student organizing leader for both of Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaigns, to becoming the youngest elected official in San Francisco as president of the school board, to launching one of the first independent political action committees supporting Barack Obama, long before Obama’s candidacy was considered viable. Steve and his wife Susan were also early supporters of Kamala Harris.

This was someone deeply embedded in American political life. I was a former education reporter who had never covered national politics before, or coached an author, or written a book. 

He took a chance on me
As I sat there, waiting, a tall Black man walked in—slightly flustered, apologizing with a self-deprecating laugh. He had missed the Berkeley BART stop, ended up all the way in Orinda, and had to double back. I found him immediately disarming—thoughtful, unassuming, grounded. Within minutes we began chatting easily; I relaxed. I was struck by his clarity of purpose. His lifelong commitment to democracy. His deep belief in equity and justice. His insistence that the unfinished work of the civil rights movement still mattered—and that it was urgent.

At one point, I tried to talk him out of hiring me. “I don’t know if I can do this,” I told him. “I’ve never been a book coach and I don’t know much about politics.” He paused, then said essentially: “I think we should try. I’m new to writing a book. You’re new to book coaching. And because you’re an outsider to politics you’ll be able to ask questions from a layperson’s perspective. Let’s figure it out together.” He took a chance on me.

A good team
As it turned out, we worked well together, really well. Steve brought bold, unflinching ideas. He wanted to challenge the nation—especially the Democratic Party—with a kind of tough love rooted in a belief that our power to bring about positive change for all lies in our diversity, not in spite of it. He sought to ground readers in the lessons of history and the possibilities our ancestors have already proven, leaning toward hope rather than cynicism.

He was also incredibly disciplined. A marathon runner, he turned in volumes of pages at a steady pace. Luckily he had the patience, and temperament, to bear my hundreds of “red marks”—endless tracked changes, suggested edits, questions, and ideas. I pushed him. He listened. We made a good team.

Two national bestsellers
That first project became Brown Is the New White. With the help of a dedicated in-house team and nationwide launch network of friends and supporters, the book became a New York Times and Washington Post bestseller. But more importantly, it helped shift the national political conversation and eye toward the importance and value of voters of color, and the reality that they are central to winning elections.

The book’s core argument—that a “New American Majority” consisting of people of color and progressive whites could reshape the political landscape—entered the national discourse in a way that has had lasting impact.

Our next book, How We Win the Civil War, aimed to push the national conversation even further. When we first proposed the title, the publisher worried it sounded too extreme, too hyperbolic. Then came January 6. Suddenly, the language felt spot on.

Going for a three-peat with Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else?
Now, more than a decade after that first teahouse meeting, we are about to release a third book.

On Tuesday, April 21, Steve’s new book—Are White Men Smarter Than Everybody Else?—launches into the world. The book asks a question that many people feel but few are willing to say out loud: Are white men (who only make up 29% of the U.S. population) disproportionately overrepresented in positions of power across every sector of society because they are inherently more capable? Or is it due to deeply embedded systemic preferences—what the book calls “straight white American male preference,” or SWAMP?

As our democracy and civil rights face mounting threats—and are actively being dismantled before our eyes under the current administration—do we still care about equality? And if we do, what are we going to do about it?

Join us for the book launch!

It has been an honor—and joy—to be on this journey with Steve, as well as with the incredible team that has formed over the years. We have also been fortunate to have the dedication of an extended community, including readers like you, who have helped support this work over the years. Together, under the leadership of Steve and his late wife Susan, we have arguably contributed successfully to shifting the political narrative away from the status quo and into the lens of the New American Majority.

This work matters now more than ever. I’m excited for this new book to come out. If Steve’s work has helped you better understand what’s happening in our country—if it has given you language, perspective, or even a measure of hope—please consider joining us. Sign up to be part of the launch. Spread the word about the book. 

It will take all of us to continue pushing for change and insisting that the voices and issues of the New American Majority matter to save our democracy from the current forces leading it, and to build the kind of country we want together.

In many ways, this country is not the same one we were living in when this journey began, when Steve and I first met, 12 years ago. But our belief and hope, that collectively we can make a difference, that we can overcome, and that all of our voices matter, endures.