2024 Book Review Series: Love & Courage

Like many others, I have a hard time trusting politicians. While I like that voters have learned to be critical of our leaders, I find it sad that we have to. Having read Jagmeet Singh's memoir, I admit that I'm either happy to have a personality like him in our government or extremely gullible - or maybe both. No matter what, I can at least appreciate the text.

In Love & Courage, Singh gives us the whole story of his journey to Canadian politics, beginning before he was born. His mother and father immigrated to Canada from India, entered the medical field, and moved from province to province, all while caring for three small children. Singh and his family spent most of his young life in Windsor, Ontario but while they were settled in a lovely home, their lives were anything but stable. On his way to a successful career as a political leader, the Singhs overcame racism, bullying, poverty, and his father's struggle with alcoholism.

As a text, Singh's memoir is personal, honest, and vulnerable, but is ultimately a strategic work. It is rare that a politician will share the darker aspects of their past, especially their own past mistakes and faulty thinking. I found Singh's willingness to address how his childhood affected him and others made him both more relatable as a fellow human and more credible as a candidate (hence how this book is strategic). Each of his stories played directly into the basis of the philosophy for which his memoir is titled. If voters are growing more skeptical, those in office have to find ways to reach their audience on an equal level; Singh uses his upbringing not only to highlight how he can understand the community's needs but also to demonstrate how he handled each situation presented to him with fortitude, authority, and compassion.

Where this memoir could be improved is in the structural balance of the content. Similarly to Jennette McCurdy's autobiography which I reviewed earlier this year, the bulk of the book focuses on the journey rather than the destination. This is not a bad thing outright - no one wants to read a whole book about all the great things Singh has done after joining the New Democratic Party. However, since this text is tactical at its core, not including more of his early days in politics is an opportunity lost. The memoir begins with a prologue describing how Singh diffused a hostile heckler at an event of his is Brampton, Ontario, but he does not show us the mistakes that he learned from before this. Like any politician, he is not all perfect and I believe addressing his slip ups would have created an even stronger appeal to ethos.

Calculated or not, it's difficult not to like Singh after reading his memoir. His slogan is based on his religious values, his family, and his experiences. And as he learned throughout his life, a little love and courge can go a long way.