Unfinished Agenda provides an inside overview at the Black Power Movement that came up during the Civil Rights Movements of the 1960s. As he writes his book, Junius Williams provokes a wide range of emotions locked inside people’s memories. He describes his journey while showing how he also cares for his community and his ambitions to bring forward positive changes. Unfinished Agenda is a political memoir that appeals to readers of black history, armchair political activists, and Occupy Wall Street organizers describing a broad historical reality and personal experience.

Structure of Unfinished Agenda

Junius Williams’ book is a political memoir due to the way it imparts grass-root politics. Amidst the look for real transformations in the Obama era, the book acted as a strong inspiration to people. In his inspiring memoir, Junius provides a description of his journey in the South when he was a young black boy going through prejudice during the 1950s to when he climbed to political and community power in the 70s and 80s in New Jersey (Williams 23). He accompanies his book with twenty-two captivating pictures that highlight essential life events. With the help of the photographs, Junius Williams accounts for some of the intense moments in the Civil Rights Movement. He has also been able to chronicle his personal experiences as he promoted racial demonstrations in Newark.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Historical Narrative like Unfinished Agenda

Benefits

Unfinished Agenda has been used as a medium to describe historical, personal experiences. Williams vividly describes the various experiences and opportunities that he had from when he was a kid living in the South. He explains that he started his education begun at Amherst College after which he went to Yale Law school (Williams 5). Junius’ memoir has shown the importance of the historical significance of some events that took place in American history. His narrative allows the reader to identify his passion and ambition to fight against racism. Ultimately, it is his fight against racial practices that made him serve for many years in Newark politics.

Drawbacks

Junius’ memoir has shown how it does not have genre conventions. The narrative lacks defining characteristics. Junius wrote a story about events that happened in the non-contemporary time and only depicted social conditions as they were shown. As such, it is evident that the memoir is more of a story setting rather than a different method of storytelling.

Short Comment on Interview with Junius Williams

In his first 2011 interview appearance, Junius Williams plays a significant role to deepen his reader’s sense of the book’s perspective by emphasizing that his work was a description of his personal experiences. The interview also enables readers to establish how Junius spent most of his life as a changemaker. He explains in the interview that his book is a source of inspiration to contemporary activists and the generations that will follow (Williams 1). Also, readers can note how he emphasizes the spirit of resistance which allows people to fight for what is rightfully theirs. Through the interview, one can also quickly establish that Junius’s story was a motivation to people who felt concerned about the society they live in. The story is also of great importance to people who feel hopeless or have a burning desire to bring forward positive change. As an activist, Junius Williams inspires people about the need to look out for their rights as human beings.

Works Cited

Williams, Junius W. Unfinished Agenda: Urban Politics in the Era of Black. North Atlantic Books, 2014.

Williams, Junius. “Junius W. Williams | C-SPAN.Org.” C-Span.Org, 2019, https://www.c-span.org/person/?juniuswilliams.