We are so excited to announce that Author & Activist Janet Mock will be in Conversation with CNN's Symone Sanders at the NAACP National Convention. This event will be at capacity, it is HIGHLY SUGGESTED that you purchase your pre-signed copy for pick up as you get to the event. Pictures will be taken during the meet and greet and available for access after the signing.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Riveting, rousing, and utterly real, Surpassing Certainty is a portrait of a young woman searching for purpose and place in the world – without a roadmap to guide her forward.
Surpassing Certainty begins a few months before Janet Mock’s twentieth birthday. She is adjusting to her days as a first-generation college student at the University of Hawaii and her nights as a dancer at a club. Finally content in her body, she vacillates between flaunting and concealing herself as she navigates dating and disclosure, sex and intimacy, and most important being truly seen.
Under the neon lights of Club Nu, Janet meets Troy, a yeoman stationed at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, who becomes her first. The pleasures and perils of their union serve as a backdrop for Janet’s progression through her early twenties with all the universal growing pains – falling in and out of love, living away from home, and figuring out what she wants to do with her life.
Fueled by her dreams and an inimitable drive, a woman with few advantages plots her way through New York City while holding her truth close. She builds a career in the highly competitive world of New York magazine publishing – within the unique context of being trans, a woman and a person of color.
Long before she became one of the world’s most respected voices in media and lauded leaders for equality and justice, Janet was a girl taking the time she needed to just be – to learn how to advocate for herself before becoming an advocate for others. Surpassing Certainty will embolden you as you witness Janet’s slow-won successes and painful failures, shift the way you see others, and affirm you as you seek certainty in yourself.
ABOUT JANET MOCK
Janet Mock is a writer, TV host, and advocate whose work has appeared in Marie Claire, The New York Times, and Lenny. With a master’s degree in journalism from New York University, the Honolulu native worked as an editor at People.com, produced HBO’s The Trans List, hosted a series of specials for MSNBC, and appeared on OWN’s Super Soul Sunday. Oprah Winfrey has called her a “fearless new voice” and “trailblazing leader” who “changed my way of thinking.” In addition, Janet has been honored by the Ms. Foundation for Women and Planned Parenthood, has spoken at the Women’s March on Washington, and Time magazine named her one of “the most influential people on the internet.” She is the author of New York Times bestseller Redefining Realness. Find out more at JanetMock.com.
ABOUT SYMONE SANDERS
A champion for women, Symone D. Sanders is a democratic strategist, communications consultant and CNN Political Commentator who rose to prominence during her tenure as the national press secretary for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. At 25, Symone demonstrated an uncanny command of the issues earning her a place in history as the youngest presidential press secretary on record. However, Symone was not new to presidential politics. When she was 16, she introduced former President Bill Clinton at a luncheon in Omaha. Following her remarks, President Clinton said, “Symone spoke so well I really hate to follow her.” President Clinton went on to write about Symone in his book, Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World.
A communicator with a passion for policy and juvenile justice reform, Symone is the immediate past chair of the Coalition for Juvenile Justice’s Emerging Leaders Committee and former member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice. Through her involvement with CJJ and FACJJ, Symone worked to raise the profile of young voices in the fight for juvenile justice reform and bring millennial perspectives to policy conversations.
Now, Symone draws from her experience on the national stage to provide perceptive analysis on political and social issues. Her lively presentations challenge the conventional wisdom that strong communities are only defined by what we have in common. Instead, she outlines the way our differences contribute to effective social movements.
Symone’s cogently constructed messages and polished delivery embolden participants to envision a better future and confidently do things that have never been done before.
Symone has been featured on NPR, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, Fox News, ABC, BET and has been profiled in the Washington Post, Essence Magazine, Black Enterprise, Cosmopolitan and ELLE. Most recently, she was honored by Fusion as one of 30 women under 30 who will influence the 2016 elections, named one of 16 young Americans shaping the 2016 election by Rolling Stone, one of the most influential African-Americans of 2016 by The Root and one of the 2017 Woke 100 by Essence Magazine.
A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Symone is a proud member of the Capital City (DC) chapter of the Links, Incorporated, Northern Virginia Urban League Young Professionals Network and The Collective 100. When she is not on the campaign trail, Symone resides in Washington D.C.
ABOUT THE NAACP
Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP’s work and our six “Game Changer” issue areas by visiting NAACP.org.