Vernon Jordan has turned civil rights advancement his life’s work. Growing in Atlanta, Georgia, his parents taught him how to live in a Jim Crow world. Following his graduation from a school predominated with white people, he formed his legal profession and contributed to the desegregation of the University of Georgia. He was then an NAACP field director and ran the National Urban League and United Negro College Fund. This book about Jordan’s life is considered as an American success story.

Vernon Can Read!, a #1 Washington Post bestseller, is an unforgettable account of the life and times of Jordan. When he was a student in Atlanta, as his summer job, he was hired as a driver for a white banker. During the banker’s afternoon naps, Jordan would pass the time reading textbooks, a habit that amazed his employer. And that led to his boss telling his relatives “Vernon can read!”

Almost five decades later, Jordan, who has long been a civil rights leader, consultant and a close friend to business executives and presidents, has known and understood all the challenges, changes, and risks of being black during the civil rights uprising. Following his education at a predominantly white college in the Midwest and earning a degree from Howard University Law School, he decided to dedicate his life to the civil rights cause.

Jordan headed the movement to register black voters from the South and became the president of the civil rights group, National Urban League, where he greatly contributed to the integration of American businesses and social and economic support of the growing black middle class. Survived an assassination from a white racist, he then became a leader in the United States’ conglomerate, legal and political fields.

This book proves to be a testament to Jordan’s family who played a crucial part in the development of the framework for his accomplishments. Vernon Can Read! is a story of courage, sacrifice, style, pride, and success.