Title: Progress Through Struggle
Author: Henry R. Leggette
Publisher: ReadersMagnet LLC
ISBN: 979-8900000152
Pages: 321
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Reviewer: Alyssa Avina

Read Book Review

In the twenty-first century, one of the questions which comes up time and time again in either political or social commentary is how far the world has progressed. Progression is a measurement for any modern society, showcasing how far the concepts of equality amongst all people have come, how much society is determined by shared concepts of politics, faith, or science, and how everyone is treated within a society divided by class. Being able to determine the progression of a society must first come by examining the past and measuring it against the present.

An idea of progress and what a person must go through to attain progress is the core concept of author Henry R. Leggette’s “Progress Through Struggle. In his memoir, the author explores the challenges he faced in life during an era of history that often saw discrimination and hardship for people of the black community, from education denied to him to job opportunities he would never have been eligible for – and so much more. Through perseverance and living through that struggle, as well as the author’s faith, he was able to find a path and journey that allowed him to find success and live a full life.

The author did an exemplary job of finding a great balance between non-fiction, biographical storytelling with heartfelt and philosophical inspiration, and motivational direction. The detailed and compelling writing style allowed readers to get a clear image in his mind’s eye of the life the author lived, from growing up on a farm in East Central Mississippi to the lower educational values the schools he attended offered to students compared to modern-day standards, and even the path a life in the US Army offered which gave him the tools to push himself and achieve a goal in his chosen field, an electronics position that led to a position within the FAA Aeronautical Academy. The honesty and matter of fact way of speaking to the reader through his writing allowed the author to connect on a personal level with me, and allowed his story to have a much grander impact.

For any reader who enjoys non-fiction books, especially non-fiction books which take a biographical and memoir style of writing and applies that to issues of equality, the struggles of the Black community throughout the twentieth century, and an added depth of motivational writing, this is the perfect book to pick up. The mental and emotional toll of the struggles so many have endured due to societal issues such as segregation during those formative years in the author’s life could be felt in every chapter, and the way the author took the time to bring not only his life stories but the stories of others, from family members to others in the community, to life in this book, all while balancing this out with the author’s views on faith and the part in plays in a person’s direction in life, kept me invested in this book entirely.