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Reviewed by Preston Lemoine for Readers' Favorite
In Run: The Wilmot Collins Story, Daniel Blake Smith documents the real-life journey of a man who survived the outbreak of the First Liberian Civil War in December 1989 and eventually built a new life in Helena, Montana. In Monrovia, Wilmot Collins and his fiancée, Maddie Muna, faced severe starvation and the tragic loss of Wilmot’s brothers, Hemie and Cassius. They managed to escape in August 1990 on a crowded Nigerian peacekeeper vessel bound for Ghana. Maddie eventually secured a visa to Montana, while Wilmot underwent years of multi-agency federal vetting before finally arriving in Helena in February 1994. From working as a night counselor and school janitor to enlisting in the Montana National Guard, he integrated into the community and eventually ran a campaign that resulted in his election as mayor in November 2017. This book will show readers the true power of community-led mobilization. It’s an extraordinary chronicle of perseverance that illustrates how civic dedication can transform a community.
Daniel Blake Smith’s Run: The Wilmot Collins Story is an eye-opening political biography that offers a gripping look at survival and public service. The events flow smoothly from one major life milestone to the next, keeping your attention fixed on the sequence of historical events without losing momentum during the transition periods between West Africa and the United States. Smith writes using a straightforward, documentary-like approach that lets the facts speak for themselves. The descriptions of the legislative work with the Montana Human Rights Network and the organizing strategies of the 2017 mayoral race are detailed and fascinating. The book does a fantastic job of laying out the day-to-day realities of local politics, focusing on the actual heavy lifting like securing city infrastructure budgets and keeping fire departments funded. The moments when the neighborhood pulls together to wash away racist graffiti really stand out as deeply powerful, showing what solidarity looks like. If you want a to-the-point, fact-driven look at what it takes to lead a community today, then you need to read this biography.
