This program is free and is brought to you by the Palmer Historical & Cultural Center (https://palmerhcc.org/) and the Palmer Public Library.  

E. Dolores Johnson grew up in Buffalo, NY, the daughter of a white mother and an African American father who married 25 years before the famous Supreme Court Loving decision that overturned laws against race mixing. After earning degrees from Howard University and Harvard Business School and starting a career in business, she began a search to understand her family’s history and found the white half of the story missing. Say I’m Dead unwinds her family’s story and shows the secrets and transformation they experienced living as mixed race in America. Johnson identifies her family history in the larger American racial story, bringing readers to the present day. Now her African American daughter can do what her white grandmother couldn’t: marry across the color line without fear. Don’t miss hearing about this remarkable book, which received a starred review from the American Library Association and won the 2020 Outstanding Literary Award from the National Association of Black Journalists.

In addition to Say I’m Dead, E. Dolores Johnson has published essays on mixed race, racism, and identity that have been featured in such publications as Narratively, Buffalo News, Writers of Color Anthology, and Hippocampus. Following a career in business, she retired after overseeing the digitization of John F. Kennedy’s papers at his Presidential Library. She has loved libraries as long as she can remember.  

Registration is required to join this moderated book discussion.