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Title details for More Than I Imagined by John Blake - Available

More Than I Imagined

What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew

by John Blake
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An award-winning journalist tells the “riveting” (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution) story of his quest to reconcile with his white mother and the family he’d never met—and how faith brought them all together.
“A compelling and courageous journey that bears witness to the realities of systemic racism, the complexity of identity within that system, and the possibilities of reconciliation.”—Robin DiAngelo, New York Times bestselling author of White Fragility
WINNER: The Christopher Award; The Illumination Award; The Nonfiction Book Award; Georgia Center’s “A Book All Georgians Should Read”; The Nautilus Award; Georgia Author of the Year Award
John Blake grew up in a notorious Black neighborhood in inner-city Baltimore that became the setting for the HBO series The Wire. There he became a self-described “closeted biracial person,” hostile toward white people while hiding the truth of his mother’s race. The son of a Black man and a white woman who met when interracial marriage was still illegal, Blake knew this much about his mother: She vanished from his life not long after his birth, and her family rejected him because of his race.
But at the age of seventeen, Blake had a surprise encounter that uncovered a disturbing family secret. This launched him on a quest to reconcile with his white family. His search centered on two questions: “Where is my mother?” and “Where do I belong?” More Than I Imagined is Blake’s propulsive true story about how he answered those questions with the help of an interracial church, a loving caregiver’s sacrifice, and an inexplicable childhood encounter that taught him the importance of forgiveness.
Blake covered some of the biggest stories about race in America for twenty-five years before realizing that “facts don’t change people, relationships do.” He owes this discovery to “radical integration,” which was the only way forward for him and his family—and is the only way forward for America as a multiracial democracy. More Than I Imagined is a hopeful story for our difficult times.
Praise for More Than I Imagined
“An incredibly moving memoir that both examines and complicates our understanding of race in America today, More Than I Imagined is overflowing with empathy and full of humanity.”—Clint Smith, New York Times bestselling author of How the Word Is Passed
“This is a book of gutsy hope and not of despair, of reconciliation and not of hatred. Both sides of the racial divide need the voice that Blake is uniquely qualified to offer.”—Philip Yancey, author of What’s So Amazing About Grace?

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    May 2, 2023

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780593443057

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780593443057
      • File size: 14542 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from May 19, 2023

      Award-winning journalist Blake's perspective on what race means and how it shapes people individually and collectively was first informed by his own upbringing in the 1970s and 1980s. Blake grew up with his Black father, brother, and relatives from his extended family in a lower income, predominantly Black community in Baltimore. Many members of his community distrusted white people due to systemic racism. This led to the author hiding the truth about his white mother, who vanished from his life not long after his birth, and his denouncing "the white side" of himself. As an adult, Blake finally met his mother and some of her family and embarked on a journey of self-discovery and faith, which ultimately allowed him to reconcile the painful aspects of his heritage, find forgiveness, and engage and advocate for what he calls "radical integration." VERDICT Blake's message of empathetic compassion and coming together as a community is a balm for a divided country that leans on sensationalism, hate, and scare tactics. An essential purchase for all libraries, especially those with DEI collections. It will likely appeal to readers who enjoyed How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi and White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo.

      Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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