Bryant Rollins Memoir Progress Update

The Slave in My Mirror

Dear friends, family, and supporters of Bryant's Memoir, The Slave in My Mirror,

We know it has been some time since we have sent an update, we hear you asking when it will be ready, and please know that we are just as eager as all of you to be able to hold the finished book in our hands. Thank you for your patience. Waiting is not easy.

I am writing today with an update to let you all know that things are definitely progressing forward. We are working toward the goal as quickly as we can, and we hope you are able to understand that the process of moving Bryant's manuscript from "finished" form to "print-ready" involves a lot of steps that are much more difficult without Bryant here with us in person. 

Last year we had an editor go through the full manuscript. The editor was recommended to us by the editor who worked on Bryant's first novel, Danger Song, in 1967, and whom Bryant had also hired in 2019 to do first rounds of edits on Slave in My Mirror, which was a poignant full-circle moment in Bryant's life and writing. We were very pleased with the work and insight of both of these editors. 

After we received the marked-up manuscript, Shirley did her own careful and thoughtful read-through while making her own suggestions and edits. You can imagine what an emotional process that was. Bryant’s passing is still very new and raw for all of us, and reading his very personal writing brings up a lot of feelings. Abraham then spent the past several months incorporating the edits into the semi-final manuscript, as well as making structural and formatting adjustments to the book as a whole. He finished that phase earlier this week, a huge relief and milestone in the process. 

The next step is very important, and will take a little longer than we had hoped. Bryant was a journalist, and very thorough in his research. The completed book has 70+ quotes and references, for which we will need to complete proper citations and in many cases copyright and licensing requests. It sounds like a lot, but it’s a step-by-step process and we have a small team of people working to get it done it efficiently. 

When we finish that step, we will be able to upload the manuscript to the publishing platform for final formatting, at which time we will likely be able to provide a solid estimated publication and ship date. 

Again, we know how hard it is to wait for this. We promised Bryant that we would complete his book, and the book will not be complete unless we do it correctly, thoroughly, and with a great deal of care. We are doing our best to honor him and his wishes, and we are thankful to have been blessed with his guidance and memory as we move forward. 

This book is really amazing, and it will 100% be worth the wait. 

Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely, 

Abraham and the book team

But wait! There's more!

If you have read this far, we are offering a small taste of what the book contains. While we’re not ready to send out full excerpts, we can give some teasers to help give a picture of the scope of this book.

It’s currently right around 380 pages, 30 chapters. 

While it is not a straightforward biography, Bryant does encapsulate and chronicle full chapters of his life within the timeline of historical events and the people around him, and again, it is thoroughly researched to provide additional context.

Chapter Two walks us through Bryant and Shirley’s 2010 visit to The House of Slaves on Gorée Island off the Atlantic Coast of Senegal in West Africa.

Chapter Three he discusses his Boston family, growing up in Roxbury, his parents’ vaudeville past. 

Chapters Four through Seven we see a portion of Bryant’s career in journalism, moving through small papers and large ones, and what it meant to be the first Black sportswriter at The Boston Globe, facing an intense culture of racism in 1960s Boston, including an encounter with Tom Yawkey that left a massive impact. 

In Chapters Eight and Nine Bryant brings us into the room with James Baldwin for a series of interviews that became a 5-part article in The Boston Globe (still available in the archives). 

Chapter Sixteen takes us to Mound Bayou, Mississippi, 1969, where Bryant lived and worked under armed guard - Korean War veterans - day and night, making the dangerous journey each day into the fields to interview Black sharecroppers and help get them registered to vote and organized into farm co-ops, activities that angered the Klan and other local White groups who would prefer to keep the oppressive power structures in place. Some of these farm co-ops are still in place today. 

Chapters Nineteen through Twenty-one cover his time as an editor at The New York Times, including during the class action discrimination lawsuit, Rosario v. The New York Times.

Chapter Twenty-four discusses the projects Bryant did as a consultant with Arthur Ashe, working closely together with him to create impactful discussion groups and workshops with Black leaders and HBCU athletes. 

In Chapters Twenty-six and Twenty-seven Bryant goes deep into his family history, beginning with his great-great-grandparents and their journey from slaves to freed slaves to community leaders in the Tallahassee area, and Bryant’s visit to the family farm that dates back to Reconstruction and still belongs to the family - relatives that Bryant didn’t know existed until 2017. 

Other chapters include the 1967 Grove Hall Riot, Boston’s 1968 Tent City occupation, the 1972 police shooting at NYC Mosque #7, and other important events Bryant was right in the middle of, literally front and center, as a journalist and Civil Rights activist, as well as the work Bryant and Shirley did for decades as DEI consultants, breaking down boundaries to bring people together. 

These are all important stories, and they provide a profound picture of Bryant and his life and journey, while also tying directly into the politics and history of the present day. 

This book is important and powerful, everyone should read it, and we are looking forward to sharing it with you as soon as we can.

Many thanks again for your patience.