Bryant Rollins Obituaries and Update on Memoir Kickstarter

Today I am writing to share updates and next steps in Bryant’s journey.

Bryant died May 27, 2022, at home in Jacksonville surrounded by loved ones. We, his family and friends will continue to move forward, to spread Bryant’s words, love, and legacy, and keep up the momentum he built over his life.

The past few months have been a roller coaster. We went from celebrating the completion of his memoir, preparing the manuscript for final rounds of edits, and putting together the Kickstarter campaign to be ready for a grand book launch with readings and events around the country, to suddenly grappling with Bryant’s unexpected and fast-moving diagnoses, and saying goodbye at the end of May.

The first obituary, written by Andrew Pantazi, published in The Florida Times-Union, can be found here:

https://www.jacksonville.com/obituaries/pfla0236626

The second obituary was written by Bryan Marquard at The Boston Globe, and was featured on the front page of the Metro section on July 5th:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/07/04/metro/bryant-rollins-pioneering-black-journalist-who-detailed-racism-newsroom-beyond-dies-84/

A memorial service was held at St. John's Cathedral in Jacksonville on June 25th, full of loving tributes, stories, uplifting messages, and music. The service was live-streamed and is available to watch on their YouTube channel.

Next Steps:

Kickstarter

The Kickstarter campaign, organized to publish and share Bryant’s powerful memoir, decades in the making, is a couple of hours from ending as I write this. It has reached more than double the original goal after meeting the baseline goal a few days after launch! Bryant was thrilled and honored to see such enthusiastic support for this project, and it is his wish that the book be spread and shared as widely as possible in the coming months and years.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slaveinthemirror/the-slave-in-my-mirror-help-to-publish-my-memoir

The team, led by Malikkah, Abraham, and Shirley, is working toward final edits, layout, and logistics, and our goal is to have it printed and available around the end of the year, first to distribute to campaign supporters, then to make available to the general public in print and ebook versions. We will be sharing updates here and on the Kickstarter page as we have them.

Substack

Followers of Bryant’s newsletters have seen them change over the years. The longer form essays on this Substack will remain here as long as the platform is available. I (Abraham) am learning how to use it. When I have my bearings, I plan to convert any remaining paid content to free and public, as well as switching all of the paid subscriptions to free subscriptions. If you are a paid subscriber, thank you so much for your support, and please feel free to switch to an unpaid subscription anytime.

His blogs and website have some older writing and links. When the book project is complete, my goal is to consolidate Bryant’s writings, links, and biography online, whether here or on another site. I keep finding interviews and articles from years ago that would be nice to have in one place. Bryant had an amazingly rich life, and we want to make sure everyone has access to this trove of content and history.

Email list

If you would like to continue to hear updates about Bryant’s memoir and other projects, Malikkah, Abraham, and Shirley will use this platform to stay in touch. Updates specific to Kickstarter will go through that page. We will do our best to keep communications clear and two-way. Please be patient if there are duplicate messages delays, or other hiccups. We are grieving and doing our best to keep the work moving forward. The outpouring of love and support from friends these past few months has been truly wonderful, and any messages, stories and memories from Bryant’s past that you would like to share will be directed to the intended recipient as they come in.

Again, I am just learning how to use this platform, so there may be some delay in communication, and I will do my best to keep everyone in the loop.

With love and gratitude,

Abraham